Reality Challenge I

[Gazal Al Shaqab]

Thank You Matt, good to know: Trennschlitzen not in line only on "field made" discs.

You are right, here it is just a slight optical illusion (or maybe I was just sitting not really in front of my screen

[Eike41]

The capital E's are identical on all three disks. Does that always mean fake when you see it on such diverse units disks?

[Matt L]

@ Gazal- indeed, if they're uneven it's a red flag to be sure; it doesn't prove something is fake mind, because given the extreme variation among Erkennungsmarken it's not impossible there are a few real ones that have a manufacturing flaw, but as I say I've never seen one; I have, on the other hand, seen uneven slits numerous times on fakes (that are proven so by other means).

@ Eike- ah, yes, I'd only generally looked at the more 'special' shaped letters like 'R' and 'G' and those don't match- but the 'E' certainly does look the same. Yes, identical letters or numbers on different unit discs virtulally always mean both are fakes. I've never encountered real ones that have identical letters and as I've said so many times, you can even find different Kompanien in the same Regiment that have different discs- so completely different main unit discs ought to never look alike. Fakers have only a few sets of stamps and make all kinds of unit discs, so they will always repeat and that's the tell...

Now in this case, a capital E doesn't have a particularly variable shape so it's not the best one to demonstrate a problem- these do look very much the same, but I think it'd be difficult to say 100% for sure it's a problem were it on its own; that's why it's best to use letters wtih more distinct shapes- as I say like R and G; in this case the nearly identical E is just something that'd either suggest further scrutiny or be one more piece of damning evidence to seal a 'likely fake' identification. In this case because there is other proof, it's likely the Es are identical though.