Shoulder boards How to spot the fakes ?

[sef1962]

Hello at the moment I am tempted to start collecting shoulder boards which I know nothing about, is it best to purchase off dealers or how can I spot the fakes on e-bay Can anybody recomend a good reference thanks Mark

[Naxos]

Hello at the moment I am tempted to start collecting shoulder boards which I know nothing about, is it best to purchase off dealers or how can I spot the fakes on e-bay Can anybody recomend a good reference thanks Mark

Mark,

the best reference is our member Chip

[Chip]

Thanks Hardy. You're not bad yourself!

Mark,

There is no reference guide I know of for helping to pick out fake shoulder straps. The good news is that there aren't that many and the ones that do exist are of two main types.

The most commonly seen wartime fakes are the ones on gray cloth (the same material front and back), no piping, handsewn button holes. These are normally either trying to replicate cyphered straps or examples with special abbreviations, like "L" for Luftschiffer". Numbers and letters are always shaped from cord, not chainstitched. The cyphers always have some flaws, wrong crown, etc. Some known examples are Flieger (winged propeller), Betriebs Abt. (winged wheel), telegraph (Blitz bundel). The cyhpers are often yellow with yellow crowns, which is incorrect for infantry. Once you have seen a few, you will have no trouble picking them out. Unfortunately, they often fool beginners, though they also show up on well known websites. As Hardy said, when in doubt, check with someone here before wasting your money.

The second group is much more difficult to recognize. They are very well made and fooled me at first. Once I saw more of them, I learned the flaws that give them away. They are out there being sold on a fairly regular basis and I have had collectors (who should know better) argue with me about their originality. I first saw a large grouping of these back in the 1980s. They were coming from Europe and they had a professional look to them that made me think they could have been made in the workshop of the Bavarian Army Museum, where I know they have fine crafts people, who recreate items based on originals in their collection. This was just a thought and may have no basis in reality, but another fact is that all the straps of this ilk represent Bavarian regiments. Cyphers and crowns are made just like the originals, but the strap's width is wrong. They all were the model 1907 with the tongue on the back, but they are the width of a M15 strap (M07 = 5.5cm, M15 = 4.5cm). Once this error was realized, some people selling them began cutting off the tongues to make them look like the model 1915s. So far, you only have to pay close attention to Bavarian straps.

Another problem area is that of officer's shoulder boards. Fakes can easily be "made up" from original materials. An unissued board and some metal numbers or devices can make some very interesting, but illegitimate pieces. Bottom line is be very careful and insist on seeing the reverse. In addition, there are websites that offer a full array of reproduced crowns and cyphers. Their molds are made from originals, so they can be very hard to discover.

I hope this helps somewhat. Contact me if you would like any advice.

Chip

Edited February 13, 2010 by Chip

[IrishGunner]

Let me jump in here and thank Chris for a great primer on the topic... Useful for many of us. :cool:

[sef1962]

Chip thanks for the advice I think I will start with some single boards when I have my fist one I wiil post it here thanks Mark