Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 13. März 1938

[paulscoot]

Hi folks, Picked up a couple of "Flower wars" medals last weekend alas not the Memel one (its on the list of course) one of which was this Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 13. März 1938 also known as the Austrian Anschluss medal, What caught my eye was the excellent detail ! so a deal was struck & I managed to get a Tenner knocked off (probably the price the dealer actually wanted anyway) After a busy week I've only just had the chance to take a closer look at it & to my surprise I found a not very clear makers mark on the suspension ring ,a number 16 I believe for Alois Rettenmaier ! not sure the dealer even knew, he certainly never mentioned it. Any chance that being numbered that you can tell what year of production it could be? Regards, Paul

[spunkmaja]

The maker mark "16" for Alois Rettenmaier (Schwäbisch-Gmünd) is not what I would normally expect to look like comparing to other medals marked "16".

/Jonas

From left: EK2, KVK2 and KVM

[paulscoot]

Thanks Jonas I see what you mean , although I do have an 18 stamp in this style on an Ostfront medal could there have been different types of stamp ? and in what time period did they change ? very curious. Regards, Paul

[spunkmaja]

Thanks Jonas I see what you mean , although I do have an 18 stamp in this style on an Ostfront medal could there have been different types of stamp ? and in what time period did they change ? very curious. Regards, Paul

There exist many different stamps out there, and in different styles depending on manufacturer. Just because the "18" stamp resembles with your "16" does not actually prove anything.

/Jonas

[paulscoot]

Hi Jonas, Are you saying then that you believe the stamped number 16 to be spurious ? it certainly shows the age & patina of the rest of the medal do you believe the medal it self to be reproduction ? Regards ,Paul

[spunkmaja]

I cannot judge if the stamp is legitimate or not, but I have not seen a "16" stamp like this from Rettenmaier.

The medal looks ok anyway.

/Jonas

[paulscoot]

Thanks again Jonas for your time, Anyone else with thoughts on authenticity ? anyone else amongst the WRF membership with the same type of ring stamp ? just curious, Regards ,Paul

[paulscoot]

After a bit of research (which I should have done before I bought the dang thing) I've decided that this medaille is the notorious "mask" fake , Jonas gave me a clue with the information about the dodgy 16 ring stamp ,It was while I was researching info about the Memel medaille that the penny finally dropped (strangely though I can't help thinking that this fake shows far better detail than most originals I've seen ) live & learn Regards ,Paul