Wappen

[Chip M.]

Hello,
Recent items picked up from an older collection. Such things are not my specialty, so I'm asking for your observations. The skull has three sets of foldablbe flat brass prongs. There is a remnant of a silver wash on the reverse. This wash is completely gone from the obverse. The second piece (Hessen) has only one attachment point on the reverse, a thin screw post behind the rosette at the bottom of the Wappen. I really don't see any evidence of other attachment points.

 

[Tony without Kaiser]

Hi Chip.

At a quick glance of the Totenkopf, that is in my opinion, an original private purchase, probably made of Tombak that has (as you noted) lost all it's silver 'wash' due to the chemical interaction over the years. The eye sockets are quite reminiscent of the 1908 Pattern. I see no red flags at all.

On the Hessen, that screw post is modern, but that does not mean the Wappen is. I'll look again when I have more time, but it really requires a full size close image of the reverse.