The unanswered question

[Jerry B]

Always a difficult question to get an answer on, but what is the market value for this SS Erkennungsmarken? I was thinking of selling it as I am streamlining my collection to just focus on a narrower field of items and a member has expressed an interest. I want to give him a good deal and will probably let him have it for a bit less than market value, but obviously I don't want to give it away and as I have had a long time I don't know what it is worth.

Thanks in advance for any opinions in this matter.

[Matt L]

Well Jerry, I can't directly answer your question- you'd have to find this same disc for sale, or, rather, sold someplace to see what they're going for. I can tell you a bit about it though: it's part of an unissued hoard so is essentially like a blank piece of letterhead paper- not nearly as interesting as one with something written on it (or in this case actually issued and worn by a soldier)- and they're not at all uncommon. I've seen many of them over the years. The 'L' was a 'batch' number, i.e. there were numbers 1-999 for each letter (it would seem), so this might actually be one of over 12,000. The hoard was some dozens, or maybe hundreds, and, as you can see, the condition isn't particularly good.

[Jerry B]

Well Jerry, I can't directly answer your question- you'd have to find this same disc for sale, or, rather, sold someplace to see what they're going for. I can tell you a bit about it though: it's part of an unissued hoard so is essentially like a blank piece of letterhead paper- not nearly as interesting as one with something written on it (or in this case actually issued and worn by a soldier)- and they're not at all uncommon. I've seen many of them over the years. The 'L' was a 'batch' number, i.e. there were numbers 1-999 for each letter (it would seem), so this might actually be one of over 12,000. The hoard was some dozens, or maybe hundreds, and, as you can see, the condition isn't particularly good.

Thanks Matt, but I knew all this as I had posted it in the dog tag section previously and you very kindly told me all this then. As you point out, it is hard to put a value on this, is it £20 or £200 or what?. I really don't know.

I just want a ball park figure so I can offer it for sale? Someone must have seen a similar one for sale in recent years and can tell me what they go for??? If none can or is willing to tell me, I'll just keep it and not waste my time trying to find out. This is already becoming more hassle than it is worth.

[Larry C]

Its a double edged sword sometimes with rare items like these,,, we end up becoming a prisoner to them out of fear that it might really be worth something,, so we dont let go of it until we are comfortable. Even so there is a reluctance after the fact once its sold and we are haunted by " I should of kept it" . I have period unissued Kamikaze head band. It was either never issued to the pilot or it is was given to factory workers in support of the Japanese war effort.......Long story short...all those i asked about it can not put a price on it,, so I continue to keep it. One gent offered me $250 for it,, and I was at odds with even that price. Cool little intracasies in this hobby that are sometimes a thorn! Regards Larry

[Matt L]

True enough Larry- I figure if I'm thinking of selling, the thing isn't worth that much to me anymore, so if I can't find any relevant values, or it's more work to search for them than I want to do, I just bite the bullet and pick a price that I'm okay with and then not worry about it later. Becoming a prisoner to one's things is far worse than discovering that you could have gotten a bit more that you did- if that ever happens. Unfortunately, it still takes some effort- I still see some things I've sold and lament that I can't just pull them out and play with them anymore LOL

Sorry Jerry- I don't recall telling you all that before; I write a LOT of replies LOL

[Jerry B]

True enough Larry- I figure if I'm thinking of selling, the thing isn't worth that much to me anymore, so if I can't find any relevant values, or it's more work to search for them than I want to do, I just bite the bullet and pick a price that I'm okay with and then not worry about it later. Becoming a prisoner to one's things is far worse than discovering that you could have gotten a bit more that you did- if that ever happens. Unfortunately, it still takes some effort- I still see some things I've sold and lament that I can't just pull them out and play with them anymore LOL

Sorry Jerry- I don't recall telling you all that before; I write a LOT of replies LOL

No worries Matt, everyone here knows you are the man on ID discs and I certainly appreciate your genuine expertise on these.

[Larry C]

Hey Jerry I just found this recent posting , and i thought you might be interested as it is the same style tag in which you posted. Not the exact one but similar
Heres the link,, Regards Larry
https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/steel...47/#post663479

[Jerry B]

Thanks Larry.

I have received an answer from a member of the forum who was able to give me a ball park figure on valuation of my ID disc, which I should point out to those who do not understand these, it is for the SS panzer grenadier training and replacement battalion 1 for the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler Waffen SS and is a late war type made of steel, and these factors make it some what of a rarity IMO. When I posted it elsewhere I was told that late war discs might not show the same signs of wear as an earlier example as they would not have had the same a mount of time for the wear to happen and I would assume that as it is steel and not of the softer materials that earlier examples are made from, that could also account for its lack of wear on the string holes, though I admit that if Matt says it is unissued and fairly commonly seen, then he is more likely to be correct than I.

Anyway, many thanks to Glenn66 for giving me a valuation, as I appreciate it is a difficult thing to value and I could not find any similar discs for sale when searching the web, as late war steel discs are not so commonly seen and discs linked to the LAH are even less commonly seen or so my research has led me to conclude.

Thanks to all for taking the time to look at this thread and a bigger thanks to those few who have been in a position to offer me help.