Nazi badges

[Bobby Ricigliano]

There are so many issues with collecting any sort of 3R militaria....

First would be the prolific fakery out there. Not reproduction items, labeled as such, but the “made to fool” items. It isn’t a matter of whether or not you will get hosed, but when. Insulating yourself against fraud requires pretty deep research ahead of time: Getting second opinions helps, but only from people who know more than you do.

Some of the boards like WAF are very useful for getting advice before buying. But even experts don’t always agree. When pro collectors spot a fake, they will call it out, but they may not divulge what tips them off. That used to bother me, but it was explained to me that counterfeiters also monitor the boards and may use that intel to make better fakes.

There are a few trustworthy militaria dealers out there, but you will pay a premium for the assurance of a legitimate item that is unquestionably original.

[M1NM]

Nazi issued Leica cameras are very collectable.

I have an old commercial camera that was probably a 1934 Olympics bring back. The brass plaque on it reads Rabb & Sons on Aldoph Hitlerstrassa.

[kevman0154]

When I was Stationed in Italy, Every Sunday Market had a table full of old WW2 stuff. I could never tell the difference either. I seen everything from Stahlhelms, Topenkahfs and badges and patches. The prices were always so low there was no way they were real. The funny thing is when i went to some surplus stores in Korea, the same stuff was being sold for 3x the price!

[Munky]

MicroMacroMilitaria has some great videos showing what to look for when dealing with fake militaria. His youtube channel was banned, allegedly by the collector community complaints, but he has a channel on Bit Chute https://www.bit chute.com/channel/mi...cro-militaria/. I find him extremely entertaining to listen to but be warned he does have potty mouth NSFW. As a result of his Youtube ban he lost most of his videos. Jo Rivett has written three books on the subject as well.

Edit: Url is broken. I guess if you connect Bit and Chute it gets censored