Has anyone ever seen an SS plaque such as this?

[M B CHISHOLM]

Yep that's the one Michael Fay.. I knew someone would remember..
And you're right.. I believe the hardware to the rear of it was the kicker, and lined up with known examples from the TR era.. (not the plaque itself but the components used in construction)

[J. Wraith]

O.k, I actually sent this out for a 2nd set of eyes and to confirm what they did as I am pretty awful about saving photos and go by memory most often. Using both screws and tacks would be acceptable and there is some common sense in play here because what you have on the later pieces are standardized catalog pieces and then you have a lot of generics. So your bird is technically N.S.D.A.P but its early and used in cross organization dedications. your wreath is cross organizational and generic as well. The only 2 parts that are not are the motto and the runic symbols for the SS.

Unless there is a sign of scrubbing to the front of the plaque to hide a previous embellishment your looking at what is most probably an original plaque. The common sense part is how was this done?. The catalog pieces are order and in store items but early on the construction is different and leans to higher quality. But in the early pieces you can have a mix of technique and the reason would most likely be changes done at time of sale or short notice and using a pattern of plaque and adjusting the organization per add's. So you walk in and tell the guy what you want and he would pull a generic plaque and you would have a choice of add on's. Later it becomes standardized and your process of manufacture changes to a cheaper form of plaque. So here your base metals and finish is slightly different, your patina is even and the overall piece looks to be what they did. So the front area around the runics and the rear of the plaque if not without any issues would mean the plaque would be in line and original to the period.

Based on what is shown here if it were to hit my mailbox and if I knew the seller and the numbers were o.k, I would buy this with an inspection and believe it is correct pending additional photos if they are ever supplied.

[doomtown]

I'd be interested in hearing about the ring's originality, I have a somewhat similar ring.

[PMan]

I agree the eagle at the top is all over the place in an iron form, being sold on all the repro outlet sites.

Although the eagle looks similar to the one you are referring to, it is slightly different and probably smaller. It has a somewhat unique appearance in the details, IMO.

[RobertE]

Gentlemen, thanks for all the indepth conversation regarding this piece. If I end up with it, I'll post more photos.

regards, Robert

[Gaspare]

the ring is a well known common German pattern during the 3rd reich era. This has nice wear to it,,but would still need to see a few more photos for a good determination...