July 12-14, 2022 Collectible Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/13/2022
Originally thought of Louis Marquis while in a World War I POW camp. Marquis would refine his Koppelschloss design and in 1943 received an order for 5 of these belt buckle pistols for Himmer's SS. The 5 original examples were SS marked and exhibited SS eagles on the belt plate. This example is a nice fantasy piece German Koppelschloss belt buckle pistol that consists of a single flip-up block featuring four barrels. Intended for the user to press a locking lever at the bottom of the buckle which releases the spring-loaded barrel block, flips up the belt plate, and subsequently allows the user to fire each barrel via its own independent trigger. The belt plate exhibits a silver eagle holding a wreathed swastika that is retained by 2 brass wires on the rear of the plate. The bottom bears an faux "RVA" manufacturer code, followed by a waffenamt and "44A2". Metal components exhibit a partially blue finish, with the balance exhibiting a gray and brown patina. Many examples of these belt buckle pistols have been fabricated since the conclusion of World War II, with observed examples all exhibiting inconsistencies between one another. It is the opinion of the cataloger that all besides the previously noted 5 are spurious examples. CONDITION: Metal components retain fair to good amounts of their blue finish, having been artificially aged, exhibiting a mixture of gray and brown patinas overall, and showing a few scattered spots of surface oxidation. Action operates properly. A nice German World War II fantasy piece, that makes for an excellent conversation starter. MLW