Verwundetenabzeichen 1939 in Silber

[tempelhof]

As to your question DAZZA3483... wow... I mean that's pretty esoteric and digging back into the dark recesses of everything I think I've ever heard or read... yes... I do believe there were more than one die for this series. The early die is differentiated by a left-to-right 5-5-5-5 slash pattern in the cross guards and the later die by a left-to-right 4-5-5-5 slash pattern. This is why I said a 4-5-5-5 pattern isn't exclusive to a floch badge. Some good badges have a 4-5-5-5 pattern. ALL floch L/53 badges have a 4-5-5-5 pattern. AND all the other issues noted here. And there are other issues with this badge I didn't show because of time constraints. There are a lot of floch characteristics in the obverse and this badge seems to have them all.

So although there were multiple dies for this badge, it is a floch because of the other issues which good examples of either die do not exhibit.

Now this question about the dies, I could be wrong. This is something... I don't even remember why I know it. So apologies if I have details wrong here but as I remember it, this is the answer to your question.

[tempelhof]

ask him if you can engrave "FLOCH" on the back before you send it in.

ridiculous. i know. i almost say that just to be funny.

but honestly... here goes another one into the abyss to rear its head somewhere else one day to be wrongly vetted and to add to a false sense of what is acceptable as to legitimate variation in wound badges.

[tempelhof]

Walkwolf, here is a close-up of the badge in post 10 to illustrate a further point which is another characteristic of the floch obverse:



That row of dots should be continuous and hug the very edge of the sword blade all the way up. In this example, the row starts out that way, then it drops down and notch and follows the edge of the blade from a distance leaving that small space along the lower edge of the blade. This is a red flag.

[DAZZA3483]

but honestly... here goes another one into the abyss to rear its head somewhere else one day to be wrongly vetted and to add to a false sense of what is acceptable as to legitimate variation in wound badges.

I agree 100% with your opinion tempelhof.

The item was purchased from a well known and established British dealer,it appears a real problem to this hobby..the amount of VERY high quailty repo's is increasing on a massive scale.

It's certainly been an eye opener!

[tempelhof]

did you get any feedback from Hans N over on the other side?

[tempelhof]

never mind. i see he confirms the issues with the dot patterns.

just being lazy.

[tempelhof]

these things can be and are offered by established and respected dealers. this sort of fake is best shown to advanced wound badge collectors with specific experience in the WB niche.

many dealers are generalists, having broad experience in militaria overall. there's nothing wrong with that except that more subtle problems are going to have a higher chance of falling outside their degree of experience. sometimes, a big name dealer will lower our guard. it shouldn't. at least not totally.

now don't get me wrong... i don't consider myself a big shot in wound badges at all. some things i know... some things i do not know. but i do know this particular fake.

[DAZZA3483]

You were perfectly right to voice your concerns and I thank you for it templehof..its invaluable for new collectors such as I.

[tempelhof]

no harm done to you as the dealer is taking it back.

and like i said, i really do dislike finding a badge with problems. you don't want to give that kind of opinion.

on the other hand, you can't just stand by and watch either.

next time, show the badge before you buy. you'll get a consensus early that way.

[DAZZA3483]