Officer's M43 w/silver piping

[DougO]

Would like to get some opinions on the originality of this cap.

Thanks in advance, Doug

[DougO]

Side...

[DougO]

Interior...

[wisches]

cap looks good
insignia looks good
lining unusual colour?
not sure on stampings
is there faint discolourations behind insignia?
possible army insignia previous?
other opinions needed

[ReichsHeini]

This appears to be an original Officer's m-43 cap made in Italian Gabardine.
It is also sporting what appears to be correct markings for the Statni Film Studios Czech location (722) and the other standard Statni stamps. Statni was a government operated film sudio that made many Communist propganda films (and regular films) during the fifties and sixties. The lining is correct for this cap too, but all the examples I have seen had a half-moon sweatband in them.
A gun dealer and collector brought a large number of these caps back in the late eighties and was selling them at SOS. Almost all of these caps had NO INSIGNIA. It had been stripped by the former owners.There were alledgedly a "few" that had some insignia.
I have owned a few of these Statni caps. There are two styles that were brought back; single-button silver piped m-43 (insignia in front)and the double button white piped m-43 (side eagle).

Now every time I see one of these caps it has insignia. So many of these have been restored. I have seen at least six of these recently and have been contacted by several people to give opinions on them.
I had personal experience where renowned collector in Kansas City and I examined one of these with insignia and found it had been opened along the bottom seam to accomodate the machine-sewing of insignia to the cap. The cap was sold by a MAJOR dealer and was alledged as original attached insignia. Magnification revealed old sewing holes along bottom seam. The thread used to re-sew the cap along the front (along sweatband) was NOT THE SAME exact color used to sew the back half of seam (or the rest of the cap for that matter).
So I would examine this cap very carefully to determin if the insignia were restored or not. It is okay to have a restored cap as long as you know that when you buy it.
Jerry

[CurtD]

Maybe this is where all the insignia from the red fezes have been going!

[Homer Hodge]

W-SS officer M-43

I notice that Grenadier Militaria Antiques has one of these caps for sale - Statni stamped, Italian gabardine, white piping, two silver buttons, front totenkopf and side eagle, with a leather half liner inside. http://web.iwebcenters.com/grenadier...tem143044.ctlg

[BenVK]

Insignia good, cap probably good, cap and insignia together maybe not so good, if so , price not so good. Does that make sense?

[Bobwirtz]

I bought two of these many years ago when George Petersen penetrated the Czech Film Company and brought out some great stuff. One of my caps has original insignia still on the cap, while the other has reproduction aluminum flat wire insignia... something I've got to do some day... find and replace this reproduction insignia.

Bob

[B. N. Singer]

[QUOTE=ReichsHeini] There are two styles that were brought back; single-button silver piped m-43 (insignia in front)and the double button white piped m-43 (side eagle).

I believe examples also existed having white crown piping and a machine sewn green bevo trapezoid.

B. N. Singer

[Glenn McInnes]

A Statni marked cap with original sewn trap.


Glenn

[Glenn McInnes]

.

[Glenn McInnes]

interior

[RD Rygaard]

interior showing no film stamps and showing heavy signs of wear

[RD Rygaard]

front of cap