SS Gestapo tag?

[Marcus Cooper]

Could someone please help with this. Is this item a fake or genuine? 

I would appreciate your input very much.

 

Thanks,

                Marcus

[Gwar]

Not even close ! 

https://donbible.wordpress.com/welcome

[SARGE]

Marcus,

 

Gwar is correct that these cast discs are old fakes that have been around for many years.  

 

 

[Marcus Cooper]

Hi all,

Thanks for your feedback.

Just one question, if you are going to make a fake of an item, wouldn't you try and make it look like a genuine one. This one looks nothing like any of the others I have seen, i.e. it has the deaths head and SS mark on it and the Gestapo writing is in a different order.

Is this normal for a fake?

Could it be a tag for something else?

Thanks, you feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[SARGE]

One of the things fakers do is to produce something novel so there is no original to compare it to.  These so-called sand cast identity discs or laundry tags or warrant discs are a case in point.  Just because it is out of the ordinary don't assume anything and always look at how they are made.  The oval disc above is a rough casting unlike original discs that are often die stamped and have a high amount of detail.  Other fake cast Gestapo discs were made like this back in the 1960s and some had a raised area for a stamped number while some had RZM markings that were never on original police discs.  If you see enough of these over the years you can spot them fairly easily.

 

I hope this is helpful.

 

[Gwar]

I second SARGE's comments, most times the fakers really have no clue as to what they are faking, we have seen misspellings in German that also are a dead give away, I can only add, if you are unsure of an item, post it on a Forum such as this or others BEFORE plunking your $$$ down, you might be surprised at the proliferation of bad items on the market and buy the item not the story, all too often someone's grandfather did so and so Blah, blah, blah, without provenance it's just that, a story.. G

[Marcus Cooper]

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge. Although I have had an interest in WW2 for a long time, I am new to collecting. I paid next to nothing for this item, alongside other pieces that I believe are genuine.

 

Your comments are very much appreciated.

Many thanks.

[Jack the Collector]

3 hours ago, Marcus Cooper said:

Although I have had an interest in WW2 for a long time, I am new to collecting

Marcus,we have all been there and made mistakes with purchases.I must offer this.Buy reference books first!No they are not cheap but a worthwhile investment in the long run.Also remember that this site can help give you guidance by asking us for our opinions...don't be shy.That is what this site is for among other things....to help new collectors.We are all merely curators for the next generation,we pay a lot of money to do it but at the end of the day we are just curators.

[Brig]

This would fall under the category of 'fantasy', not so much 'fake', which is generally associated with reproductions. In the early days of the hobby, a lot of items were unknown what they looked like, or the only references were grainy xerox photos in mail order catalogs, so it was much easier to bamboozle collectors in those days