Hey fellas, just got this frog from Germany. It is in rather good shape, and now i wonder if it is good or a bad one...?
On the back there are some numbers. I think it says: N 0/0552/002, if it's a good one, could anyone tell me anything about what the numbers mean?

Regards Kevin

Backside

"inside"

Kevin, The frog looks OK to me and looks like late issue for the German Army. The R.B. Nr. (sometimes seen as an R.F. Nr.) indicates a Reichsbetriebsnummer which is factory designator assigned to makers of some items like leather frogs, Luftwaffe drop knives, and other items during the later days of the Third Reich (circa 1943 and later). From the images not mint unissued, but still a very decent example of an issue combat item. FP

F.P. thank you for the very usefull information.

Regards Kevin

This frog is a typical high clas repro. several traders sell this frogs in germany und others out of austria. The source is unknown.
the fakes came with two r.b.nr.0/0552/0024 and 0/0378/0007.

The Stamp is also the same widness...from one rand to the other. The original R.B.nr. stamps of this maker are differnt.

the leather is very well made. but the colour is rubber like. the stud is a perfect copy or a depot peace.

the leather is season agend.

The rivets are ones with flat dooms. normal seen by different copys.

also airforce frogs were faked... the same rivtes. NAPOLA frogs too...painbted green... or yellow, grey painted ones.
fake SS stamd also also put on.

i own serveral typs of the maker 0/552/0024 and i see a lot of them.
they are all stamped in the same way.

here a pic:

Kevin, I’m afraid that I am going to have to respectfully disagree. Animal hides are not like a specific batch of alloy steel which is formulated to be the same from batch to batch. They are all different, and there are going to finish differently. And as the war went on the Germans ran out of chemicals, changed formulations etc., which is why we also see things like changes (for example) in grip materials.

I’m not saying fakes cannot be or have not been made. And there is nothing to prevent a modern faker from making any kind of number combination. And a faker can copy an old well established number or create a new one. (Somebody can correct me if I’m wrong, but as far as I know the R.B Number list has never been found.) But that is only one part of the story.

What I like about the frog are the wear marks consistent with a frog that carried a bayonet in the field. Frogs looking like just yours have been around a long, long, time coming from U.S Army veterans and/or their estates. If it looks, feels (and especially) smells like a 60 plus year old German holster I would not lose any sleep wondering if it was real or not. Regards, FP

by serval traders in germany you can buy the same frog.

it is a not very good copy. the signs of weare are done by these frogs in the same way.
and there are not very realistic. at firt the edges must show a differnt sercufe by carriing.

i own such a frog. the copy came in all variations. Luftwaffe, with and without strap. bit at the moment there ware al black.