SS Buckle - Genuine or Fake, please advice.

[Feuerbach]

The lettering on the first SS buckle is also very bad, no details at all.

[wood]

"cannot speak for the badge, you will have to post that on the awards forum"
Don't bother, its a fake as well.
Pete.

[kirby]

The badge is also bad.

[Erno]

To elaborate a bit, the buckle is a complete fantasy design, meaning that no such item was produced during the Third Reich era. It is of recent, Eastern European (probably Polish) origin. The badge is known as a first class 'Spange,' or 'Spange zum Eisernen Kreuzes 1er Klasse,' which translates to "clasp to the Iron Cross first class." The one you show has numerous problems, with the most prominent being the 'RZM' marking to the reverse. The RZM (Reichszeugmeisterei) oversaw production of effects and awards for the Nazi Party, but not military or other civilian awards and decorations. The Spange, not being an award specific to the Nazi Party, would never bear such a mark. In fact, such markings are often used to 'validate' fakes, even when the genuine article would never use them!

You should try to get a refund if you can, for both items. There are plenty of good original items out there, but there are many fakes as well, so research is fundamental when buying these sorts of things. Don't give up, though, because everyone here has bought a fake at some point.

[pilbara]

Hey thanks very much folks for the information and incouragement, I really appreciate it. The good news is that the guy selling the stuff is giving me a refund, Furthermore he is quite upset that the items he was selling in good faith as being geniune on behalf of another Perth collector has come back to bite him and he will now refrain from selling anything further as this has really put him off. He now has to track down other buyers to also refund. It remains to be seen how far back in the chain the faith of someones word is before it is ireally just bullshit.
I would still like to get something geniune for my son if anybody has anything for sale or can direct me to someone I can trust. I realise I should have done research in hindsite of purchase but this was a typical case of a non collector seeing something thats looks really cool, gets spun a story on the spot and then buys on impulse not wanting to miss out lol. Awesome learning curve for both me and the seller who I believe was also fooled.
Regards Dave

[Brad]

Hello,
Sorry, a FAKE for sure. (the badge)

[pilbara]

Thanks Brad. Money paid back now by a very apologetic and nice guy who I also believe was a victim.
I think I am lucky am learning a sharp lesson at the beginning of this collecting bug. Why are these things so bloody interesting, I can see me spending far too much money lol. It my son that is supposed to be the collector lol

[Brad]

I'm glad to hear that you've received reimbursement. I wish I could on some things I purchased years ago when Forums like this didn't exist! I agree with you, Third Reich items are fascinating to find and collect.

[Ben Evans]

Nice to see the guy give you your money back, very nice of the guy and he seems genuinely irked about it, shame it happens

[kirby]

eBay has these skull buckles and other fantasy and repo buckles all the time. They don't allow real items with the swastika but they allow this junk.