Schwerin Blockade Breaker cases

[Norm F]

Norm, I believe this mini to be original to this set as I obtained the set in very fine condition 39 years ago.

Richard

Could very well be, Richard. Mind you that was 1975 so still 30 years after the war. Was it a Canadian vet bring back or from another collector, do you recall?

At any rate, I'd say we've established already in this thread (with Marcus' assistance) that the less common "Type B" case like yours was an original wartime case using the "2599 D&B" embossed inserts. The remaining question (perhaps unanswerable) is whether certain cases were used by Schwerin in the factory vs. others available in LDO shops? Or were they both used by Schwerin? Weitze has a zinc Meybauer set in the Type B case but of course we don't know if that was always in that combination. Marcus posted a PAB with mini in the Type B case and again we don't know if they came like that. However, it strikes me that so far we haven't seen anything but Schwerin Blockade Breaker sets in the Type A set. That's what lead me to speculate that the Type B case might be from LDO shops instead of from Schwerin while the Type A case was stocked by Schwerin for filling orders.

But it's just theory of course. And then there's the small case as well. Could it be Schwerin used this one later on with the 9 mm mini after the PK forbid the use of any size other then 9 mm in 1943 for military personnel when in civilian clothes?

Best regards,
---Norm

[RichardT]

Norm, you can see from the fading inside the case that it probably never had a larger mini by the fading. I purchased the set from a local coin dealer along with a near mint Juncker HK. The fellow wasn't a dealer in militaria but just happened to pick them up. Don't remember much more than that.

Richard

[Norm F]

Norm, you can see from the fading inside the case that it probably never had a larger mini by the fading.

I don't know, when you look at the other Type B cases posted with large minis you can't see faded circles from those minis either. Maybe because of the pin attachment the air gets behind the mini and causes the same oxidation as the exposed areas over time. I notice also the retaining loop for the mini has been lost at some point, like in one of these examples.

But I'm not saying your set didn't always have those components; it very well could have, maybe put together after the mid-1943 date when large minis were forbidden by the PK? Certainly they're both Schwerin products and belong together in that sense.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Norm F]

Here's a really interesting set posted by greg1878.

It's the early zinc version combined with the usual Halbminiatur, but the case is the most interesting part (to me anyway). It has the interior lining construction of the "Type A" but the exterior of the "Type B". I guess this isn't so surprising since we now know that both types of inserts have the same "2599 D&B" markings suggesting the same maker -- perhaps a transitional piece between the two types.

First the case.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Norm F]

.

[Norm F]

...and the contents. It's another example of the "double porthole" zinc variant that we've seen posted from time to time.