Sgt Art,
in Jan Stills 'Imperial Luger' book pg 155-156, he suggests that "the Deaths Head (totenkopf) symbol was adopted as the symbol of the flame throwers during WW1. These were also painted on tanks of that era. The 'Totenkoph' was also put on some Lugers of the 1917-1918 period. Detailed documentation has not been found.".
The single, little 'S' curl on the the top of the deaths head also existed on a 1918 Luger picture featured in the same book (pg 153). Long before the 'SS' was invented by Hitler.
My opinon is that the 'totenkopf' would be an individual small unit thing and nothing official. Later, counterfeiters thought that this looked cool and applied it to other Lugers to make more money selling their toys. I also think that this is the case of the "Mum" Lugers. But that is just my humble opinion. I would never go out of my way to buy either a "Totenkoph" or a "Mum" Luger. There are just too many good, documented Lugers out there and too little money to buy them all.
Big Norm
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