Odd SS Totenkopf Badge

[locutus243]

Hiya guys,

On a recent trip to Poland I perhaps naively picked up what I now know is an SS cap badge of some sort (I am not a proper collector and had no idea there was so many fakes floating around).

It has the death skull on the front and the RZM marking on the back with 215/41. I'm having real trouble finding others on the internet so although I suspect its a fake I'm wondering why it isn't more prevalent out there like many of the traditional Totenkopfs.

So first of all can anyone confirm to me whether it is a fake?

And secondly, what is it? Is it a cap badge? And if so why would it look different from the more traditional ones. I can't find it on any pictures from the period...was there a specific rank or division that wore this kind of badge?

Any info you could give me would be very helpful. I may have bought a fake but I'd like to know what it's supposed to be a fake of ;o)!

Thanks for your time and help

Mark

[RH1941]

sorry this is fake

[Stirlitz wiedzial]

This is fantasy,, free style,, item

[Gunny Hartmann]

Poor quality fantasy item!..

[DrPMC]

Seems to take its inspiration from the badge of the 17th/21st Lancers!

[Jerry B]

As the others have posted it is not a period original and is in fact not a copy of any original badge, rather it is a fantasy design.

[HPL2008]

All that has been said above, plus a basic rule to remember: Anything with an RZM marked screwback disc is garbage.

[Wagriff]

Good Gawd almighty.....if that isn't one of the Crudest most Hideously made total fantasy pieces I've seen in a long time, then it's damned close to the top of the list....Somewhere in Poland, there is a imbecile chuckling cleverly to himself on having found himself an unsuspecting Borg to cheat out of money....no doubt the money went Immediately to the local pub that very same evening....

(And, to answer the posted question, it is a total fantasy piece of something that never existed to begin with, so it is neither a cap badge or anything else, but a nice big glowing reminder to never trust a friendly Polish flea market seller with strange stuff on their table! The simple reason why there are not more pieces like it out there is, not to be insulting, but even a rank beginner should, theoretically, know by looking at it that it is a joke...)

[Erno]

A basic rule to remember: Anything with an RZM marked screwback disc is garbage.

Andreas, were there any screwback discs used in pre- or wartime Germany on anything? I've never seen anything at all with a screwback that wasn't a ridiculous Polish fake.

[HPL2008]

Andreas, were there any screwback discs used in pre- or wartime Germany on anything? I've never seen anything at all with a screwback that wasn't a ridiculous Polish fake.

Screwback disc assemblies did exist both in the Imperial era and the Third Reich period as fasteners for certain pinback decorations, including - for example - Iron Crosses.

They were, however, not used for SS insignia or any other political badges that I am aware of, and RZM-marked screwback discs are always fake. As you said, they are quite typical for Polish-made fantasy items (and also often seen on fake SS tuxedo badges).