Hey Matt

[SatansCabanaBoy]

After talking to you, and going through the challenge...I think I have found a tag that is a fake in my collection...what do you think..?

I'm thinking its a fake because there is no dots in GEB..?

[HVK]

I do not think there should be dots above the "e" in "Geb".... It is normally written "Gebirgs Jäger".....

But if it is real or not - I am not the rigth to answer this... :-)

[Matt L]

Yeah, sorry but that one's likely bad- there's just no way 184 men from one single Kompanie required replacement discs and that's pretty-much normally the only time a field unit-marked disc was issued; the unit was created in 1942 so there was no chance of it having a pre-war issue exception (units that existed before the war began issued discs to their soldiers on mobilization so those units would have their full field designation marked on them). Plus the sans-serif lettering is always worrysome on a desirable disc like a Gebirgsjäger one is (because they're rather rare), and the disc itself isn't particularly nice- the edges of the punched holes and Trennschlitzen are ugly and although that's not unheard of, it's not the greatest thing and the overall look of the disc just isn't terribly encouraging.

HVK misunderstood what you wrote- he thinks you meant there should be an Umlaut, but he's right anyway that since here the 'Geb.' stands for 'Gebirgs' not Grenaider-Ersatz-Bataillon, so there wouldn't ever be a dot after each letter; and in truth I don't think that's a 100% thing anyway so not seeing dots isn't necessarily a problem- it may just be uncommon.

[SatansCabanaBoy]

A couple of questions...

You mention "replacement disc" and "pre-war issue". Can you expand on that? Do you have examples to show?

This would be typical marking for a Mountain unit then..? That's how it should appear on a disc outside of incorrect font?
I got to thinking that it was a G.E.B. disc with the missing dots after we got talking about that...

What style of font is the most common?

When I got this one, what sealed the deal for me, was the multiple strikes on the 8 in the soldier number, and the misspell on Rgt..something about i to me, just seemed genuine -clerk error, and not so much forger error.

Thanks for the heads up though dude -super cool of you.

[Matt L]

A couple of questions...

You mention "replacement disc" and "pre-war issue". Can you expand on that? Do you have examples to show?

I've discussed this in some of my other treatises LOL But it's not a matter of difference in look but simply like I wrote that if the soldier was serving before the war started, his disc would be marked to the field unit- once the war was on, new soldiers have discs from Ersatz units only; field units created after the war didn't issue their own discs save as replacements for ones that were lost therefore the numbers would only ever be low since this wasn't a common occurrence.

This would be typical marking for a Mountain unit then..? That's how it should appear on a disc outside of incorrect font?
I got to thinking that it was a G.E.B. disc with the missing dots after we got talking about that...

Well the abbreviations are correct, but this isn't a typical marking no since, as I mention above, most soldiers would have discs from Ersatz units, not field ones.

What style of font is the most common?

No such thing- but serif fonts are much more common than sans-serif, and sans-serif are extremely common on fakes, so they're always cause for closer examination I feel.

When I got this one, what sealed the deal for me, was the multiple strikes on the 8 in the soldier number, and the misspell on Rgt..something about i to me, just seemed genuine -clerk error, and not so much forger error.

Thanks for the heads up though dude -super cool of you.

I know what you mean- it's one of those things that one really has to be wary of giving too much credence to though- if anything such 'special' details can only be conisdered if the piece is absolutely or pretty-much absolutely certain to be real.

And no worries- I wish it were better news though

[SatansCabanaBoy]

Well..it's all live and learn right?
The trouble with collecting a lot of these things here, well, from any war really, is that there is very small research material out there on this for someone like me that is just starting to get serious about collecting.
I go around to antique fairs, and shows, and try my best. But you know, I might see one TR thing every 4 or 5 months. It gets difficult to build up a working knowledge of things. So, I roll the dice, buy it, bring it home, and do the research. Finding this forum was a blessing for information. Makes collecting that more interesting.

Again..thanks for the help.

I will post more of my TR tags if you still want to have a look. I don't want to take up all of your time.

[Matt L]

Well there are so many fakes of 'interesting' units out there, and virtually no dealer will know a good disc from a hole in the ground, so you're always better off leaving show or dealer stuff alone- only buy on websites where you can show images around and get advice before laying out the cash...

Sure, I'm always happy to look at stuff- it's why I'm here

[SatansCabanaBoy]

Cool dude. I appreciate the time.

[Matt L]

No problem. That one's just fine- it's Landesschützen-Bataillon 787. This is an example of the less-common kind of 'fat' shape disc.

[SatansCabanaBoy]

What is the history of the fat disc..?
particular region?
Was the information curved like that on the fat disc? I have read that the curved information on the other discs was up to the whim of the clerk?


Here's another that I am not sure of...
I question this one becasue you can see that there was the information originally scratched on the disc, then punched over top?
The holes seem right for wear, but the unit I am not sure about either. Is this Motorcycles...Dispatch..?

I am also thinking that this is an Imperial tag...but again I am just learning