zippo lighter / nam vet

[Berlin Germany]

hi folks

question
does sb know if the zippo i post following is rael vet´s one or is it a fake?

i received it as a gift a few years ago because I'm a bit of a collector.

see fotos

 

[TallTom]

A few years back I picked up about 60 Zippos at an estate auction. Had to purchase a lot of items and the Zippos were in it. I learned they definitely have collectability. And they also had a lot of counterfeiting after WW II and the U.S. used Japan to produce them as part of the Asian rebuilding efforts.

I am by no means an expert on all things Zippo. But they have been "stamping" the trademark on the bottom since the early days. Including all the ones under license to be produced outside the U.S. This looks to be engraved by a cheap rat a tat engraver tool. Not stamped during production.

The bottom looks all wrong!

Further it was pretty common to make personalized trinkets for troops by street vendors to sell for a few cents. It doesn't have the quality fit that Zippo had. You can see the pieces don't line up well, the hinge doesn't have a solid rivet.

So in my limited capacity I would be very cautious in calling this an authentic Zippo. However you can reach out to Zippo and they can help you if it has a history.

hi folks

question
does sb know if the zippo i post following is rael vet´s one or is it a fake?

i received it as a gift a few years ago because I'm a bit of a collector.

see fotos

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View attachment 1682597


View attachment 1682598

 

[Bumblebee]

I'd question the inscription because it wasn't written by someone who speaks English.

 

[TallTom]

I'd question the inscription because it wasn't written by someone who speaks English.

Well they often would be asked to engrave whatever anyone paid them to. Let's use this as an example. A unit commander may have wanted to hand out personal momentos to his troops. So he'd give them say 200 actual Zippos and paid for engraving into them
Think "Class Ring". It could be a units inside joke that can account for the misuse of English. Known to those that received them as an inside joke.

 

[Bumblebee]

Well they often would be asked to engrave whatever anyone paid them to. Let's use this as an example. A unit commander may have wanted to hand out personal momentos to his troops. So he'd give them say 200 actual Zippos and paid for engraving into them
Think "Class Ring". It could be a units inside joke that can account for the misuse of English. Known to those that received them as an inside joke.

Maybe.....could have been a German/American in the unit I suppose.....