This looks like a silver painted copper,good one?It has a little cranium damage,poor little guy!,and a missing prong,kind of a beater but paid 300.00.

back

damage

,,I like it, I'd bet it was "there".
Congrats on it.

im out on this, there seems to be a little cast blobs in between the bones and the paint seems artificially applied to look worn, it may be ok, but i would personally walk from it on a stall, hope im wrong,

Ok thanks!,2 different opinions,anyone else?

There is heavy wear on the front,maybe flatened down a little,here is a pic of a confirmed original I have,the backs are identical,if its a fake its a good one!

sorry wrong pic

fronts

wrong pic again,please delete these extras.

Eric- you stole it for 300. Well done.

i keep looking , and only see lack of detail from your comparison to the other first shown. sorry, look at the eye brow for a start, he looks neantheatal. the more i look the more i dont like it.

i am with you on this one phil-brown,and for the previous reasons you cited,,

,,I wish I had an example of an M1/52.
Based on my second study, the details of the undamaged areas seem a little shallow.
can I change my opinion?

Mann,Yes you can change your opinion!Thats why I put it on here,It does seem not as chrisp and deeply stamped,and Phil the eye brows seen different,wow they make these repos out of copper?Man they are getting good,if its not an earlier style or something its a fake,I think seller said it was a bringback,so I dont know.I have contacted him about a refund,any other opinions please.

Torinojo,Thanks for the comments,I appreciate it,thought it a good price,these things are a mind field,but we are all here to learn,is it possibly real?,or no.

Hey guys,I got hold of the seller,he told me this was brought back with a p38 pistol a flag and some other german militaria by his father in law whos wife put it away after the war.He says if you think his father in law brought back a reproduction you are the stupidest bunch of collectors on the planet!Wow

I found this in SS regalia book,looks like the same pattern?

,,One thing for sure is that if this example is a faker it's a d@mn good one!
Hands on is the best way to judge. I have an M1/24 Overhoff that was shot down by a few, It is a one looker in hand. Later on, it was deemed by many to be the genuine article.
(I knew it was!)
If the fakes are getting this good, we as collectors are gonna have our hands full.
There are as many opinions as experts.
I'm still on the fence.
Good luck E! ($300...A BARGAIN)

Thanks Mann,In hand it looks and feels good thin stamped metal like the original other,definatly not cast.Wow I think I made the seller mad,I dont think he would write 2 paragraphs of its history if he were a scam artist,I know buy the item not the story,but my gut feeling is its good.If you look at the skull in the book its the same pattern,now the other m1/52 is slightly different,the crossbones are longer?,it was given the OK on this forum by everyone,then there must be slightly different patterns or evolution,this would be early.The eye brow on this copper one is worn and flatened down giving it a more neanderthal look I think,I am not trying to make excuses,its either good or its bad.Here is an early no jaw ss skull I know is authentic look at the thick eye brows.

forgot the pic

i still stand by my opinion, although ,i do hope im wrong, we could do with brads thoughts, however, to me ,i still feel the detail is softand there is bad casting in the bone area .as a matter of interest, ask the seller if he would consider refunding the 300 bucks{200 pounds} if not , that would tell me he knows more than we do. they are worth around 1200, 1800 dollars now.

Well thanks Phil and Mann,thats all I can ask,I wanted opinions good or bad,I have no doubt the seller will refund.The thickness of the metal is identical to the original,it is for sure a stamped piece,have you ever seen a fake made from copper type material?I have not.The seller said he would send me a letter from the vets widow for provenence if I wanted and a picture of her handing it to him!.Is there another forum that deals with these skulls,you have my permission to put a link there, anyone?

if they are worth that much,,why would he sell it for so little,,,it may well indeed be good,but i dont like some of the features,,usually i believe,that copper is plated with silver,not painted,,,it also looks like some of the high lighted worn areas are grey paint(?),,i have seen skulls made from dental materials and they are near perfect,but perhaps the provenance here is the real ace-in-the-hole,,if it were me,i would gladly refund the purchase price if i knew i could offer it for considerably more than i had sold it for in the first place,,,

Thanks Militarimania,The seller emailed me and said he would gladly refund purchase price,he is not a dealer but inherited all the vets bringback items(caused a riff in the family) because he wanted him to have them.He said he has pics of vet and buddies capturing the unit marked flag,I dont know what to do,yes the skulls are bringing 700.00 and up ,but I bought the other m1/52 pictured for 650.00 a year ago ,guess they have went up or I got a good deal!Its in great shape with both prongs.

back,the front has heavy flatening wear or mashed look at the worn smooth area on lips and brows,paint has just faded grey in spots looks to me like,anymore comments good or bads appreciated!

well...you might as well keep it,,,something that is 95% good is better than something 100% bad, ..get all the provenance you can on this item,so should you ever pass it along,then the story can be had as part of the purchase price,,,

After looking closer,it looks more like its not paint but a silver wash,look close at the prongs,artificaly aged?I dont think so,not within the last 50 years,maybe just wishfull thinking but I am starting to like it.Will try get some more provinense.Wheres Brad?

