-
-
02-19-2012 09:10 PM
# ADS
Circuit advertisement
-
Pre-amble
Just as has been done with Heer badges in other venues, it’s possible to group KM Minesweeper badges into categories based on their obverse design. This is a useful exercise, as it often suggests possible working relationships between manufacturers, or possibly indicates that they used dies derived from a common master die or die producer. Within each of the major categories, the individual manufacturers can be separated out by small differences in obverse details, trimming outlines, hardware and finishing techniques.
It’s quite possible that the badges within each major category represent the output from a common Matrix (master die, “Matrize” in German), or at least are based upon copies of a sample master design. As discussed in other threads on the forums, from any given “Matrize”, many working dies (“Stanzen”) can be made and custom hand-altered before they are hardened. A hardened "Stanze" is used to strike the actual badges, which are then trimmed and finished according to each manuacturer’s method. The trimming stamps are called “Schnittwerkzeuge”, or cutting tools, and vary slightly between manufacturers.
So for this system, I’ve divided the Minesweeper Badge output into 5 basic categories based on the number and pattern of the waves under the water plume; the first 4 categories contain badges in both Tombak and zinc, whereas the 5th category contains exclusively zinc badges.
-
-
The Tombak makers by category
Here is a list of the 14 makers of Tombak Minesweepers by category (of which 9 also produced versions in zinc):
Type 1: 7-wave “Schwerin-type”:
*C. Schwerin & Sohn - Berlin (always marked)
*Wilhelm Deumer - Lüdenscheid (2 reverse setups in Tombak, both marked and unmarked, and 1 in zinc)
F.W. Assmann & Söhne – Lüdenscheid (always marked)
Friedrich Linden, (FLL) - attributed – Lüdenscheid (always unmarked)
Richard Simm & Söhne, (RSS) – Gablonz (always marked)
Type 2: 8-wave “Juncker-type”:
*C.E. Juncker - Berlin (always unmarked)
*Paul Meybauer – Berlin (always unmarked)
Boerger & Co., (Beco) – Berlin (marked)
*Steinhauer & Lück - Lüdenscheid (both marked and unmarked in Tombak)
Petz & Lorenz – Pforzheim (unmarked)
*Otto Schickle - