Your take is requested: Is this DAK ring authentic?

[zman]

Hello!

I spend a little time here and there with a metal detector getting in some steps and looking for deep silvers. Last weekend in Walla Walla Washington, in a parking strip right next to Menlo Park, I found a man's sterling ring. One side says DAK with palm trees, the other side has a palm tree, pyramid, and cactus landscape, and the face of the ring has a similar palm/pyramid landscape motif.

It appears to be hand made, there are no marks. It was about 5 inches deep in a dried up parking strip, I found wheat cents at around the same depth in the same parking strip. There was some surface corrosion, which made me think it was not a silver ring at first. I soaked it in vinegar for a few hours and 80% of the corrosion wiped off with a cloth.

I took it to a coin shop. They used an analyzer xray machine and told me it is a sterling ring with a 10k gold face plate, but they couldn't say as to if it was a real WWII artifact.

Research (google) lead me to find other examples online, as well as the history of the rings, and the many fakes which seem to be out there (I'm looking at you ebay).

I'd like to solicit the opinions of experts, such as yourselves. I can take better pictures, these are the first few moments after it was out of the ground.

I have questions.., is it authentic? If so, does the lack of the traditional symbol on these rings affect desirability and/or value? What is a more likely explanation for how it arrived in eastern Washington State? It is my understanding that some DAK POWs were relocated to the states. It is also my understanding that American GI's brought home artifacts, perhaps acquired via trading or looting.


Thanks for your time, and I appreciate your take.

Jim

[SpitfireVb]

I think it's either a fake or it's an old N Africa (but not necessarily a DAK) ring that has had 'DAK' engraved on it later than WW2. In the first place, the design is atypical and lacks the swastika that you'd expect to see on a real DAK ring. Secondly just about all authentic DAK rings are marked '1941'. Third, even if it really is Sterling silver, let alone with a '10k gold face plate', most authentic DAK rings are of a cheap, silver-plated alloy. Is there a silver (or gold) content mark? If so, why isn't it shown? Fourth, however it ended up in WA State, USA, is less of a question than why on earth would anyone bury it there? Assuming that someone did actually bury it there. Even if this ring did actually originate in North Africa, my guess is that the 'DAK' motif was engraved (on the side? WTF?) much later.
Me, I no longer touch anything that is supposedly ground-dug. It's usually nonsense, or the ring was buried a few years ago by the same guy who's selling it. Pfft! Some of us here have been burned too often in the past to be conned by a ring like this. I wouldn't have it in my collection. Sorry.

[zman]

Thanks for your take on this! It is quite possible the lettering was added after the fact. I'm no expert, however your assumptions that these hand made rings had typical designs and all real ones meet some design standards seems absurd to me. Here's one with a similar design, and it doesn't even say DAK. Do you think this one is fake?

A Fine Afrikakorps Silver & Gold Ring - Rings - Third Reich Flags & Militaria - Germany - Europe

For that matter, the designs and materials differ greatly:

Rings - Third Reich Flags & Militaria - Germany - Europe

Are all of these that are silver and gold or say 1943 fake?

Or how about these various customized Afrika Korps rings on display at the Sgt. Richard Penry Medal of Honor Memorial Military Museum in Petaluma, California:

File:Afrika Korps rings.JPG - Wikimedia Commons

All fake since they don't say DAK on the face or 1941?

I'm a noob and I can tell that isn't true.

Nobody "buried" it. I'm not a pirate searching for buried treasure. A parking strip is a patch of grass between a sidewalk and the road. People park, get out of their cars, and live their lives. Up until the 1960's, those people lost silver coins. I hunt for them.

Washington State was pivotal to WWII, I work near what is left of the Hanford project. Walla Walla had an Army airfield.

I trust the coin shop, and their analyzer far beyond your hunches; it is silver and gold.

It isn't for sale, I'm not asking you to buy it. By "some of us" it sounds like you've done bought some junk a few times, and are now throwing shade my way. Sorry.

- - ------- - -

[Anderson]

The ring itself could be a genuine Egypt souvenir ring common in the mid 20th Century. The "DAK" looks like an after thought but anyone's guess when that was added.

[Watchdog]

Thanks for your take on this! It is quite possible the lettering was added after the fact. I'm no expert, however your assumptions that these hand made rings had typical designs and all real ones meet some design standards seems absurd to me. Here's one with a similar design, and it doesn't even say DAK. Do you think this one is fake?

A Fine Afrikakorps Silver & Gold Ring - Rings - Third Reich Flags & Militaria - Germany - Europe

For that matter, the designs and materials differ greatly:

Rings - Third Reich Flags & Militaria - Germany - Europe

Are all of these that are silver and gold or say 1943 fake?

Or how about these various customized Afrika Korps rings on display at the Sgt. Richard Penry Medal of Honor Memorial Military Museum in Petaluma, California:

File:Afrika Korps rings.JPG - Wikimedia Commons

All fake since they don't say DAK on the face or 1941?

I'm a noob and I can tell that isn't true.

Nobody "buried" it. I'm not a pirate searching for buried treasure. A parking strip is a patch of grass between a sidewalk and the road. People park, get out of their cars, and live their lives. Up until the 1960's, those people lost silver coins. I hunt for them.

Washington State was pivotal to WWII, I work near what is left of the Hanford project. Walla Walla had an Army airfield.

I trust the coin shop, and their analyzer far beyond your hunches; it is silver and gold.

It isn't for sale, I'm not asking you to buy it. By "some of us" it sounds like you've done bought some junk a few times, and are now throwing shade my way. Sorry.

- - ------- - -

Hmm, you say you are no expert then proceed to call someone absurd in his opinion which you solicited. That opinion from a collector who is fairly well versed in the subject is certainly not "throwing shade your way". I don't actually know what that means but it sounds pretty negative ?

Do you note anyone else here howling and calling him down for making an "absurd" statement? No neither do I.

Just about every last one of us here has bought a "duck egg" at some point and TR rings of all types are a literal minefield even for experts with solid provenance being pretty essential for complete satisfaction. Remember that these items were not official issue or even production and all DAK items are heavily faked.

If you don't want to hear a negative opinion rather than one that says "oh you lucky devil, what a treasure" then don't ask. Otherwise take account of what is offered in response to your question. You don't have to accept it but don't argue just because you in your inexperience don't like it.

All fairly meant and said without prejudice.

Mark
PS Parking strip is not common vernacular outside the US but most of us here are sufficiently intelligent to understand the term even non native English speakers of which there are many here.

[SpitfireVb]

To me, a DAK ring has 'DAK' engraved on it, with or without the familiar palm tree and swastika DAK emblem. Otherwise, even if it is genuinely a period piece from 1941-ish (which is the date on just about every DAK ring I ever saw), if it doesn't indicate some link to the German armed forces it is, in my opinion, simply a souvenir ring from North Africa. They were available, often made with cheap alloys, from local craftsmen and were popular with all servicemen there, not just Germans. Even without 'DAK' or the DAK emblem, some of these rings are beautiful.

As already noted, the big question about the ring here is, when was 'DAK' added? Perhaps it was brought back to the US by a vet and the 'DAK' was engraved at a later date. But we will never know. So, maybe it is a genuine period piece but modified God knows when. Welcome to the Wonderful World Of Third Reich Rings! And it was free, so a cool find.

My use of the word 'fake' was probably misplaced. Apologies for that.

[Evgeniy]

ring was made in style of period ww2 time (DAK)
but almost impossible to proving that ring was made for germany soldier from DAK
I like ring with standard sybol - Palm tree with DAK 1941