What defines an "early" SS cap?

[M18922]

Caps pre-1934 I think are early. Then caps with leather visors and small/crushed crowns make me think early, which isn't completely correct.



A cap I wouldn't call early.

[BenVK]

Patrick is also part of our small band of brothers and it's tremendous how much he now knows for one so young.
Happy Christmas to you Pat! keep up the good work.

[Tricot]

Well spotted! Gratefully, it is not stitched to an item I own. It was in a recent German auction.

I wish I could contribute more than fake tags, but the level of material on display here is advanced beyond belief.

A Merry Christmas to all.

This tag may not be genuine, actually. The font used in the serial numbers is fairly uniform. The theme is correct, but, the details are off, at least in my opinion.

Thank you for your post, it is always good to have contributions from you.

Regards,

CMH

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Well spotted! Gratefully, it is not stitched to an item I own. It was in a recent German auction.

I wish I could contribute more than fake tags, but the level of material on display here is advanced beyond belief.

A Merry Christmas to all.

Stay far away from such wretched things. Frohes Fest.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Apropos Mollo and such, these images are what propelled me into this interest decades ago. Here was the first startling sight of the typology of SS caps in the categories of earliest, late and such. There was no internet then, nor were there hundreds of loud voices declaiming false "information," which was a blessing, really. I am glad that I became friends with Dave Delich, who wrote this article in 1969 with the examples of his tags.

[BOB COLEMAN]

These images were on my backup CD from 2007.
Name of the owner and RZM tags, if it even had one, all long since forgotten unfortunately.

All black caps were called Allgemeine SS back then by all but the enlightened, how far we have come but the label still lingers.

This is still very common not only by collectors but dealers also. Incorrect identification of an item is something that has always frosted me.

[M18922]

Patrick is also part of our small band of brothers and it's tremendous how much he now knows for one so young.
Happy Christmas to you Pat! keep up the good work.

Thanks Ben! I woulden't know what I know if not for you guys.

Happy Christmas to you too mate, and to everyone here. I hope everyone has a fruitful 2014.

[S.Vestae]

that is a great thread... all are black here, and grey early cap ? I have just one with short band, no stamp or rzm...

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Thanks.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

This cap might be from 1935, but I am not wholly sure.