Third Reich ring???

[Justin]

This have any chance of bein orginal? was it based on a orginal design?

[Ralph A]

Could be.

Many of these rings were fashoined "in the field" as souvineers for the soldiers. Even though this one may seem somewhat crude, I've seen cruder... especially amongst the wartime "Afrika corps" souvineer variety, that were (are) original.

So bottom line is it's hard to tell. From the "patina" and wear, it looks period. The motto is spelled correctly; eagle seems to be OK, though it sure looks more like an "American" eagle... Is that the SS rune in the claw? Any markings on the inside, or otherwise?

[Vadim K]

Since it has an SS motto, I am pretty sure those are SS runes the eagle is holding. You do have to remember that any items even remotely related to SS are to be treated with extreme caution.

As far as rings in general, there are hundreds of fake ones coming out of Eastern Europe every day. Many of them are heavy, well-made, and have a patina. Ironically, if you see a crude "trench art" DAK or West Wall piece, you have better chances of getting a genuine ring, our Polish/Latvian friends rarely dabble in those, they prefer SS and pilot rings.

Could this one be genuine? It most certainly could. What are the chances of it being genuine though? Almost nil. Unless this one is cheap and you want it as a curio, I would stay away.

[Justin]

on the other side of the design there is an rzm logo, a 900 stamp and an 800 stamp in diffrent little boxes, along with another 8 stamp. the story i got with it was it was found in the bottom of a box at a garage sale 20 year's ago. the eagle design is on both sides of the ring.

[Vadim K]

hi Justin,
to add to my post above, Eastern European fakes are very often RZM and silver-content stamped. Besides, why would you have an 800 AND a 900 stamp? Hmmmmm....

[Justin]

when i first saw it i was 99% positive it was not orginal, so i bought it for the silver value

[Justin]

working with jewelry for along time alot of older silver is marked 2 or 3 times

[Vadim K]

yeah, you are right actually, I just realized that. In any case, better to err on the side of caution. I take it you didnt pay too much for the ring?

[Justin]

to much nahh 5.00

[Vadim K]

cool...

[James Noble]

The small eagle head on the side of the ring appears to be the same as the sniper insignia.

[Duzig]

Ring

Hello,
Just my 2 cents but I would imagine it's a fake. It doesn't seem very detailed & I have a buckle with the same eagle and with the same mein ehre ist treue on it and on the back all sorts of markings. The buckle is quite impressive but again I believe it's a repro or fantasy piece. I bought it at least 20 or 30 years ago as a repro and if I'm correct I've seen a posting relating to this ring on German daggers.com. If I am mistaken about a posting on GD.com you might go there and post a query regarding your ring. There are a couple of forums where you could post it. For the price you paid though cool ring.
Good luck,
Duzig

[Erich B.]

ring

I believe it's a fake as well. Globe Militaria used to sell these along with fantasy Totenkopf rings, Luftwaffe flying school graduation rings, and numerous other designs in the 1970's and early 80's. A private purchase ring would not be RZM'd, and it makes no sense to have an 800 and 900 stamping. Like the reproduction buckles, these pieces were heavily marked!
That said, $5.00 is a very reasonable price for an older curiousity like this.
Erich