Greetings and Happy Holidays!
I've been given a chance to evaluate a personal stamp supposedly used by Rommel as "Oberbefehlshaber der PanzerArmee Afrika".
In starting this thread I will attach images of the stamp itself, the ink impression of the stamp that would have been used on any document with Rommel's signature. I will also attach examples of original award documents signed by Rommel in Africa.
The stamp itself looks original with a well used (and appears to be 60+ years old) wooden handle. The metal stamping is also correctly secured to the wood handle. If you have Dal McGuirk's book on "Rommel's Army in Africa", you can easily compare this stamp with color plate #134 which is General Neumann-Silkow's personal document stamp.
However, I do have two concerns with this stamp:
1. I've never seen this stamp on any period documents signed by Rommel while in command of PanzerArmee Africa. I have seen other stamps used but not this one.
2. "Rommel" is in the middle of the stamp (underneath the eagle/swastika) which is highly unusual. I've never seen the name of the unit's commanding officer on any other personal stamp.
I know fake unit ink stamps have been made to create fake award documents but have never seen this particular stamp.
Please help me in evaluating the originality of this stamp. It came out of a private collection in Seattle, Washington (USA). Any thoughts or references to other comparable examples of personal stamps would be greatly appreciated!
Best regards,
David
I've been given a chance to evaluate a personal stamp supposedly used by Rommel as "Oberbefehlshaber der PanzerArmee Afrika".
In starting this thread I will attach images of the stamp itself, the ink impression of the stamp that would have been used on any document with Rommel's signature. I will also attach examples of original award documents signed by Rommel in Africa.
The stamp itself looks original with a well used (and appears to be 60+ years old) wooden handle. The metal stamping is also correctly secured to the wood handle. If you have Dal McGuirk's book on "Rommel's Army in Africa", you can easily compare this stamp with color plate #134 which is General Neumann-Silkow's personal document stamp.
However, I do have two concerns with this stamp:
1. I've never seen this stamp on any period documents signed by Rommel while in command of PanzerArmee Africa. I have seen other stamps used but not this one.
2. "Rommel" is in the middle of the stamp (underneath the eagle/swastika) which is highly unusual. I've never seen the name of the unit's commanding officer on any other personal stamp.
I know fake unit ink stamps have been made to create fake award documents but have never seen this particular stamp.
Please help me in evaluating the originality of this stamp. It came out of a private collection in Seattle, Washington (USA). Any thoughts or references to other comparable examples of personal stamps would be greatly appreciated!
Best regards,
David
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