AH Silverware oppinions

[Berghof]

Dante Gambino - You have all good items. Congrats on the find.

Here are some examples of pseudo AH silverware being auctioned off now. All complete rubbish.

[Maximus71]

Wow it's scary how close the fake monogramed eagle looks compared to the real thing. The napkin rings are bogus IMO also, I just picked up a formal pattern fork and it's nice knowing its genuine. Feel sorry for the guy who buys that other crap. But then again research and study always pay off in the end!! Nice find btw hope you get a great deal on it!!!

[ErichS]

Wow it's scary how close the fake monogramed eagle looks compared to the real thing. The napkin rings are bogus IMO also, I just picked up a formal pattern fork and it's nice knowing its genuine. Feel sorry for the guy who buys that other crap. But then again research and study always pay off in the end!! Nice find btw hope you get a great deal on it!!!

Not scary at all as this style eagle swastika and AH are completely wrong for the serving pieces and all it takes is a little research.

[Berghof]

Wow it's scary how close the fake monogramed eagle looks compared to the real thing. The napkin rings are bogus IMO also, I just picked up a formal pattern fork and it's nice knowing its genuine. Feel sorry for the guy who buys that other crap. But then again research and study always pay off in the end!! Nice find btw hope you get a great deal on it!!!

Agreed with the napkin rings. Complete ginned up garbage. The poorly engraved Greek pattern just pushes this stuff over the edge. I've reached out to these auction houses before, notifying them that this stuff is fake....they don't respond and still sell the junk.

[Br. James]

Berghof: regarding the platter and coffee service pieces you show in note #16 -- do these pieces show any maker's marks on them?

And of course I agree with you that these are fake pieces; just interested in knowing how far the fakers are going!

Thanks again for keeping us on our toes,

Br. James

[Maximus71]

What about the cigar boxes? Such as on Wittmanns site, if bruckmann made only serving utensils then everything with that style raised eagle and AH initials is bad? Does not surprise me if so just wonder how the big boys of the industry don't acknowledge this...or does it just come down to good ole fashion greed.

[Berghof]

Berghof: regarding the platter and coffee service pieces you show in note #16 -- do these pieces show any maker's marks on them?

And of course I agree with you that these are fake pieces; just interested in knowing how far the fakers are going!

Thanks again for keeping us on our toes,

Br. James

Br. James, they are all stamped with a fake Bruckmann stamp. I'll attach some pictures tomorrow.

Regards,
Mike

[Berghof]

Br. James - Here are the pictures of the Bruckmann Hallmarks. I wouldn't want any of these items in my collection. You'd figure the tea service would have heavy tarnish considering it's supposed to be 92.5% solid silver. It just doesn't look right.

[Berghof]

What about the cigar boxes? Such as on Wittmanns site, if bruckmann made only serving utensils then everything with that style raised eagle and AH initials is bad? Does not surprise me if so just wonder how the big boys of the industry don't acknowledge this...or does it just come down to good ole fashion greed.

Maximus71 - Wittmanns box is good. See below attached photos of a good box and a bad box.

[Berghof]

Fake Cigar Box - All these fake pieces use the same party eagle stamp. Some poor guy paid around $13,500 USD after auction fees for this fake piece.

[Br. James]

There is confusion here and I think the reason for that lack of clarity is that there were two different firms which used the name "Wellner" involved. As I wrote earlier, "Plates, platters, bowls and all sorts of other implements other than table utensils were made by the firm of Sächsische Metallwarenfabrik August Wellner Söhne AG, or the Saxon Metalware Factory of August Wellner’s Sons, Inc. – located in the village of Aue in Saxony. Wellner's work for Hitler came in different contents of silver and silver-plating, depending on the use of the item, and Wellner products bore Hitler's monogram produced by roll-engraving, not in relief." There was also the firm of F.H. Wellner Silversmiths which apparently was a smaller business that created specialty items in high-grade silver content such as .925 (Sterling); some of these items included the silver picture frames made especially for Hitler for presentation purposes and others which included the eagle and swastika plus the "AH" initials in relief, and also the cigar box currently offered by Tom Wittmann. The larger firm of August Wellner's Sons -- a/k/a "Original Wellner" -- did not produce articles with the raised "AH" and the eagle and swastika, instead their products were roll-engraved and possibly hand-engraved.

The Formal (State) and the Informal Pattern silverware with the raised "AH" and the eagle and swastika were only made by the Bruckmann firm. Definitely confusing...!!

Br. James

[Maximus71]

Thank you for clearing it up!

[BrianK]

Which auction house is offering the fake AH silver items?

[Berghof]

For further clarification, Bruckmann never manufactured the cigarette or cigar boxes for Hitler. The firm FHW, Franz and Hermann Wandinger of Munich produced them.

The auction house is C & T auctions of UK.

[BrianK]

To me the AH cigar box is the "Holy Grail" of AH silver pieces. It is one of the rarest & most wanted items. If I had a AH silverware collection in my house, and there was a fire, I'd grab it first and head out.