Craig, You stated," The leader of the NSKK was certainly not worried about silver content markings". Geez! No disrespect but what kind of statement is that! How in the heck do you know and why would you pretend to know what was running through his mind at any given time?
Can you imagine, I wonder what would�ve happened to a person or company if they had fore-gone Himmler�s sacred and precious silver to make his honor rings with and instead used something else? Would Himmler worry about something like that? I�ll just leave that to everyone�s own imagination. Why would a company risk losing a contract or business knowing full well what the out come could be? Who knows! Anyway, it�s insane for anyone to believe they know what these guys were or were not worried about. We do have indisputable evidence that these guys took some things pretty serious don�t we and we also know they collected some very nice stuff which included �silver items�. Anyway, not trying to harm the positions taken, just attempting to bring up points from both perspectives so that we can move forward.
Let me start by stating, I�ve truly enjoyed this thread and thanks to all. I�m not trying to prove or disprove this cartouche. I�m simply fascinated by these marks and any mark period be it real or fake. I certainly haven't inspected it hands on and pictures are difficult for me to read.
But one thing is for certain; we cannot ignore the fact that the cartouche has a silver fineness mark of 800! It�s screaming, �I�m made of fine silver!� So for the sake of this argument let�s determine if it is in fact made of fine silver and does in fact have a standard of fineness of 800 parts per thousand. If it�s tested and it is made of .800 fine silver than we should continue with our arguments in whatever direction that may take us� If it's not made of fine silver then there's clearly deception involved, end of story and no more discussion necessary. I�ve seen silver items that have incorporated all sorts of marks onto the items they produced or helped to produce. My point is, if its nickel silver, German silver or anything other than precious medal it should not have a fineness mark period.
It�s frustrating when someone has the answer but refuses to share that information for whatever reason, but I fully understand. I will ask one last time in hopes my question will be answered. Is it made of .800 fine silver or not? Thank you.
