What to Look for Waffen SS Visor Cap

[petepeterson]

Hello all

Great site! New member here. I'm looking at a Waffen SS NCO visor cap and need advise on what to look for. I have been to the pawn shop that has the piece but was unable to take pictures. What are key features that I can look for to determine if it is real before I buy. I did notice that under the sweat band there were stamped RZM markings and SS markings in ink (no paper tag). The date 1943 was also stamped in ink. I'm just looking for basic knowledge as I have little experience with SS objects. Asking price is around $150 us. Thank you very much in advance !

[Masonk]

Not an expert but based on the asking price, this is most likely a reproduction, or the deal of a century. SS Visor Caps typicall run in the range of $10,000 - $20,000.

Even at Repro price that could be a little high as there are examples online between $50 and $100.

Your best bet is to do a search on the forum for SS visor caps as there are plenty of good and bad examples to compare to. If you are interested in purchasing a real example, and have the funds to do so, lot's of research is a must, as is with purchasing any military relic, especially Third Reich, since there are so many fakes out there.

Here is a website that many on the board have confirmed having authentic pieces. It's a good reference to determine prices, although some have said they are a little pricey.

The Collector's Guild

Good luck!

[Woolgar]

Hi, also look at member Friedrich-Bertholds threads and posts on this forum. You will learn loads

Nick

[petepeterson]

Thanks for the info! I have looked thru this site and see a few examples that look very close to the piece at the pawn shop, that piece like i said in my first post has information stamped in ink on the underside of the sweat band. The pictures of orginal pieces I have seen do not have anything stamped under the sweat bands. The visor at the pawn shop also has large black and white SS runes in the center of underside of the visor. The price is very cheep the guy really does not not much about what he has. It could be the deal of the century but I have no experiece with SS items so I have no idea what to look for. He did have some other non-SS items that I have experince with and they are"real". I plan on stoping by today.

[Masonk]

Well, if you do decide to purchase, see if the shop has a return policy incase the item isn't authentic, without of course divulging too much info on it's potential value.

Even if they offer a credit to the store, it looks like it would benefit you since they have other items you may be interested in. Once you have the visor, post a few photos of it on here and the experts will be able to take one look and let you know if you have the real deal.

By the way, welcome to the forum!

[N.C. Wyeth]

Skip the EM/NCO types . . . and go for something like these.

[N.C. Wyeth]

Hello all

Great site! New member here. I'm looking at a Waffen SS NCO visor cap and need advise on what to look for. I have been to the pawn shop that has the piece but was unable to take pictures. What are key features that I can look for to determine if it is real before I buy. I did notice that under the sweat band there were stamped RZM markings and SS markings in ink (no paper tag). The date 1943 was also stamped in ink. I'm just looking for basic knowledge as I have little experience with SS objects. Asking price is around $150 us. Thank you very much in advance !

What you describe does not sound promising. With a $150 price, be sure to have the ability to return for your money back . . . my gut tells me that after you post photos here, you will be doing so. And look at it this way . . . if you go to all the effort to buy it, post your photos here, and then return the hat - that will be the best learning experience you will ever have . . . a "hands-on" experience, with nothing lost but all of your time and effort. Sometimes, that is the best makings of a good collector in the end - knowledge gained through "hands-on" experience. Good luck!

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Thanks for the nice comment above.

See representative examples courtesy Bruce Herman and his excellent photographs. And I added some others, here.

Especially desirable is the early piece with the runics, that is, an authentic early piece.

[petepeterson]

Many thanks for all your advice and the pictures! I spoke with the seller yesterday and he had sent off detailed pictures of the visor to a collector in Charlotte, NC. The collector informed the seller that he believed from the pictures it was a combination of old and new parts. However he was going to drive down and look at it himself. The visor did look very much like the examples above. The great thing was the seller was willing to tell me all of this not wanting to sell a fake and hurt a fellow working man. I thanked him more than a few times and asked him to let me know what he found out from the collector. So this could go either way. 1. I will end up missing the deal of the century. or 2. I avoided buying a put together item and saved $150.

This is great part of our passion, you never know what you will find out there and what king of people you will meet. This item also helped me find this site. The next time I'll have more information on my side to know what I was looking at . Again many thanks to all !

[Bill T]

haha that would suck if it was the real deal and you could have grabbed it for 150!!!! but hey....your doing the right thing and most likely will be very happy u did in the long run. I am still learning how to determine cloth/wool/etc materials myself and would probably be in the same position as you right now. lol Good luck man. Hopefully if it turns out to be good, the guy will still stay true to his original price! also if the cap/visor itself is good and the insignia's arent....i would still buy it for sure and just piece it together correctly. let us know what was up