Kriegsverdienstkreuz real or fake

[panzer1dan]

hi looking at this Kriegsverdienstkreuz its got number 9 mm on the ring looks like original ribbon could anyone tell real or fake an what material it is made from. sorry for the pics camera no good closer pics blur

[Adrian]

An original tombak example IMO.

[António Fragoeiro]

i Agree with Adrian, original

[Woolgar]

Its a good one indeed !

Nick

[Badto666]

Looking good

[panzer1dan]

whats tombak mean

[don_kihotis7]

I concur. Tombak indeed. It's the material used to make this medal. Early examples were made of tombak which is top quality and looking excellent till today. Late war, these were made of zinc which is not a good material. That's why some of them look really lousy 65 years later. See the difference of the one you posted and the one below.

[don_kihotis7]

Now about the ribbon, if you want to be sure take a thread from the edge and burn it. If it melts it means that it has been produced from petroleum=fake.
If it's vanishing leaving behind pieces of carbon then it's silk=original.

[Adrian]

Now about the ribbon, if you want to be sure take a thread from the edge and burn it. If it melts it means that it has been produced from petroleum=fake.
If it's vanishing leaving behind pieces of carbon then it's silk=original.

But please be careful carrying out any burn test. Don't set fire to the whole ribbon! Tease a thread from one end where you can see a loose one and use that.
The burn test is a useful guide to originality but not always 100%. I've never carried out a burn test on any of my ribbons, there are other ways to tell, usually in the way they're made.

[Glenn66]

You can use a UV light to look for evidence of postwar manufacture, if the ribbon glows it's likely to be a fake but for your example I wouldn't bother as I'm sure it's a good one