Left hand buckle??

[Todd Gylsen]

Is there such a thing as a left hand buckle or did someone just turn the roundel upside down on this buckle? Attached are some pics of the buckle.

[Todd Gylsen]

Here is the back side. It has two spots of solder on it for some reason.

[Todd Gylsen]

Here is a close up of the stamping on the back. Sorry for the blurry photo. It says:
J.R. GEBRAUCHS
MUSTERSCHUTZ
NO 27448

Does this stamping mean anything??

[Kurt Doench]

Now, that’s an interesting buckle. I have one with the same stamp (it’s D.R. GEBRAUCHSMUSTER…, by the way), exactly the same, including the number. But there, the similarities stop. The buckle body of mine is the regulation height (47 mm), but about 5 mm longer than normal buckles. The “fold-back” part of the buckle body is also much longer than usually encountered. The nickel roundel (which is the right way round, by the way) is quite small, as is often seen with private-purchase items. The main distinguishing feature that sets mine apart is, however, that the roundel is not soldered on (as with yours), but attached with a sort of folded-across-pin device. I know, these descriptions of mine only add to confusion, so I will try and get Jean-Pierre to post pics for me.

Both mine and yours look old and good, so the big question is, what was the patent (Gebrauchsmuster) for (because this is just a long way of spelling D.R.G.M.). When I got mine, I thought it was for the strange way of attaching the roundel, but that can’t be it, because yours is soldered on and the solder marks look quite old. As everything else about the two buckles is quite usual, my guess is it can only refer to the “thumbnail”-type catch. This is itself widely seen on old German buckles, but not on pre-1895 (“big”) buckles, whereas all other construction details were present on the Prussian buckles as of 1847.

The alternative, of course, would be that we both got ourselves very clever fakes.

Kind regards,

Schleppfux

[Jean Pierre Redeuilh]

For my friend Schleppfux:

[Jean Pierre Redeuilh]

and also

[Todd Gylsen]

Thanks JP for posting the photos for Schleppfux and thanks Schleppfux for the info on your buckle. I see the minor differences in the two as yours is a bit longer than the one I posted.

I don't own this buckle (yet) but am being offered it. Do you think I should buy it and what is a fair price for it?

This is a WW I buckle, correct?

[Todd Gylsen]

An idea on the solder could be at one time it did have the folded over prongs as the one JP posted for Schleppfux...broken off and soldered to hold the roundel in place. Just a thought?

[Kurt Doench]

quote: "broken off and soldered to replace the broken prong device".

Yes, that would sound logical, and might account for the roundel being the wrong way round.

Arbeitsdienst: The buckle doesn't look wrong to me at all, so why not get it. As to value, that's always tricky with these unusual variants. Personally, I wouldn't go above $ 60 or so, but for another person it might be worth more. Main thing is you feel comfortable with the price.

Kind regards,

Schleppfux

P.S. Jean-Pierre, thanks for posting the pics. Great!