A 1939 Diplomatic and Government Officials Group I Brocade Dress Belt with Buckle; Published Example

(Group B3 to B9): Brass buckle on the right end, with a silvered pebbled centre, the eagle and the remainder of the buckle in gilt with the swastika in black paint, unmarked, illustrating a right-facing eagle, clenching a wreath bearing a swastika in its talons, on a pebbled background, surrounded by a full wreath of laurel leaves, the buckle measuring 47 mm. Belt in fine aluminum wire with two rows of black embroidery on the upper, each row bordered by gold-bullion wire on either side, interlaced with white threading, black wool sides and underside, gilt aluminum receiving clip on the left end, leather tab with a thick smooth finished dark brown upper and raw underside stitched in place to the underside of the belt on the left end, the tab with eight rows of two holes each for length adjustment, stamped in black ink "103" on the underside of the tab, two sliders on the belt with matching uppers and undersides, the one slider with an extended black wool tab, the belt measuring 47 mm x 1,145 mm. Very light contact on the buckle, scattered gilt wear on the receiving clip, fraying evident in the aluminum wire and white threading along both edges on the upper. Near extremely fine. This particular belt with buckle is illustrated in black and white on page 528 and in colour on page 648 of "Belt Buckles & Brocades of the Third Reich, Revised Edition" by John R. Angolia and came from his personal collection. Footnote: From the collection of approximately 900 German buckles accumulated by John R. Angolia, who start collecting buckles, belts and brocades from 1944 until around 1990; most of the buckles were obtained from the American and German veterans; most of these buckles present a core of Angolia’s book “Belt Buckles & Brocades of the Third Reich”, published in 2001.