November 7-8, 2018 Edged Weapons, Armor, & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/7/2018
No other organization in the 20th century were as feared and despised, and yet respected, as the Third Reich's SS. Formed in 1925 as a personal protection unit for Adolf Hitler after the failed Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, the SS rose in numbers and power to become the NSDAP's most powerful organization during the Third Reich. From daily life in Germany and its conquered territories, to the front lines of the war, the SS developed a ruthless and battle hardened reputation which continues to capture the fascination of collectors and historians even today. The Allgemeine SS NCO Visor is overall in excellent condition. The upper fabric of the cap is made of a black wool tricot which is in near mint condition. The visor's band is wrapped in the same tricot wool as the upper portion of the cap with the fabric lines running at an angle. The band has only a small moth hole on the visor's left side, near the upper white piping. The white piped trim on the visor is near mint with only very light patina and a small brown patch on the upper piping, near the visor's left rear. The black leather chin cord is near mint and is held in place by two black, enameled buttons. The bill of the visor is near mint plus, and the underside is correctly stamped with the "SS RZM" in black ink. The cap has an early, high quality, silver plated political eagle positioned above a second pattern CupAl (copper coated aluminum) SS Skull made by the firm Deschler, Munchen. Both pieces of insignia appear to be original to the visor and are completely untouched. Please Note- the skull did not have to be removed to know that it is manufactured by Deschler. To the trained eye, the design of the skull is unique to Deschler. The cap's interior is a high quality, deluxe cream lining. This type of lining is not often encountered on these Allgemeine visors and highly sought after by collectors. The lining shows some staining from sweat and use, but is without any major damage. The sweat shield has a few areas which have become unstitched as well as a few minor cracks. Under the sweat shield, is the SS runes which are stenciled on the cream lining in gold, as well as a black ink stamp for the cap size. A small cardboard tag is slid into the name slot of the sweat shield and reads "Sonder-Anfertigung",which means "Special Make". The brown leather sweatband has sweat stains and darkening from wear, but remains firmly attached to the visor. Under the sweatband, is the RZM "Tuchmutze" SS tag which has the product number, as well as the manufacturer's code of "143" stamped on it. The tag is firmly attached to the visor. Overall, this is an early Allgemeine SS cap of higher quality that would be a center piece in any SS or visor collection.