Hey thanks Militariamania,nothing is written in stone on these,weak stamp maybe,worn stamp maybe,dirty die maybe,after seeing the difference in these 2 m1/52 skulls posted,anything is possible.The crossbones are not the same, period.This is the eralier type in Robin Lumdstums book,at least its the right era for copper tomback bronz or what ever,its not aluminum or zinc.Its the same style,same bones etc.Dont mean to beat the suject of this skull to death sorry,I do respect everyones opinion,thanks!

,,"I,ll" give your money back for it!

Ok,I figured it out,its not painted,its a shiny silver wash,the "grey" looking area is not grey.I took the pics under a lamp with a yellowish shade,its the lighting!I have looked at this thing with a magnifing glass.There is no doubt (at least in my mind!)its an original period skull,must apologize to the poor guy,got him all worked up!Here is a pic under better light,its shiny silver wash,will get all the provinence I can to go with it.Mann I think I will keep it a while!

,,I don't blame you one bit!

Ok you can delete those other pics ,the sun came up and I took 2 in good natural light,you either like it or you dont,its not painted and its not grey,pictures can only give you an idea,it looks a lot better in hand!Thats it,I would like to put it on the WAAF forum but am not a member,thanks for everyones input.

front last pic thank god

The 2 m1/52 skulls I posted are the same pattern,duh,after looking at them side by side,the picture made it look like the bones were longer because one was closer!Anyway wont waste anymore of your time.

quote:

Originally posted by erick seat:
The 2 m1/52 skulls I posted are the same pattern,duh,after looking at them side by side,the picture made it look like the bones were longer because one was closer!Anyway wont waste anymore of your time.

your not wasting time erick, i love debate and lateral thinking.its what this forum does . its just the eyebrows do it for me,mmmmmm the paint looks almost airbrushed , its dosnt appear worn, but blended in .

Thanks for the comments Phil,the cheek, chin,eyebrows lips or whatever are worn flat in places,the finish is worn off looks like to me in the right places,but I am sure no expert,the paint or coating is shiney,it looks more of a mat in the pics,heres one in bright sunlight,I cant capture the finish in a pic with out a lot of glare.I appreciate your interest and any comments,you wont hurt my feelings,I would like to know for sure about it,if possible!

I put this on W.A.F. forum,2 thumbs up so far.

,,not surprised. (ARE YOU SURE THAT YOU DON'T WANT YOUR $ BACK?!)

i see ss gentleman has endorsed it, so it must be correct, my instinct was wrong, and im man enough to admit it, however, THOSE EYEBROWS

Hi Eric I see no red flags...appears to be a perfectly good skull from the images provided...enjoy...cheers, Ryan

Thanks guys,The eye brows are worn flat,thats what I kept saying,they cannot make fakes this good and in copal,tomback bronze, copper,what ever it is,never seen this material used on a copy.I looked at some sets on snyds treas trov,wow they are not even close,849.00 ,do people really buy these???Phil it takes a big man to admit when your wrong,thanks!Mann your first instict was correct.take care

thanks for the kind words erick, however i think the" BIG MAN "is, indeed mann, he thought, and said it was good from the offset, . so well done. ive enjoyed the debate on this , even if im wrong, because, there was no mud slinging and we all said what we thought of the peice, we were all gentlemen. ,,,,i did say i hope i was proved wrong,,, but i didnt mean it just kidding.

Well done

,,Nice find! (and forum)

I forgot to thank Ryan,thank you I appreciate it!Yes I like this forum even if some of the opinions are not what I want to hear!Thats all part of getting down to it ,Phil the seller wont speak to me after being a doubting thomas you should be ashamed! Just kidding!,think I got a pretty good deal after all.I had this cap eagle thats plated copper,am putting it with it,found out the later type eagle started in 36 and this early skull in 34 so it would be correct I think anyway,have to do with what you have!Mann good call,yes I hate the mud slinging that happens sometimes,that takes all the fun out of a good debate!

Torinojo,You were right and just laid back and and watched,good call!Militarimania,thanks for your input too,I hate it when I post something and no one cares enough to even respond,thanks!