Panzer collar Totenkopf

[Glenn66]

I keep a close eye on ebay most days and over time I notice the same sellers offering the same 'rare' items and it gets me to wondering.

This particular seller always has items from Stalingrad although he's based in Moscow which puts doubt on his claims straight away but what has caught my attention is that he seems to have an inexhaustable supply of 'rare panzer collar skulls'. Often one auction finishes and only a day or so later he has another set up for grabs which makes me wonder if he's artificially aging fakes.

I'm not an expert of the makers of the collar skulls but I can say that so far I haven't seen one with the pin style as below. Also the left skull seems to have a maker mark of some sort, possibly 'OB'? The difference in color of the soil indicates these aren't a matched pair anyway which makes sense as they are of different style and I would have expected a panzer wrap to be fitted out with a matched pair of insignia.



The level of oxidation is a little curious also, surely aluminium should survive relatively well over time yet these look somewhat 'eaten away' either artificially by acid or naturally by being in contact with the owners remains? In any case I'm not bidding on these but I'm curious to hear opinions on the originality or otherwise of these insignia.



Cheers
Glenn

[Killroy]

It is curious, the one that looks complete looks very suspicious to me. The one with a prong left ispires a little more confidence but only slightly. I have a ground dug set that has the same color dirt on the back and some corrosion to it. I have posted it on the forum in the past along with another example. Maybe one of the other members would be able to give you more of a strait answer. I think I more just came to stand beside you and scratch my head with you.

Jeff

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Glenn, the maker's mark will be "GB" (Gustav Brehmer).

They were usually issued in matched pairs.

To be honest, it is very hard to give a concrete opinion on these regarding originality. He might have found a hoard of them, hence the mixture of makers types? Would I bid on them? No.

Cheers, Ade.

[Glenn66]

Thanks for the opinion and advice Ade!

Question: Was it only tankers who wore these collar tabs or did other AFV crews also wear them? (Flak, Assault Gun, APC etc)

[Adrian Stevenson]

Tankers, armoured car crews, assualt gunners, armoured engineers, etc. Basically anyone connected with the Panzer arm. The more obscure ones being Pz Propaganda Kompanies, armoured trains, etc.

Cheers, Ade.