shoulder boards question

[Hannibal]

hi i just checked several dealers web site and they all have lagre amount of shoulder boards for sale including several shoulder boards belong to generals, field marchalls or king. my question is how to determine a pair shoulder boards authenticity? also i would think field marshall or king's shoulder to be very very rare but it seems to me all major dearlers have few pairs for sale. what do u guys think?
thanks

[grnberet57]

Hannibal:

Great question. I think you have to realize these guys had somewhere between 7 and 20 uniforms they needed insignia for. Each set has shoulderboards etc. There were quite a few generals, princes, kings etc. Not surprisingly there are repops, but the real deal is out there and most of these dealers seem to have the real ones.

Kevin

[Hannibal]

Mr Rosemann and Mr Evens thank u for replying my questions. i am not here to make to any kind of accusation against any dealers that's why i didnt mention any dealers name. all i can say is that i didnt expect to see large amount of high ranking general shoulder boards for sale.
thanks

[grnberet57]

Hannibal:

No problem man. I felt in no way you were starting ttrouble or anything like that. It's good question because there does seem to be quite a lot of them out there, I'll admit that. Most of the ones I've seen are fake as a three dollar bill, BUT the real things are out there in better numbes than most people think. Good hunting!

Kevin

[Rick Research]

Another factor is that the current generation of what used to be the High Nobility is apparently cleaning-Schloss on a wholesale scale.

Items that have been filling back rooms in the family palace are now being swept out for ready cash by the truckload.

Which, oddly enough, makes it currently easier (if by no means cheaper!) to obtain minty belongings of some obscure highly placed lounge lizard of a Prince than service uniform effects of much lower ranking officers.

Here, it is always a good idea to check and verify attribution (or see if "anonymous" items can BE attributed) from reference sources likethe annual Ranglisten of the imperial armies. These can date and place exact ownership of boards being sold "namelessly" by the great-grandchildren.