Well said, Mike. I bought a lot of rings in a relatively short period years ago. I was lucky as a few big European collections came up for sale and I had cash to spare. I reckon that at least 90% are good. We (or maybe just I) don?t see collections like this for sale any more. Just the occasional ring. I do not buy SS Honour Rings because they are too expensive and too heavily faked.

Nowadays, I rarely buy a new ring. There are so many fakes, sometimes very good fakes, that I am suspicious of them all. Even my most trusted militaria dealer is starting to avoid Third Reich stuff as it has become such a jungle for fakers, frauds and thieves. And that isn?t just with rings. It?s everything!

I reckon that most of the truly authentic rings have been found and are now hiding in the collections of a few individuals, probably including several of the guys here. One thing that is great about this forum is that just about everyone seems to be bona fide - the expertise and knowledge of TR rings is amazing. The same cannot be said out some of the other fora!

Cheers,

Stephen