ss id discs...originals?

[rhj]

is anyone familiar with the ss id discs offered by n&t militaria in n.j. or the third reich depot in colo.? i would greatly appreciate any comments as to thoughts of authenticity. thank you...rhj

[Gaspare]

I did not see any SS on TRD site..

On N&Ts..Well,,Myself I am very skeptical of all SS tags..Again there are none that would get me to spend my money on..Either they are too 'generic' looking or 'trying to hard' . On the generic or plain type font stamp they could be good .

You always have to check order of battle/unit designations to see if the unit even existed first! then on the plain type looking ones you next have to compare with other known original tags of the same unit type that are close in soldiers number to see if there are similarities. If your going 2 for 2 then your doing very good! Examine tag in hand to check for the ageing and general appearence..If your satisfied[the most important] with all your findings and examination, good! buy it.

On some SS tags they are field replaced tags to the unit.. Then do the above and check known fakes for similarities ,,after that you just got to have a little faith! ...

If your interested in tags grab the Hoidal book and also start a photo file for comparisons. I have over 100 fake SS tags on file and just as many originals on file also. I have stopped collecting tags a few years ago but still have about 50 SS that I own and refer to also. And network your ass off!!! These type forums are best thing since sliced bread!! .. , G.

[Matt L]

Hi rhj,

The last one, the Heer Panzerjäger disc, is the one I have the least problem with- it's WAY overpriced (is really worth maybe $10-$15), but it's probably real. It's misidentified though- the proper unit is 1. Kompanie Panzerjäger Abteilung 383. I've never actually seen a disc marked to a Panzerjäger Abteilung- usually they're Panzerjäger Erstatz Abtilungen- but if it is an early war one (Panzer Abwehr was redesignated Panzerjäger in March 1940), it is possible.

As for the SS discs- I'm not really thrilled with any of them. Both the Nordland and Wiking discs- especially the Nordland- have the appearance of newly-stamped old blanks. See the way there is a light 'halo' around the letters and the backs are dark where the letters are- the halo could be caused by surface material flaking away due to the impact and the dark back from the anvil. If the disc were in fact in the ground for 60 years or even just that old, I'd expect an even patina. Furthermore, the abbreviation for 'Freiwillige' on two of them (Nordland and Langemarck) is odd- it's one word in German, and not even a compund noun, and yet on both discs it's written as if 'Frei' and 'willige' were two separate words. This could perhaps be attributed to a non-German's misunderstanding of a German word, but that's hard to say.

The use of all capitols and the particular style of them makes me think I'd need to really look at them more closely- compare them to others I've determined to be fakes, and see if the 'fonts' match.

Honestly, overall, I'd pass on all of them. If somone could give an iron-clad provenance for one or all, that'd be quite different- but I would really only trust a first-hand source, i.e. if the disc(s) came to N&T from the family of the original wearer. And only if that can be demonstrated...

Matt