Red Army Belt Buckles Made From German Buckles

[Wesley's Dad]

This is a misnomer... These modified buckles were worn regularly by regular Red Army soldiers. Photo graphic evidence strongly supports this.

There have been a mass of these hit eBay in the first part of this year. I am skeptical as well that they are all real. However, such conversions do not need to be considered all that rare either. So who knows.

Mike

[Chuck In Oregon]

Hi Mike

Welcome to the forum. It's a good place to learn, exchange views and generally enjoy the hobby. Sounds like you're going to add a lot here.

Chuck

[Wesley's Dad]

Originally Posted by Chuck In Oregon

Hi Mike

Welcome to the forum. It's a good place to learn, exchange views and generally enjoy the hobby. Sounds like you're going to add a lot here.

Chuck

Back to the topic at hand... The provinance on these items is a tough one. I saw this one go across eBay and I logged the photos into my keeper files. I disagree with the comment that the star on this one is "Afghanish". The typical junk stars (green) that are seen on the modern field headgear and all over the market today tend to be a pretty consistant pea green. This appears to be a darker green over raw steel. This is very similar to wartime stars I have viewed and one I have on a wartime ushanka. I will conceed that this star might have been repainted and buffed off the high parts or maybe I have not seen the full gamut of postwar stars. Still, this is my experience. I think the star is possibly good.

The buckle that started this thread if original at all, is at best a reconstruction job, that is an original converted buckle found sans star, with a replacement star added. How can you tell? Take a close look at the German buckle, it's ground dug. You can see where the oxidation of the Aluminum has erroded the edges of the buckle.

So that leaves the only possiblity of originality to be a ground dug buckle that had evidence of hat star conversion (ie original holes in the face) with a possible wartime star added to repair it.

Mike

[desantnik]

I agree, "partisan" is a mis-nomer, but even for regular forces photographic evidence doesn't show these as being widespread among regular forces - maybe because the censors didn't want to show the glorious Red Army forces wearing German stuff. I don't know.

If the buckle is ground dug, there should be rust wherever the star meets the base buckle. It is a commonly visible phenomenon and if I remember my college chemistry correctly, whenever two different metals have contact and water or even slight ***sture is added (as in a ground environment), a slight electrochemical reaction occurs that results in rust. The front of the star looks properly worn, but the rear prongs look too "crisp" with no wear and no rust. Also, if a soldier is actually going to wear this day in and day out, wouldn't the leather belt get snagged on the prongs or wear them down?

Cap stars, whether WWII or Afghan, are plentiful.

I've lived in Kiev for the last two years and seen so much fake stuff right at the "source". Prices on WWII items of both sides have skyrocketted during this period due to a "new" Russian and Ukrainian wealth, encouraging counterfeiters. For every grounddug base German beltbuckle, I see 2-3 "partisan" buckles. I don't even look at dog tags or insignia, cloth or metal, any more.

German stuff is a side interest of mine, however I have admittedly bought two such "partisan" buckles at "over here" prices. I bought only cut-out stars and studied them for wear, etc. to the best of my ability. My logic is that the cutting out the star would require more labor than the added star so would be less profitable to make.

I would still be very weary of any stars added to a belt buckle due to their visual appeal, ease of manufacture, etc.

[Soviet]

Do you all think the same about the 4 other buckles I have posted ?

[Wesley's Dad]

Desantnik,

Yes all should be wary of these due to the ease of fakery, I do not dispute that point. And I am on the same page as you regarding the gerneral level of fakes in that market. I was sales manager for OstFront Militaria for 3-4 years and handled all the material that they secured during that time. Most from Estonia, Latvia, and Western Russia. It is a scary situation.

I still feel that the buckle is a heavily cleaned, ground dug item. That erroded spot on the one edge is a key sign, and the light gray/dark gray splotchy look are tell tale of aluminum scrubbed with a household cleaner. That said, the rust may be gone. The real question was if was ever really a cap star conversion to begin with. I think at this point due to the cleaning there is no way to tell. If I had faith that that one was real, I would have bought it. I was simply offering the only possibility that the bluckle might be original. My bottom line is like you... I think it is probably not. I don't think that the others stand much chance of being real either.

Mike

[desantnik]

Originally Posted by Soviet

Do you all think the same about the 4 other buckles I have posted ?

Stick to a dealer that offers you a refund if the items prove false. Have you dealt with this dealer before and do you feel comfortable with him? Are all four buckles offered by one dealer? The odds aren't good that one dealer would have four good such buckles. One of the buckles itself looks like a casting and using a scarce RAD buckle, although maybe good, is a common enticement to cause a purchaser to let his guard down and overlook other red flags. I don't get a good feeling, but would want to handle the items in question.

[Soviet]

Thanks to let me know your opinion. Yes, these are (or some were) offered by the same seller. I also have dealed with him before and he is well known I guess. I couldn't decide if I should buy them or not, so some of them have been already sold.

[Wesley's Dad]

Soviet,

Desantnik is quite correct and I will go one further... the seller that offered the star buckle that initiated this thread sold another, highly similar buckle the following week. Of the six offered on eBay in the last month or so, all have been offered by two dealers. While not a death sentence in itself, this should make you concerned.

Mike

[Soviet]

What do you think about this one?