Mystery Shoulderboard

[landsknechte]

Unfortunately I don't have a picture, but I saw a curious shoulderboard earlier today...

It looks like a standard army Leutnant shoulderboard, in terms of the basic form. All black - backing and braid alike. On the two outermost strands (for lack of a better word) are silver "V" shaped stitches, rather like what you'd see on a Sonderfuher board.

...anyone have any clue what this might be?

Thanks,

--Chris

[Guest Rick Research]

You mean BLACK "V"s on the outer rows, in the silver? SAME size in proportion to the silver, or just single thread black Vs on silver?

The Waffenfarbe underlay was BLACK, and not dark green?

Was it plushy velvet, not smooth?

The general pattern, if outside row was EQUAL colored Vs of silver and whatever (usually the state color for Vs on organizational color underlay), suggesting various possible Weimar Police forces for the rank of "Kommissar" (Meister)... but BLACK rings no bells.

[landsknechte]

You mean BLACK "V"s on the outer rows, in the silver? SAME size in proportion to the silver, or just single thread black Vs on silver?

The Waffenfarbe underlay was BLACK, and not dark green?

Was it plushy velvet, not smooth?

The general pattern, if outside row was EQUAL colored Vs of silver and whatever (usually the state color for Vs on organizational color underlay), suggesting various possible Weimar Police forces for the rank of "Kommissar" (Meister)... but BLACK rings no bells.

Black on a black underlay with silver single thread "V"s.

[Guest Rick Research]

Ahhhhhh! ALL black top with only single silver Vs on the outer row sounds like a "Bahnschutzpolizei Mann." Those usually have a tiny Reichsbahn winged wheel and the unit numbers, though, and normally underlay would be gray. NO clue about different colors for them-- their uniforms were in constant flux, and I've never seen any study of them.

[landsknechte]

Ahhhhhh! ALL black top with only single silver Vs on the outer row sounds like a "Bahnschutzpolizei Mann." Those usually have a tiny Reichsbahn winged wheel and the unit numbers, though, and normally underlay would be gray. NO clue about different colors for them-- their uniforms were in constant flux, and I've never seen any study of them.

I honestly don't think I would have ever come up with that one on my own. Thanks!

Any vague clue how much something like that would be worth?

--Chris

[landsknechte]

Found a website that deals with Polizei shoulderboards a bit, and found a pic of the identical shoulderboard. The example I was looking at didn't have any devices attached, but is otherwise identical.

The site concurs that it's Bahnschutzpolizei.

--Chris