I recently experinced a rather shocking experience regarding an item bought back from german after WWII by and uncle who served in 9 para, C company. he was involved in the attack on the mellvile Gun Battery near sword beach on the night of 5/6 June 1944

He bough a few items back from the War, one being a nicely designed ring from an elite soldier of the German Armed forces. Along with these he bought some flags, a pair of German boots, and a few other nick knacks, these remained in his possesion until his death a few years ago.

I recently pu this item up for sale, along with a supporting  details of the ring's history. A proven and totally authentic item. After the item was sold, the item was taken to a "Self proclaimed Expert", who told the buyer it could not be proven authentic. What!!!!..the full history is there with it, and a so called expert see's fit to cast a totally incorect and false opinion on the item

Well that just goes to prove one point, that its unsafe to rely on even the opinion of the "experts"....i felt insulted, and being called a liar, as was my uncle, I find the Opinion of Harvey Riley, and possibly many others cast in the past to be wrong, and upsetting....I have the other items from my uncles spoils of war, including his medals.uniform insignia, and paper's..would Mr Riley please authenticate these for me please!!! NOT...

A lesson to be learnt by all of us here, that not only must we watch out for deliberate attempts to sell fake goods we must also be very careful who we approach for authentication of items...in this case Riley has been proven totally wrong and this leaves a bit of a bitter taste, because if we can't rely on people like this, how do we get items authenticated.

The truth is, at an auction house, that will deal with these kind of items...it may cost a few pennies, but its worth it to save these kind of miss judgments occuring....its getting harder to deal with items like this. One, because they are becoming scarce, and two in some cases experience counts for little. Do not rely on one person's conclusions...don't put all your eggs in one basket, or they may get broken......I have learnt a valuable lesson here, and will not forget it in a hurry....A proven item, with history, defiled by one man's incorrect opinion.

Im sure if i were to make the same mistake, my name would soon appear on reviews and guides. I will there for name and shame anyone, who is in- accurate, or potentially un reliable...its the way to keep this area safe, or as safe as it can be...militaria, especially German 1933 to 1945 is growing rare, and we are having to take more care.