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Month: August 2016

Newsletter No. 218 August 30, 2016

Newsletter No. 218 August 30, 2016

Wehrmacht and SS Orders and Decoration documents by Christian Jürs Called by the Germans ‘Verleihungs-urkunden’ or Presentation documents, when a member of the German military was presented with a decoration, he received a document attesting to this. These documents were printed on paper and were usually 150×210 mm in size. The awardees name and unit were typed onto the paper (hand-lettered in some cases) and the document was signed by authorized personnel and most generally had the so-called ‘Dienstsiegel’ or…

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Newsletter No. 217 August 27, 2016

Newsletter No. 217 August 27, 2016

Ever eager to supply the dealers, and through them, the collectors, with rare and tasteful items, the Polish firm has sent out a elegant listing of first class fakes to dealers around the globe. We have been fortunate to obtain illustrations of hundreds of such items which we will be showing from time to time to delight the  many tasteful collectors who treasure such items and the dealers who are even more delighted to reap the rewards of a cash…

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Newsletter No. 216 August 27, 2016

Newsletter No. 216 August 27, 2016

Once again, we return to the creative works of Lt. Col. James Atwood, USA ret and CIA operative. Here is a picture, taken from his dagger book, showing a “Himmler Damascus Letter Opener.” This creative bit of work is to be found in his book, ‘The Daggers and Edged Weapons of Hitler’s Germany’ Berlin, 1965 on page 213. This is described as a Himmler Christmas present, made by Paul Müller at Dachau. The blade is not Damascus but is acid-etched…

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Newsletter No. 215 August 25, 2016

Newsletter No. 215 August 25, 2016

Here is a communication from an advanced German buckle collector, along with photographs in support. “Dear Mr. Royster: I am a German belt buckle collector and have been for some forty years. I also subscribe to the Military Collector and read the article on RODO SS buckles by Dr. Thayer. I also read the uproar on the Wehrmacht Awards Forum about the article, several belt buckle dealers proclaiming that the pictures Dr. Thayer showed were all of fakes. I have…

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Newsletter No. 214 August 24, 2016

Newsletter No. 214 August 24, 2016

Note: We are presenting in this posting an article by Christian Jürs, a specialist in German military documents. Mr. Jürs has a large collection of original military decoration documents and is currently preparing a heavily illustrated book on the subject. ADR Wehrmacht and SS Orders and Decoration documents by Christian Jürs Called by the Germans ‘Verleihungs-urkunden’ or Presentation documents, when a member of the German military was presented with a decoration, he received a document attesting to this. These documents…

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Newsletter No. 213 August 20, 2016

Newsletter No. 213 August 20, 2016

Here we have a picture of a German hunting sword offered for sale with attributions to the Imperial German Garde du Corps, an elite cavalry unit. This is a custom made piece for a retiring officer and while it has the Imperial Guard star, it is not a copy of a sidearm used by any German cavalry unit. Here also are two pictures from the WKC period edged weapons catalog of 1910 that show the only two types of swords…

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Newsletter No. 212 August 16, 2016

Newsletter No. 212 August 16, 2016

The Notorious Atwood Birdshead Fantasy Dagger by Harry von Johnston, PhD Many legends and rumors existing among the edged weapon collectors community that enable crooked dealers to earn large sums of money from the trusting and gullible.. In this case I define a sucker is a collector who prefers to give credence to dealer`s assertions rather than spending money on informative books. This failing concerns both enthusiasts searching for cheap originals and the nouveau riche who can easily spend thousands…

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Newsletter No. 211 August 6, 2016

Newsletter No. 211 August 6, 2016

  by Harry von Johnston, PhD Now that I am retired from the CIA, I have some free time on my hands so when Mr. Royster asked me  to write an article on publications and organizations created for the sole purpose of selling fake daggers and other edged weapons, I accepted it with pleasure. Thanks to my gallery of advanced collectors, I have been able to secure access to new sources of information which are generally unavailable for the majority…

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Newsletter No. 210 August 2, 2016

Newsletter No. 210 August 2, 2016

Sometimes in the collecting world, incredible transactions happen. In the present case, a collector in the United States had an original watercolor of French ruins made during the First World War by Adolf Hitler. This had once been in the collection of Heinrich Hoffman, Hitler’s personal photographer, and it ended up in the hands of a collector. He kept this for several years and just recently traded it for an original copy of Hitler’s Last Will and Political Testament and…

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Newsletter No. 209 August 2, 2016

Newsletter No. 209 August 2, 2016

Fake and Fantasy German Edged Weapons for Fun and Profit The faking of German swords and daggers began in the early 1960’s when an enterprising American, Lt. Col James Atwood, once of the United States Army and later of the Central Intelligence Agency, then resident in Germany, went to the German city of Solingen and bought up as many bits and pieces of Third Reich German daggers and swords as he could find. The great majority of these surplus pieces…

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