Unusual denazified aluminium Heer buckle - flatback?

[groundgunner]

Here is the latest addition to my growing collection of denazified buckles. Spotted it on a well known internet auction site (the .de version) and took a chance at 20 euros. I think it's an injection moulded, flat back buckle, possibly by Christian Schröder? But it could well be a duffer. Someone put me out of my misery!

[Ben Evans]

Buckle is for sure original and for Euros 20 a bargain

[kirby]

A hard to find Heer buckle. This is what it originally looked like. Why do you collect denazified buckles? Kirby

[groundgunner]

Thanks Ben and Kirby - without this forum I think I'd either waste a lot of money on fakes or give up collecting buckles entirely. So thanks to everyone here.

On why I collect denazified buckles, initially it was because they are generally a lot cheaper and I felt I could learn a bit about how to spot genuine buckles without risking too much money. I feel that's going reasonably well so far! And the denazified buckles are more widely available - online auctions sites seem happy to host auctions of denazified material (despite the strict terms of their rules, which probably should mean even denazified material is in breach).

As time passes, I have sort of decided to keep to the denazified ones (for now at least). I know a lot of collectors (and not just of militaria) like mint examples. They certainly have a higher value and if investment is your aim, that makes a lot of sense. For me, however, the attraction is about holding a piece of history. I like the fact that they have a bit of age about them. And, as I understand it, some of these buckles will have been denazified by German POWs or post-war - after the swastika was banned - so that the buckles could still be used.