Stahlhelmbund/Front Heil Buckle on Estand

[aechols83]

Hello All,

In my opinion and as was suggested yesterday, the attached buckle offered in the estand sales thread here needs to be discussed:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=653099

Most innocently posted for sale, of course, and amongst 3 other quite original pieces offered at fair prices. This particular buckle, however requires a critical examination. I will limit my comments here to the roundel, although in my opinion the entire buckle and construction is suspect.

If one compares with examples posted in the "Fake Political, paramilitary & civilian" buckles database, it is apparent that the roundel shares the same slight blurring of the lettering and general lack of detail found on the fakes. This roundel is sometimes encountered with other "red flag" fake characteristics such as crude or "reverse cut" prongs and affixing by 3 vertically-aligned solder points.

In my collecting experience, this type of fake Stahlhelmbund/Front heil roundel seems to appear quite frequently and many collectors are caught out by it as was I once. Fortunately, the forums exist and others here were kind enough to alert and educate me.

Best Regards,
Adam

[buckle1]

Quite happy to pull this buckle as suggested by Adam. Would have much appreciated his letting me know ahead of time that this buckle had a problem as he saw it many months ago when I sent him photos of all my buckles. Had this happened I would never have listed it in the first place.
I have been trying for many weeks to reach Adam by phone and emails but have never rec'd a response and now here he is on the forum critiqing a buckle he saw some time ago and never said a word to me.
Enough said.
Ric please pull the entire ad for me.

Thanks.

Bill

[Ric Ferrari]

.......Ric please pull the entire ad for me.

Thanks.

Bill

Bill,

done as requested.

Ric

[aechols83]

Dear Bill,

It appears that I have rather tweaked your nose here. This was, of course, not my intention. I will now respectfully clarify and also respond in regards to how you have chosen to frame your comments.

Indeed I did scan over this buckle within a large group photo a few months ago during the purchasing of some very nice pieces from you. That being said, I did not examine this particular buckle closely or request individual images due to the dent that was noted in your sales list. Individual images of the buckle are now being shown on the estand where myself and other collectors may browse and not within a grouping of 30-40 buckles. The buckle was being offered for sale here on a forum which is educational and open to appropriate discourse. What I have posted is an impersonal, technical critique of a specific buckle that displays some suspect charateristics in and of itself and more generally as a type. My wish as a member of this community is to pass along that knowledge which others (yourself included) have so generously shared with me and whenever I am able to do so.

Bill, through our sparse correspondence over the past few months and also in my WAF message to you on Tuesday, you have been made intimately aware of my recent personal circumstances. As such and altogether, your swift reactivity and personalization here seems unwarranted and out of place. A discussion of the buckle was needed and had not been initiated. I do not believe this public forum to be a place in which to stray into the distressed personal realm or air private matters and frustrations. As such and as we are both members of what I believe is a mature and collegial fraternity, I would sincerely welcome a phone conversation. I am available any Saturday and at a time convenient for you between 12-5pm PST. For myself now and here on the forum, as you say, "enough said."

Best,
Adam