BGS field cap

[RodneyO]

Hi All,
Here's a field cap that I have had for quite some time, forgotten and just sitting around picking up dust. I vacuumed the dust off and moved it to a better place in my "new" small West German collection as I'm now just getting into West German militaria. It's dated 1967 and from the liner a BGS. Did these field caps have any insignia on the front and what type did they use?
Thank you,
Rodney
BGS Field Cap:f.jpg
BGS Field Cap:s.jpg

[RodneyO]

interior:
BGS Field Cap:i.jpg

[Gordon Craig]

Rodney,

Check out this thread. In particular, post #6.
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...light=bgs+caps

Klaus is the resident expert who collects BGS only.
Nice cap by the way.

Regards,

Gordon

[RodneyO]

Thanks Gordon for the thread link. Klaus's and Steve's cap look very similar to the one I posted. Klaus's cap on the right has the same two row stitching around the edge of the visor and there is only one grommet vent hole on each side of my cap
The sweat shield is marked: WOLFGANG SCHMIDT WS BERLIN, Mutzen Schmidt, B.G.S. 328 - 67, 1967, 60. Does the B.G.S. stand for Bundesgrenzschutz?

Aloha,
Rodney

[ReinerMB42]

BGS-Cap

Hi Rodney,

nice cap you have! Yes, the B.G.S. means "Bundesgrenzschutz".
If you´re in need for a cockade, mail me your adress, and I´ll send you one.

Best regards

Reiner

[Gordon Craig]

Rodney,

In addition to what Reiner has said, some BGS items are marked BUND as well.

Regards,

Gordon

[Collectinsteve]

Gordon makes an excellent point, which is unfortunately a big source of confusion for collectors. "BUND" is often mistaken for the same as "BGS", but this is not true. Something marked "BUND" might be BGS or it might not be, but something marked "BGS" is always BGS. It's something to watch out for.

Steve

[RodneyO]

Thank you Reiner, Gordon and Steve,
Information well taken !!!...
Can't remember when I pick this up but must have been over 25 years ago.
As I'm new to West German Militaria, is there a big difference in price between Bundeswehr and BGS militaria?

Aloha,
Rodney

[Gordon Craig]

Rodney,

As in most collecting areas, some things are more sought after than others and in this case BGS stuff seems to draw the most interest of the two. Generally, BGS stuff can be a little more expensive but certain areas are more so. Such as early cammo etc. That being said, there is not huge difference in value between the two organizations.

Regards,

Gordon

[RodneyO]

Thank you Gordon!
Now to decide which one do I start collecting.
Been looking for some websites and only found two, Gowen Militaria and Trident Military but no early 50's and 60's stuffs. Do you know any sites here in the states that deals with early Post-war West German militaria?

Aloha,
Rodney

[Nachrichten]

Try Siegmund Stefan.

http://www.stephan.de/

He also sells on Ebay de.

N

[Gordon Craig]

Rodney,

There are no dealers who handle early BW stuff in the U.S. It is too rare there for that. It is available in Germany which is where I usually buy my early BW items. The odd piece does show up in North America. Usually from ebay.de. Gowen deals more with East Germany and Trident is primarily Soviet based. Collecting only early BW outside of Germany will not be very successful. Good luck in your selected field.

Regards,

Gordon

Thank you Gordon!
Now to decide which one do I start collecting.
Been looking for some websites and only found two, Gowen Militaria and Trident Military but no early 50's and 60's stuffs. Do you know any sites here in the states that deals with early Post-war West German militaria?

Aloha,
Rodney

[Collectinsteve]

Gordon is spot on. US collectors of early BW stuff are in a tight spot. Without access to German eBay, a German bank account, and often a German shipping address... it's a tough area to get into. There's no amount of networking that can give the breadth and depth of items that German eBay can. Even Siegmund Stefan's webstore, which is massive in scope, doesn't have the variety even though it an excellent resource for hard to find items. Expensive, often, but a resource I've used many times. Though it was much nicer when the exchange rate was .90 Euros to the Dollar instead of 1.4 Dollars to the Euro!

Another warning. Getting rid of extras on US eBay usually results in really low prices. There's just so little demand for it here in the US. Only the camouflage items tend to get consistently good prices.

Steve

[RodneyO]

Thanks Gordon and Steve,
Didn't know I was in for some hard to find (in the USA) militaria!!! Can't believe they'll be so difficult to find, just glad I kept what I had and not get rid of them for some WW2 stuffs.....

Aloha,
Rodney

[ReinerMB42]

Early BW-Stuff

Hi Gentlemen,

even here in Germany those things are getting expensive.....
During my time in the BW 1982-92 there had been only few people interested in
collecting BW; now everybody and his brother wants it....

Have a nice day

Reiner