SS Cap Skull - RZM M1/52 - Deschler & Sohn - Info / Authenticity?

**Montipoll** · 10-13-2023, 12:48 AM

From my stepdad's collection.
SS Cap Skull marked RZM M1/52, which is Deschler & Sohn according to the sticky?
Seems to be a lot of variety and slight differences and variations in style of these. Hopefully this is a real one?

Any further information / considered condition / rarity I can add to put with it would be greatly appreciated.
Included a few pics of it on different backgrounds.

SS Cap Skull - RZM M1/52 - Deschler & Sohn - Info / Authenticity?

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 10-13-2023 12:48 AM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**Aldo** · 10-13-2023, 01:57 AM

Unfortunately this skull is a cast replica. You can see the eye orbit and nasal cavity are distorted. Also the areas in red circles show a lot of cast residue. The reverse of the skull also shows cast residue all around the perimeter of the eye orbits and nasal cavity. These are just a few of the tell tale signs

Here are two nice crisp Deschler's to compare with

Also in that first picture you can see the porous surface almost like small pockmarks also indicate this was made in a mold not stamped from a die.

**Montipoll** · 10-14-2023, 11:10 PM

Thanks so much Aldo for taking the time to help authenticate it, aww and quite gutting really! - I did get excited when we found it inside a little wallet that he had put with the rest of his collection. I have no doubt some other pieces will likely be fake, but that's why I'm so happy to have come across this forum and the wealth of knowledge you have here

Strangely, looking at it again now, I also noticed this section of the skull, no others seem to go that far across, have you seen any other fakes with the same? Weird haha!

**Aldo** · 10-14-2023, 11:47 PM

No I have not seen one with these defects but that eye and nose are all distorted. It's as though the mold was moved before it set.

**another ant** · 10-15-2023, 02:10 AM

I cannot assure you if it is original or a copy.

but I can tell you what it is
OR
what is trying to copy.

a zinc Deschler skull type , made with the die of an aluminum Deschler skull type.

Some questions arise in this OP skull.

- Were the eye holes in this skull made larger to fix the manufacturing error that some of these have in the left eye due to the change in material? or only a cast replica failure ?

- There were two molds for these aluminum to zinc skulls, this OP skull has and lacks details of the two types, it is a mixture, why? or only a cast replica failure ?

match

not match

but match with the reverse of the other die ?

- The silver finish not the usual one, it looks very solid and hard , also I think this type of skulls did not have a silver finish or that's what all the ones shown by collectors look like without. big red flag ?

In short, this skull is not a one-look OK , as everyone likes.
I would have liked to get it for study and realize test with it.
I'm sorry I cannot provide a definitive answer on my part.

**Montipoll** · 10-15-2023, 02:19 AM

Thank you Another Ant, that's very interesting analysis. I can see now that your one has the same elongated cheek section too! Interesting.
I would be happy to take more pictures of it /any parts of it, if that would be helpful.
I can tell you that it feels very lightweight. My mum thought at first it was made of a metal-look plastic haha.

**Montipoll** · 10-19-2023, 12:52 AM

Not sure it's of any help but I did take this short video of it after I took the original photos.
I will pop it in my lightbox and get some extra pics soon.

**Montipoll** · 10-23-2023, 03:52 PM

Here are some more pictures which may help to decipher:

My scales aren't most accurate for this type of thing but it comes up between 2-3g on them:

**Aldo** · 10-23-2023, 04:14 PM

Those photo's are much better for evaluation. I don't claim to be an expert of any kind. However I own more than 25 different types of Deschler's which gives me the luxury of examining many up close. I still believe it's a fairly good quality replica. The defects in the eye and nose and in particular the sloppy inner rims of the sockets really stand out. Not something you usually see in a nicely stamped badge but rather a sloppy residue from a mold. The most off putting thing about the skull is the material, unlike anything I own or have seen. Not aluminum, not cupal not zinc then what is it?

I however don't study them as in-depth as our colleague anotherant, if he says it's authentic then I acquiesce to his knowledge

**another ant** · 10-24-2023, 06:03 AM

Aldo, you have been right from the beginning.

With this new information, it could only be an aluminum skull and the zinc one would be ruled out.

with the new photos provided
Obviously it is not an aluminum Deschler or any material used in the original SS skulls as you say.
and the casting flaws and the mirror silver finish stand out, which has just confirmed the falsity of this piece.

The final verdict on my part is that it is a cast copy trying to imitate a zinc deschler skull type, made with the die of an aluminum Deschler skull type.

In short, I have reached the same conclusion as Aldo but taking a much longer, bumpier and slower path.

sorry Montipoll , wish it had been authentic but that's not the case.