Donald,
The fact that I stated that some well known dealers had poo pooed that cap at the Stuttgart show, does not mean that I 'wait around for dealers to tell me how to make decisions'. But, thanks for the 'observation'. However, I do think that it is helpful to get input from other collectors (even if some of them are dealers) especially when considering purchases in a militaria show environment where cash is short and decisions often need to be made rapidly. If I had 30 years of ss visor cap collecting under my belt (like some on this thread) instead of 1.5 years of general ss collecting, who knows... maybe I would not need any input from others.
As I am less familiar with this style of grey cap, the RZM marking on the bill and the circular ss runes inside the cap gave me reason to be cautious. The cap also showed very little use/wear and the interior lining was not a material that I have seen in a grey cap before (it also is different than that found in the Violin cap). That being said, there were many aspects of the cap that I liked (as I stated) - which is why I took the time to check it out a bit at the show. If I had the opportunity to compare the cap side by side to the cap owned by Violin (as is possible in the pictures on this thread) I may have purchased it.
As I stated above, knowledge in paramount. If I had more knowledge of this type of grey cap - which I think we can all agree is extremely rare - it may have been added to my collection. As it is, it has become another piece of merchandise for Mr. Shea to offer at nearly 4x the price.
Doug
