Imperial German Buckles.

[hirsca]

Hello Jagdhorn. I'm the rookie here, but after going through all 36 pages of this thread after I got home from the estate sale, there are several idendical buckles shown as being the late war model of the M1916 buckle. But I defer to the experts like DUJAILAH. Thanks, Al in Dallas.

[DUJAILAH]

Thanks! Two questions-- (1) Do I leave it as is, or (shudder) do I try to clean off some of the rust; and (2) To document it in my data base, what should I put down as a value? Thanks again, Al in Dallas.

Hi Al, (1) Take it easy when you clean it. I would try to just neutralise the rust. Dab with some WD40 on a cotton bud. This should remove loose rust & stop it getting worse. (2) As for value here's a mint one @ $95 World War One German Army EM/NCO's Belt Buckle in Original Tissue , Cheers, Richard.

P.S. Thanks for saying I'm an expert in the above; but I'm still learning like the rest of us.

[DUJAILAH]

I have several German buckle books, but how can you tell this is a late war style?
I have assumed the "C" shapedcatch is earlier, but I don't think it is a universal and accurate way of dating.
Thanks for any help!
Jagdhorn

Hi jagdhorn, you've made a very good point, so here's my thinking. You're right that I'm assuming; but when I say late war I mean 1917/18 so mid to late really. You never see these olive green buckles with dated tabs, sadly (until I'm proved wrong of course!!!). I think this is an economy, mass production measure as the war progressed, even though I have a light grey painted buckle dated 1918 proving other producers continued to add tabs. Not all producers followed any rules as you can see from the different paint colours/finishes on M16's back in the thread. The problem with Imperial buckles is that until more hard evidence comes to the surface a lot of info is sadly guess work, hopefully educated!!!; but still guesswork, Cheers, Richard.

[jagdhorn]

Hi jagdhorn, you've made a very good point, so here's my thinking. You're right that I'm assuming; but when I say late war I mean 1917/18 so mid to late really. You never see these olive green buckles with dated tabs, sadly (until I'm proved wrong of course!!!). I think this is an economy, mass production measure as the war progressed, even though I have a light grey painted buckle dated 1918 proving other producers continued to add tabs. Not all producers followed any rules as you can see from the different paint colours/finishes on M16's back in the thread. The problem with Imperial buckles is that until more hard evidence comes to the surface a lot of info is sadly guess work, hopefully educated!!!; but still guesswork, Cheers, Richard.

Hi Richard;
I reread my post and your answer, and I was not sure if I sounded a bit snippy. I don't mean it that way! Your answer is about what I believe to be true. tabs stopped pretty much with iron buckles, the grey- grey green- Green (?) paint varied widely. There were some transitional buckles- I have one steel/iron but with a sperate prussian shield. This one I call mid war, early iron. I have one that SEEMS to have a brass wash, but the prussian insignia is almost free of detail and the catch is horribly welded on. So, that one I call late! I assume "C" catches are early in the iron buckleproduction becasue htey are weaker, (I believe!) than the bridged catches. but nothing yet to prove it- or at least I have not found it.
Jagdhorn

[DUJAILAH]

Hi jagdhorn, don't worry you weren't snippy & I wasn't offended at all. This is what the forum is all about. The only way we will come to some consensus is if we have these discussions & until we get hard evidence that is all we can do, All The Best, Richard.

[StuG III]

Hi, please tell me what your thoughts are on this one? Thanks for the help.
Tom
Sorry for the bad photos.

[DUJAILAH]

Hi Tom, it looks like a good M95 to me. Oddly the 'ears' are upright. Have they been bent up or never bent down? Cheers, Richard.

[StuG III]

That's just it, I bought this and was looking at the photos again when I noticed that same thing which got me wondering if I had made a mistake.
The buckle is presently in transit to me, but I'll post clearer photos once it arrives. Thanks for your help.
Tom

[DUJAILAH]

Yeah, when you've got it you should be able to tell easily, Cheers, Richard.

[StuG III]

It's obviously less common to find them this way, any idea why the ears were not bent over?
Tom