New SS Tab

[Raymond270]

Hmmm

[Putzi]

Sorry for that, but Robin Lumsden is correct, a fake from at least 1990s and onwards - the paper RZM is probably added later from an armband or similar.

[Robin Lumsden]

Hmmm

Raymond.

I see you've sought a 'second opinion' over at WAF - and that they all agree it's a one-looker bad tab.

If it's any consolation, these fakes are now so old and so well made that perhaps the seller (whoever that is) didn't know what he was selling.

[Rich Moran]

The jawline with it's teeth are yet sinister, if that's any consolation.

A piece of advice I got many years ago "the Totenkopf collar tab should look just like the one on the cover of Angolas book "Cloth Insignia of the SS". I yet agree with that advice.

These variance tabs can confuse & dupe collectors to think that they are original. In some cases they might be good, but in most instances they are not. At first when I saw this tab, I thought that's a new one to me, is it or is it not war era produced? I kept quiet about it because I just did not know.

Like many other collectors, I cannot easily get to shows, the meet with & discuss what's going on so relying on the internet while being ok, it is nothing like seeing first hand & then discussing with peers what you've seen, is it good or bad. Tough way to collect but my mind set is there are no variances that are good. That might not be a good way of going about it, but that certainly has saved me quite a bit of frustration & loss of $.

I for one appreciate seeing what's posted, sorry Raymond for the frustration your experiencing & the potential loss of money, but thanks to what is seen here with this post & the contributing collector comments I realize how much I really don't know about these pieces of militaria.

[Gwar]

Just my two cents, (not a collector of these) if these were 'Hand Embroidered' no two hands stich alike, even with a Unterlagen.

[Robin Lumsden]

Just my two cents, (not a collector of these) if these were 'Hand Embroidered' no two hands stich alike, even with a Unterlagen.

Korrekt !

No two hand-embroidered badges can ever be absolutely identical.

But there are LITTLE differences ....... and then there are BIG differences.

And general patterns emerge after studying these things for the better part of a lifetime. Some patterns common to originals and some patterns common to fakes.

I'm still learning after 65+ years .................. but I think I'm now about 95% there !!

[Robin Lumsden]

As for the re-attached SS-RZM armband 'D' label, these are the only (well-researched) known makers of M42 bullion SS TK collar patches.

'254' isn't a known maker of M42 bullion TK collars.

[CBH]

Thanks Robin for the detailed explanation of what to look out for when dealing with these tabs. It seems that these are coming out of the woodwork lately and with the prices being astronomical, it can be a costly mistake.
Cheers

[Vocht]

Agreed. Bullion SS TKs are absolutely dangerous.

[Raymond270]

Just checking it is going back to where I bought it. Claimed it was bought at a military show in the 80's in the US.
The other tabs look good I know it is bad but if they made the jaw line correct and top of skull it would be real hard to tell.

Thanks Raymond