Luftwaffe Cigarette Case
Can someone explain to me the service attachment to various cigarette cases? Where they handed out as rewards of sorts or could you simply buy then in any store with different themes on them? The one shown is from my collection which my wife bought in Poznan Poland for me. Its band is stretched out a bit and someone taped the photo to the inside.
Casey ~
Hi, these are personal items that have been embellished by a jeweler or such. This, sadly, along with many areas of collecting TR and other militaria, has been ridiculously flooded in fake and fantasy pieces, it is a minefield!! To buy a old, cig case and turn it into a war souvenir is easy and done all the time by profiteers looking to make a buck. My advice is without rock solid history of an individual piece, run away and stay away. The case you have posted looks like a truly old cig case, but, who knows when it joined the luftwaffe??? I own a couple of these from ww1, but knew personally the family from where they came. All of this of course is just my opinion on items such as these. K
It is my opinion this cigarette case is a fake.
The problem with such items , rings , cigarette cases , etc is was it made in 1942 or 1982 .
It's easy to get a hold of an 1930 item , with a bit engraving and cheap insignia triple it's value .
I would only trust one if I pulled it out of a vets sock drawer myself .
So basically if you cannot trace the items "lineage" just give it a wide birth and leave it be, so frustrating.
Casey ~
As the guys have put its hard to tell if real or not , they did have items made like this in ww2, but the problem is when it was made you see alot of this sort of thing coming out of Poland made in the last ten years take a look at Polish e bay and will see what i mean
Sorry to say this is a sometimes very frustrating hobby we have decided to pursue. Especially tough are some of these personal items because there is absolutely no way to prove authenticity. Also, buy the item, and not a "story", many will create a "history" for a piece. Dont let it upset you, just realize that this hobby is a little more involved than just buying things as advertised.
And here you have found a great site, full of great people, willing to help, and share their knowledge and experience.
If you do want to collect TR , I'd suggest sticking to issue items . Still lots of fakes but much easier to discern what is real . These personalized items are just too easy to make . And when you said she got it in Poland I didn't hold much hope . Sorry for the news .
Hello Casey
I actually quite like this piece.
As mentioned you will never know when it was put together but purely as in an interest item I would consider it collectable.
At least the eagle and rank wing look like original pieces.
I have just popped a similar one to compare:
Souvenir Cigarette Case Observer/Flak
All the best
Doug
I'm keeping it for sure, it just won't go into my main collection. Rather like all my fake document stamps. There are still interesting, I won't pitch them but they will be stored separately. I also have a tobacco pipe I'll post soon. I'm sure it will fall into the same unknown gray area as the case here.
Casey ~
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