German WW2 Waffen SS arm patch

Hey guys!
Im new to this fourm, this is my first post. I bought this off of a very reliable military dealer in town who has a $40,000 collection!!! He had no clue if it was a repro or not, he got it in a lot of SS stuff that all checked out authentic. I went home and did my research and seen examples that appear identical (stitching was the same) then I did a black light test as new materials would be chemically treated in a way it would glow, it did not glow (thats good). My question to you is... Do you believe in its authenticity? Whats the value? and your overall thoughts on the piece?
thanks so much!!!
Beau  

Hi Beau,
Welcome to the forum!
I'm afraid you won't get much input for this topic on this forum as we specialize in Canadian and Commonwealth militaria here.
I won't touch the German WWII stuff anymore after getting burnt years ago for a couple of grand.....that and it just doesn't interest me.

oh ok thanks for the info, I will be sure to use this site for my Canadian items!

I see this all the time on these forums and I don't understand it. You tell us you bought this German SS badge from a reliable militaria dealer, he had no idea if it was real or not, but it came with some other stuff that apparently was. You apparently did some research and a light test. Now you want this forum to authenticate it and to provide you with a value.

Like I said, I don't get it. If you want to collect German WWII stuff or whatever, then learn about it yourself by building a reference library and by studying known real examples, do the research yourself and take the liability about each piece that you purchase. Remember it is your responsibility to know and understand what you are buying for yourself, not the collector community as a whole. Obviously from your narrative you bought the piece, therefore you must have thought it was real and that the price was good. What if we all came back and said that the back was a repro, do you plan on running back to the dealer and returning it?

Purchasing 101

Looking at your story, you went to a reliable dealer, great although even as good as any dealer is they can make mistakes. He has a $40,000 collection, well who cares, anyone can amass a huge collection and still not know anything, and have a collection of reproductions to boot. I have two cars in the driveway, that does not make me a car collector. The dealer was not sure if it was real but it came with other real stuff. Red Flag! If this uber reliable dealer is not sure, then perhaps you better back away from the deal, especially if you do not know its validity. If another collector purchases it and it turns out to be real, well then you have just learned a valuable lesson that the other collector knew more than you and you grow from the experience by studying your collecting topic more.

You went home and did your 'research'. Okay, did you go on the internet and look up SS eagles or did you consult your reference library and collection to see if it conformed to other known examples? You did a black light test, great although this test only proves that the materials are not synthetic. Apparently if you have to run to this forum to verify your purchase then perhaps you did not 'research' enough.

Judging your questions which are basically, is it real, how much is it worth and what do we think of it; are ridiculous as you have already determined that the badge was real and a reasonable price at the time you bought it. Why do you need our validation? As well, who cares how much it is worth, are you buying the badge as an investment? If so, then you are not a collector but a speculator. A collector is a person who purchases items because of their interest in them and to form some form of like grouping.

As Cliff stated in his reply, you have to be very careful when collecting anything especially 3rd Reich material. Any collector can get 'burned' but those who go into the game fully armed with knowledge stand a better chance of identifying a purchasing legitimate pieces for their collections then those who simply consult forums after-the-fact.

sorry to upset you edstorey... I bought the piece for $5, I took a chance but not a risk, repros are worth more than five! I know SS materials are reproduced a lot and that's why I came here, I have no ww2 reference books either as im 15 and just starting a collection.

No, I am not upset at all. It is fantastic that you are 15 and getting into the industry, it has long past as being a hobby as the days of spending a couple of dollars on an authentic piece are behind us since there are now there are hundreds of mostly ill-informed people vacuuming up any piece of militaria that they can find under the auspices of 'collecting' in order to turn a buck.

If you want to collect, knowledge is king. Spend some money on some good published references, don't just rely on the internet. The more you know the better armed you are to make those quick decisions to identify a piece and whether you purchase it or not. Frankly, if I were getting into the game now I would put together a collection of post-1978 CF material. There is a lot of material to collect, most of it is still available and challenging to assemble; once started you will have a collection that is unique. You still have to deal with rising prices and fakes, but most of the items have been overlooked by the collecting community.

I cannot say it enough, whatever you decide to collect, know your topic.

You bought the piece for $5.00, fantastic as you don't have a vast amount of money tied up in it. The real challenge now for you is finding out more about it - purchase some books, read and absorb the material.

Good luck and happy hunting.

hello Beau, are you starting with cloth or just putting together a collection of all forces.  I can only echo what Ed said, I don't know where you are located but I have a bag of ww2 canadian web gear you are welcome to have, of course ask you parents

service publications has some great books to get your collecting interest sparked, esp as original examples of items are detailed in many topics

lastly and sorry but I am not sure this patch you showed is original, unless it was made under occupation outside germany, I don't like the wavy horizontal wing lines and the sparseness around the feet, if you google waffen ss sleeve eagle and look under images you will see what I mean,

of course the internet is limited too, I am just making it quick for you.

oh just to add, Toronto reference library has a good selection of books and you can ask your own library to order from book sites

Good advice about checking out your local library, and of course they can arrange inter-library loans.

hey guys! normally I wouldn't buy things like this and usually only buy if im sure of its authenticity. thanks for the advice really appreciate it! Didn't take a huge hit on the item but just posted on a German forum and it turns out as a repro from the 70s.. Oh well, at least I will be able to properly inform its next owners, who knows since the real ones are so pricey I still may make a buck or two on the piece. Might just take you up on that offer jonhno send me a PM when you get a few minutes.
Thanks,
Beau