[quote]We know that MANY silver items were NEVER hallmarked: consider the Totnekopf Ring. Even the blood order was ONLY silver-content marked. SS and SA Honor Dagger crossguards were not hallmarked either, so this notion that "hallmarks had to be a certain way" is not at ALL born out by the facts. And when you consider that these silver chains were no doubt custom made and not sold on the open market as manufactured goods,
We know that Very few 3rd Reich awards and badges were marked in regard to metal content in any way. A few of the exceptions that come to mind are ,Oak Leaves and Blood Orders. These items were NOT manufactured to be sold on the commercial market but rather manufactured as awards to be presented so IMO the rules for marking commercial goods didn't apply. This should also answer the question raised elsewhere as to why other awards wern't marked at all. However; This doesn't excuse the shoddy marking exhibited on some of the chains shown in this thread. Hallmarks I am very certain were NEVER cast into objects; They were stamped. Again IMO; Items have to stand on their own and this type of deviation has to be accounted for. I would be more than willing to review any variances to the accepted silver stamping procedure inregards to flatware or other silver items from Germany during this period. Jim
