U-Boot badge by FO. Opinions please.

[Rangergul]

Hi.

I have been offered this badge. After spending some time researching it I feel it is genuine (it's even got the slight lip by the gun turret when looking at it from the reverse). My only query is the type of hinge; I cannot find any with this style hinge. Is this correct to Friedrich Orth badges?

Thanks.

[Norm F]

Hi Rangergul,

I agree that's probably an original but heavily worn, smoothed out planchet, but for sure the remaining hardware is incorrect for the badge. What surprises me is that the hinge, catch and catch plate for sure are not original yet still have gilding around them which suggests the badge was repaired, regilded and then worn down again (whether naturally or artificially).

There are several variants of f.o. u-boat but all use the same type of hinge, pin and "question mark-shaped" catch, whether in horizontal or vertical orientation. Here's a side-by-side comparison of your images to an original of the same variation. You can see that the details are softer on your images but this could be just heavy wear rather than casting effects. Like you said, it's otherwise a good match.

Best regards,
---Norm

[FALLSCHIRMJAGER]

Hi Rangergul, for what it's worth, I agree that this is a heavily worn and adapted original piece. I have not posted my one here before but here it is for reference. Leon