You guys are comparing apples to oranges. Daggers and R. Steele, Stephens, Wittman has nothing to do with this piece...

Mr. Coats was head of security at the MAX long ago if I'm not mistaken. Also had a lot of ties to the MAX. His show had invited Bill and hosted this piece,, and in fact had won an award from the MAX while he was a big player there..
The fact that it is not a skull is how it was matched to the magazine. Even on a good copy you can see it is the same piece as the magazine.. I've never seen the LIFE magazine but understand it is a full page so maybe it can be seen better..

This piece wasn't brought out by Hollywood Specialties or big fanfare when it was discovered.. It was being taken apart at a pawn shop in Cleveland! Again comparing it to Atwood or Steels pieces has nothing to do with this piece, nor was the piece ever associated with either of them..
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In this hobby we go by provanance.. I would say this piece has a better provanance than most of our own pieces. You guys dont like it,,fine. You don't have to. Bill has/had all the comparisons and had the provenance thoroughly checked out before he repaired it and announced he had the piece. All the while with guys like John Peppra and Rasmussin [spelling?] etc.calling trying to buy it from him. This piece has been traced accurately from capture to Bill Blynn..

3rd reich you didn't have to hallmark anything especially small items.. Besides where do you think it would have been stamped without much damage.. Doesn't really matter much because we don't have it, nor is it being touted as a holy grail. I posted the reverse photo so it could be seen with the only shot of the original swastika... I'm sure the new owner is very happy with it..

Appreciate you comments and opinions..

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Last edited by Gaspare; 08/21/2019 07:31 PM.