destroyer badge,,,opinions wanted

[Adrian Stevenson]

Not a good reference book to use. It has many errors in it.

Cheers, Ade.

[outpost]

Hi' Yes I agree but not totally useless but the thing that really gets up my goat is people rubbishing awards by viewing low quality photos alone.My personal view is the only way is to hold the award in your hand bar the normal lead based s**t! What is your opinion on this badge Ade??

[booboo252]

Like what has been said already, wrong pin setup, it should be vertical. Wrong detail also. Beadles book is flawed in my opinion although some of the info is very good like the dimensions, weights etc that are included. I have a copy that I have modified with my own colour photos and info. It is a handy sized book to carry about.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi, I think the badge is bad too for the same reasons already stated.

Cheers, Ade.

[outpost]

Great now we've getting some where!! These guys who are producing these awards must be doing the leg work,so if they are why do they f*** it up by puting the wrong attachment on the back.I have seen some hot ones with great detail made from tombak.Would it be not be more realistic to make them from zinc as the so-called originals?? Please Please Please let me see where it is stated in black and white that these were not produced pre 1945.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Fakers get things wrong for a number of reasons. Most are to do with profit. They will have a stock supply of hinges, pins, catches which they will use on a whole range of badges. They don't always bother to make correct ones as many collectors will not do their homework and buy them regardless. Sometimes they will not make a more perfect copy so that their partners in crime will not get burnt by one later in time.

Zinc based fakes are made today, but going back many years ago, this was not always the case.

Cheers, Ade.

[outpost]

Hi' Thanks Ade for the reply,but this still dos'nt answer the underlying question the proof that this badge is not of pre 45 production. All i want is somebody to prove to me on paper that this is a reproduction! ie period photos of F.O. manufacturing technics, award catalogues something along these lines. Regards Paul
" OPINIONS ARE GOOD BUT FACTS ARE BETTER"!

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Paul, in that case, the chance are you will not get the answer you are looking for, as it most likely will not exist.

Makers catalogues rarely show the back of an award and in many cases these don't even show true photos but artists impressions. Plus this is a wartime award and most sales catalogues are pre war items. Not seen one for FO, only S&L.

A photo of Friedrich Orth's factory production line is also going to be almost impossible to find.

Cheers, Ade.

[outpost]

Hi' Ade, Thanks for a honest reply.Cheers Paul ps I will have to find something else to moan about!

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Paul, no problem! Asking questions and enquiring is good.

Sadly the vast majority of all this stuff we collect, be it badges, uniforms, caps etc, is not documented to that degree. What makers records there were, the vast majority have been destoyed either during the war or shortly after by makers wanting to rid themselves of any connection to the Third Reich era. Life would be easier if it was still around.

What we do have is collective wisdom acquired through many hundreds of years of collecting experience shared between different people. In the past 15 years since the advent of the internet, collecting has risen to a new more technical level. It has been possible for collectors, via sites such as this, to exchange detailed information. Awards can verified to certain makers via die flaws, pin set ups, etc. Back in the 1970's when I started collecting all we had were basic collectors guide books which showed what a certain badge looked like. If you were lucky the back was sometimes shown! Different makers were not even covered.

We will never know it all. But we are certainly advancing!

Cheers, Ade.