Skull ring with red eyes.

**edelweiss1939** · 08-13-2011, 07:20 PM

Hi im new in this forum and this is my first post, i have this ring but is from ww2 early? or post wwii?. its marked 830 and is heavy.

Thanks!.

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 08-13-2011 07:20 PM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**Walkwolf** · 08-14-2011, 05:27 AM

Personally, I do not think it is a WWII era piece. It looks too much
like a Tibetan/Oriental design to me - just my first impression.

'830' could be promising though, as this may be
a European silver content mark..........

**Eric Zentner** · 08-14-2011, 05:36 AM

If offerd to me I would pass 95% of these type of rings are pure 4th Reich sorry.

Eric

**Wagriff** · 08-14-2011, 06:08 AM

The goofy face on this one is not one I'm familiar with-as far as German war-era rings go. The silver content,as Steve said, looks good,but it's not a sure thing these days,of course. To Me,anyway,the design says "Mexico"-something like a Day of the Dead piece from the 50's. Unfortunately,the silver mark is a problem. The .830 mark is a puzzle. .830 was,naturally,the Scandinavian silver standard towards the end of the 30's. If a gun was held to my head, I'd have to say that this Might be a pre-war European ring with a Mexican inspiration. Not many German military worn rings that I've ever seen or handled actually had Stones in the eyes. My best guess,without actually holding it in my hand and looking closer, would be that this is Probably a pre-war piece that May or may Not have been purchased and used by a German soldier. The skull rings were,as you know, Very Popular with the Germans and if this piece was available at that time,as it probably Was,no doubt a soldat would have went for it. William

**Teutonicknights** · 08-14-2011, 06:14 AM

by Wagriff

The goofy face on this one is not one I'm familiar with-as far as German war-era rings go. The silver content,as Steve said, looks good,but it's not a sure thing these days,of course. To Me,anyway,the design says "Mexico"-something like a Day of the Dead piece from the 50's. Unfortunately,the silver mark is a problem. The .830 mark is a puzzle. .830 was,naturally,the Scandinavian silver standard towards the end of the 30's. If a gun was held to my head, I'd have to say that this Might be a pre-war European ring with a Mexican inspiration. Not many German military worn rings that I've ever seen or handled actually had Stones in the eyes. My best guess,without actually holding it in my hand and looking closer, would be that this is Probably a pre-war piece that May or may Not have been purchased and used by a German soldier. The skull rings were,as you know, Very Popular with the Germans and if this piece was available at that time,as it probably Was,no doubt a soldat would have went for it. William

Could'nt the fakers put this on it as well?

**Wagriff** · 08-14-2011, 06:24 AM

Absolutely-they can and often Do put the stamps in them-just because they noticed that people Look for them. The odd thing about This one, though,is that it looks to have actual worn aging to it. Naturally,you can buff down silver to make it as smooth as you want it,but it Looks like someone actually Wore this thing. The silly big nose and chin on it sure doesn't Look to be a German design,though,in my opinion. And the Stones in the eyes is Not a common theme seen very often in that time. Not that it couldn't or wouldn't have been worn by a German regardless. William

**big ned** · 08-14-2011, 11:32 AM

William is correct on the silver content of 830 parts nickel being of Scandinavian origin. This type of silver has practically died out these days with only Egypt still using it for jewellry and metalware. The skull and bones is of a popular design found in German and Scandinavian culture of the '20's-30's.

The design is certainly of period and having stones inlaid in the eye sockets is very common, I also have photo's of two separate SS-Totenkopf rings that have jewelled eyes, and both are accepted as absolutely genuine, with the stones probably added in period by the recipient, even though it was against Himmler's orders. These are not to be confused with the ring above.

As far as the 'C' shaped decoration on either side of the bones, this is a Nordic symbol that is a part of the 'Mjolnir' emblem, otherwise known as 'Thor's Hammer' and indicates thunder, a powerful symbol of death and destruction.

So to sum up, It is my opinion that the ring is a genuine north european period piece, but to say it was a soldiers German or other, is pure conjecture.

Regards, Ned.

**edelweiss1939** · 08-14-2011, 12:19 PM

The truth I have seen reproductions of this type of ring and are very different, this seems high quality, really old, really need to see it in hand.

PD: William It's incredible that there are enough copies because you despise all the pieces, so you lose part of the story.

**edelweiss1939** · 08-14-2011, 03:02 PM

More pics.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

**big ned** · 08-14-2011, 03:58 PM

Thanks for the better pic's. The double symbol represents 'The ship of the slain' which is definately of Scandinavian/Nordic origin, and represents the transferring of the spirit to the afterlife or Valhalla. The final symbol appears similar to a rune that means separation, but I cannot be sure entirely as there are many variations of it.

Suffice to say this is a 'Memento mori' ring of early-mid 20th century Scandinavian origin, a nice item, but not really anything to do with the 3rd Reich.

Regards, Ned.