SS Honor Ring, possibly belonging to Dr Luwig Hahn?

[mclenrd]

That's Ludwig*

Hello, I'm new here to the forum but not new to collecting. I've been collecting off and on for 30 years since I was a kid. I just got this SS Honor Ring. I'm not an expert on SS items, especially these rings. The inside says "S.lb. Hahn 21.6.44 H Himmler" I plan on having Don Boyle authenticate it so I can sell it. I've posted this to other forums as well.

Here are some images;



















So the ring, it looks good to me. I've contacted Don and he seems to think its genuine... I'm going to have him examine the ring for sure and get a COA hopefully.

I teach radio production and performance and one of my students mentioned he had a "nazi ring with a skull on it". It peaked my interest and asked him to bring it in but he never did. Weeks go by and he contacted me via email and reminded me of the ring and said he wanted to sell it. I asked him to text me a few photos so I could do some research first. Things looked good except for the story I was getting. I was told his grandfather was in the war, and gave it to him. He said his grandfather got it off a dead German (shocker) in Africa. Suspiciously, I asked if he was sure about that because there were no SS in Africa (except the SD in Tunis), so who knows.

I showed the same images I first got from the seller to Craig Gottlieb and he said;

Photos are bad, but the ring appears to be original. Here is some information on your ring:

1) Where the veteran got it is of no concern to the value.
2) 1944 dates are not uncommon.

I would be interested, but the ring market has all but collapsed. I still have a few rings on my website that I cannot move without losing money. Reason for the collapse: not only the economy, but rings experienced a "bubble" of sorts and increased in price, over the past 10 years, by about 1000%. Also, the prevalence of fakes in the past few years has shaken market confidence.

Most interestingly, I was doing some research on the recipient. I wonder if this IS the "Hahn" the ring is named to. If so, he was one evil bastard. Hahn is a common surname though but it all makes sense.
http://www1.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/M...20-%206349.pdf
more info...
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtop...?f=38&t=115644

Please share your thoughts.

I've contacted Robert at militariaresearch.com but no reply yet. I also contacted Ross at ssdaggers.com... still no reply oddly.

If anyone has other suggestion or can assist on the research, please let me know. Thanks.


Respectfully,
Matt

[N.C. Wyeth]

Hahn - that guy WAS a bad dude . . .

Very cool "catch", Matt!

I got a thrill out of Gotllieb's speculation about prices too . . .

[FrenchVolunteer]

Hi,

with such a pedigree, this can't be your Hahn who probably had his Totenkopf Ring far earlier than in 1944 (but i don't know the policy about "copies" provided for "lost" rings, if the original or the new date was written).
Also remember that if i'm right Allgemeine-SS kept their SS ranks when the war started, and many became Heer soldiers. Many went to the Ordnungspolizei for example.
The story about a dead German in Africa seemed to be strange (to say the least if not bogus), with a June 1944 Totenkopf Ring, i'm not sure that people captured in Europe were sent to Africa as POWs.

See You

Vince

[Thorsten B.]

A very fine late piece!

Yes, Craig seems to be fairly open about the ring market at this point.

[NickG]

Very nice ring and great first post! Welcome on board! It might be a different Hahn based on the late date....
as Vince (FrenchVolunteer) already stated!

Ludwig Hahn promotions:
SS-Standartenführer, Oberst der Polizei, Regierungs-und Kriminaldirektor – 20 IV 1944
Oberregierungs und Kriminalrat – 12 IX 1941
SS-Obersturmbannführer – 9 XI 1941
SS-Sturmbannführer, Regierungs und Kriminalrat – 26 IX 1938
SS-Hauptsturmführer und Kriminalrat – 1 VIII 1938
SS-Obersturmführer und Kriminalkommissar – 30 I 1938
SS-Untersturmführer – 20 IV 1936
______________
SS-Hauptscharführer – 9 XI 1935
SS-Unterscharführer – 1 VI 1935
SS-Rottenführer – 9 XI 1934
SA-Scharführer – XII 1930


Its too bad that the improved quality of the copies got people scared buying these now!

[Capt. R]

He texted you photos?? Did you purchase it from him and are those the pics you took?

[mclenrd]

He texted you photos?? Did you purchase it from him and are those the pics you took?

Sorry? Who text me? These are my photos.

[mclenrd]

Hi,

with such a pedigree, this can't be your Hahn who probably had his Totenkopf Ring far earlier than in 1944 (but i don't know the policy about "copies" provided for "lost" rings, if the original or the new date was written).
Also remember that if i'm right Allgemeine-SS kept their SS ranks when the war started, and many became Heer soldiers. Many went to the Ordnungspolizei for example.
The story about a dead German in Africa seemed to be strange (to say the least if not bogus), with a June 1944 Totenkopf Ring, i'm not sure that people captured in Europe were sent to Africa as POWs.

See You

Vince

Agreed, I have my doubts as well but I cannot think of any other Hahn in the SS that would be eligible around that time.

[ErichS]

Hi,

with such a pedigree, this can't be your Hahn who probably had his Totenkopf Ring far earlier than in 1944 (but i don't know the policy about "copies" provided for "lost" rings, if the original or the new date was written).
Also remember that if i'm right Allgemeine-SS kept their SS ranks when the war started, and many became Heer soldiers. Many went to the Ordnungspolizei for example.
The story about a dead German in Africa seemed to be strange (to say the least if not bogus), with a June 1944 Totenkopf Ring, i'm not sure that people captured in Europe were sent to Africa as POWs.

See You

Vince

The policy was that replacement rings would carry the same date as the original ring.

[FrenchVolunteer]

Hi,

thanks ErichS for the infos !

See You

Vince

[mclenrd]

Indeed, Thank you for the great information. I wonder however, how many SS officers were named Hahn with an honor ring?

[sdesember]

Indeed, Thank you for the great information. I wonder however, how many SS officers were named Hahn with an honor ring?

It would be very hard to ascertain 100% the identity of the officer as there are 32 names of Hahn (looking at John Moore's "Führersliste''). Non-officers could also receive a ring if I'm not mistaken.

[mclenrd]

What was the criteria for getting the ring? I understand you had to apply for it?

It would be very hard to ascertain 100% the identity of the officer as there are 32 names of Hahn (looking at John Moore's "Führersliste''). Non-officers could also receive a ring if I'm not mistaken.

[sdesember]

Any Ritterkreuz or Deutscheskreuz recipients are eligible for the ring. I'm not aware that one could or must apply for the ring. But, the ring was awarded at the discretion of the RFSS as it was an honour award (Ehrenring).

There's a good chance that your ring to belong to a Deutscheskreuz recipient as the conferral date is 1944.

[MJC]

Matt,

The Oktober 1944 Dienstaltersliste alone indicates eight men who had the ring at this point. The one man on this list who did not have the ring on this date is Adolf.

In essence, you need to review earlier lists to eliminate the recipients listed here who received their ring on an earlier date. Hopefully, there will be just a single man remaining and you will have your definitive answer.

I would suggest you cross reference the results against the original SS records as not all SS men/recipients appear in the Dienst lists.

Mike