dog tag from berlin

[JC620]

I just bought this. any thoughts are greatly appreciated

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...MEWN:IT&ih=001

[John Allen]

dog tag

Your dog tag is an original WW1 tag issued to a man from Berlin. He was assigned to Infantrie Regiment 460 9th Kompanie and his number looks like 381. It looks like a standard issue tag and not a private purchase one.

[JC620]

thanx john, what do you mean by standard issue and not private purchase

[John Allen]

dog tag

The dog tag that you have was issued to the soldier by the military. A private purchase tag could be bought by the soldier and was of a higher quality. Most private purchase tags that I have seen were to officers or occasionally NCO's. They almost always have the information engraved onto them instead of being stamped and are made from better metal such as nickle or even silver. They are also usually smaller in size and do not have the slits in them such as a model 1878 tag. Some of them are really nice looking tags. Your tag is a later war issue[1917/18].