Real or fake SS license plate?

[sweersz]

I have a few questions about this SS license plate which is broken in half. I bought it from a private Russian digger for $125 who also did not include "SS" in the listing nor showed the SS half of it in the listing's main photo, so I had no idea it was an SS license plate until I clicked the listing and saw more photos.







Note the ink stamp:



After I purchased it, I asked the seller if he could provide more info on it. He told me he dug it up in the district of Demyansk and then included photos of it after he found it:



The plate is very fragile because of the poor condition and rust, which rubs off as tiny specks when handling it.

Here is where I'm confused. Some people have said this plate is real while others have said that it's fake. Someone mentioned the plate not having vertically-centered holes as an indicator of it being not genuine. Does anyone know of any other Third Reich plates that do not have vertically-centered holes?

Also, if it is fake, why would someone waste their time in creating it, not advertise it as an SS license plate so you couldn't find it if you were looking for one, not include photos of it when dug up until after I buy it and ask, and devalue it by breaking it in half to sell it for only $125?

I would appreciate any input in understanding this as when I bought it, I had full confidence that it was real, but now I am questioning everything. Thanks!

[Danmark]

I still believe it is real, and good to see a stamp ( although they are usually in between the prefix and the numbers ) The metal pressing conforms to others I have seen - have a look at this thread..
SS License Plates

And the position of the holes could well be dependent on the vehicle it was fitted to. The corrosion is more believable than your sign, but I don't believe it came from THAT hole - I think the "in situ" photos are staged.....

Another thread to read through ....
Waffen SS motorcycle license plate for viewing.

Make up your mind from this.
Regards, Dan

[BrodieBartfast]

Looks alright to me, too. Especially in the close-up photographs. Corrosion like that is hard to fake convincingly, but you never know.

If you're looking to stabilise it, tea works well. Fill a bucket with warm water, dump in a pack of teabags and let it brew, then dump the plate in and leave it to soak for a few hours. Dry it in the sun, or in a sealed container with silica gel packets, and you shouldn't have any more problems with flaking. I used this treatment on a lake-found M42 helmet that was quite literally crumbling to dust, and had no issues with it afterwards.

Worth noting that the tea does darken the rust, so it will slightly alter its appearance.

Regards, B.B.

[sweersz]

Thanks a lot, guys. Great resources and input, I really appreciate it -- for real -- I love this forum.

I'm just curious (since you guys have been on this forum for a long time and I see you posting here often), have you ever heard of someone owning a specific WW2 item only to then recognize that same exact item in an old WW2 photo or film? I'm sure it's happened somewhere, sometime, right?

Come to think of it, I remember watching Mark Felton's video of a dude who ran across and picked up the car Reinhard Heydrich was assassinated in but not knowing it at the time until he discovered the rear-end damage, grew suspect, and then confirmed that it was in fact THE car! I love hearing about stories like that.

[Adrian Stevenson]

It looks fine to me.