Penal buckle

[Patrick W]

Hi Guys,

Please don't slam me for my ignorance, I am entirely new to the field of buckles.
I have in my collection a buckle that was sold to me as a penal battalion buckle.
It is silver washed and shows sign of wear. It has war time marks B&N 43 and the centre is circular with a pebbled ground. I know that there is some contention over the originality of these so I am looking for some opinions of people that know. Currently cant provide pics as my digi cam is out of batteries.
Please let me know what you think of this type of buckle.

Thanks in advance,

S.

[Wickie]

Do talk about the "Brain buckle"(the round center looks like a brain)?

A lot of people like the penal battailon story...mainly people who are interested in keeping the price of those buckles high!

In my opinion (and I'm not alone) these buckle were made after the war. Maybe with war time tools.
I don't know if they were offically issued (like firebrigade) or if they were sold free.


I hope you didn't buy the buckle because of the story. I hope also you didn't pay too much


Christian

[Jean Pierre Redeuilh]

Do talk about the "Brain buckle"(the round center looks like a brain)?

A lot of people like the penal battailon story...mainly people who are interested in keeping the price of those buckles high!

In my opinion (and I'm not alone) these buckle were made after the war. Maybe with war time tools.
I don't know if they were offically issued (like firebrigade) or if they were sold free.


I hope you didn't buy the buckle because of the story. I hope also you didn't pay too much


Christian

So far I am supporting Christian's input. Any reliable input I heard about this particular buckle is always the same: post war production. If this is true or not, since it is not my field of interest I did not try to find out. But it is the true common conscensus among people not dealing buckles.

[David North]

"Penal" belt buckle

I agree with both Christian and JP.

The strong suspicion that a post 1945 manufactured buckle, although interestingly, now invariably advertised and sold as "Penal".

A buckle having been "floating" within the market for at least 30 years.

Regards,

David

[Patrick W]

Thanks for your answers guys. I had suspicions that it might not be
a good one. Didn't pay a fortune for it so not too upset

Cheers,
S.

[DJT]

What!!! They are post war! but Sven Hassel describes them numerous times in his books!!!!! My world is falling apart

Des