HJ buckle from JFS with leather tongue

[Zeller]

This is the surprise I mentioned earlier. It came with a lot of HJ/DJ stuff from Austria and need a bit of a clean. It is the first buckle with leather tongue I see, but maybe others have some in their collection.
The buckle appears to be marked but it needs a clean before reading. All I can see is a 4

[FrankBooth]

I've not seen one with the leather like this either Matt. If it's good, that's a neat one.

[Guido]

Matt, buckle and leathertongue belong not together.
HJ buckles came never with a leathertongue!
Because of the specific eagle's beak, I would say maker of the buckle could be Dr. Franke.

Regards,
Guido

[Zeller]

Hello Guido, the buckle appears to be marked with a rzm code but I cannot read it. The tongue doesn't appear remounted and the buckle was unmolested and with alot of dirt. This leaves me wondering when and why the tongue was added?

[Guido]

...This leaves me wondering when and why the tongue was added?

I fear, you will never find a satisfying answer to this question, Matt.
The M4 RZM Code for Dr. Franke is: M4/23

Regards,
Guido

[Zeller]

hello Guido, I think you are right. The buckle shows a heavy use and 90%of the chrome finish is gone. I thought of a postwar reutilisation but is has not been denazified,so the question mark about the tongue will remain.

[lach470]

I wonder if this could be a period application done "at home" by the kid who owned the buckle? It would have been easy enough to acquire a leather tab and have mom sew it on. Just a thought. The stitching is certainly old!
Good luck! Certainly a cool buckle that asks a lot of questions!
Rob

[philw]

Just a thought! If the buckle is marked right on the edge it could be M4/30 for Berg & Nolte. They're often mistaken as they share ( perhaps alone in this? ) a ' hole in the beak eagle '.
Just a thought.

[philw]

M4/23 that is and M4/30 !