LAH officer's bullion cufftitle help please

**LuckystrikeM42** · 03-24-2023, 01:00 AM

Hello, good fellows
Firstly I hope everyone is doing well. I have been into SS insignia for quite some time but have never had the pleasure of owning a good cufftitle from any particular division. I recently acquired this LAH officers cufftitle, thankfully I didn't spend to much on it. I took a risk because it looked good in the pictures and from my knowledge, it has 7 silver strands on the bottom and the top, which I know to be a good thing. It appears to be uniform removed as well, and passes the old black light test. I may do a burn test as well. It also feels and looks high quality, although that doesn't always mean something is genuine.

LAH officer's bullion cufftitle help please

I'm not very good with LAH cufftitles, so please guys, can you help me out with authentication? I had good luck with my recent Tropical Luftwaffe tunic on the forum here, so hopefully this is a good one. Although the price I paid may reflect its originality!! Thanks for any help, I tried with the pictures!

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 03-24-2023 01:00 AM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**Rich Moran** · 03-24-2023, 04:48 AM

Here are 2 known originals, one from Mike Beavers book and the one with the red background out of my personal collection.

**LuckystrikeM42** · 03-25-2023, 04:08 AM

Rich,
Those cufftitles look excellent, and although there are slight differences in them, they are fairly close to one another. Mine most likely isn't authentic, I would like to believe it is but that is why I've asked for help. If it's not real, it may be one the 70's or 80's fakes. Thanks for any help guys!

**Rich Moran** · 03-25-2023, 05:08 AM

LuckstrikeM42, Don't be so quick to discount originality.

If you touch the bullion to your lips it should be cold. If it is not it's imitation bullion. Signifies reproduction.

Can you lift any of the titles backing material to take a shot of the stitching?

It's thought that the material should be deep blue almost blue-purple in color. Yours appears to be black.

Your cuff title seems to be quite sparkly on the borders. What kind of image does it produce in sun light and not artificial light?

The cuff title on the red back ground is 6 strand as well.

**LuckystrikeM42** · 03-27-2023, 03:13 AM

Rich,

The bullion does seem to be fairly cold feeling upon touching my lips. I would say it definitely has a better chance with that being the case. Also, the pictures I have shown here were done with natural light coming through my window, no lights on. I can take some with it outside very soon. I will also see if I can see behind the backing, although I don't want to ruin it.

**Rich Moran** · 03-27-2023, 04:03 AM

If the backing is totally intact don't disturb it. What you'd be looking for is a weave with withe stranded thread that has no bullion on it. It is thicker than a single strand...hard to explain. If I get a chance I'll post an image of the obverse of mine so you can see what it looks like. I like what I see but unsure of the black backing and frankly I don't recall if mine even has the backing let alone what color it is.

**Rich Moran** · 03-27-2023, 04:10 AM

Just found these 2 on the web. One does have the black backing as you can see. I have mine in a display cabinet and have to go dig it out. The web was quicker to find these 2.

**Rich Moran** · 03-27-2023, 06:00 AM

The rear of the LAH cuff title in my collection. Note the deep purple color of the material the stitching runs through. The cuff title is one of the earliest produced 6 strand LAH bullion cuff titles

**Putzi** · 03-27-2023, 08:15 AM

Here is my 1936 cuff title for comparison.

**LuckystrikeM42** · 03-28-2023, 12:48 AM

Rich,

Well it's good to see that the cufftitle having a black backing may also indicate originality, as mine has the black backing like the one you have pictured. I definitely do not want to disturb the backing to try and see behind it, but when I run my fingers over it I can feel the thick stitching underneath, it feels raised and so assume it would look close to one of the ones you have pictured here. The bullion is also cold to the lips as you stated. I also wasn't quite aware that if a LAH cufftitle has anything other than 7 silver strands, it can also mean it's authentic.

Very interesting to see your original early title with 6 strands. If my cufftitle isn't real, it's very convincing. Its really the only piece of SS insignia I have ever purchased with the hopes of it not being a reproduction. I'm pretty good with most other insignia but the Allgemeine cufftitles and even the Waffen SS titles can be confusing as far as what things you really need to look for. I still have lots to learn. Thank you everyone, and thanks Rich!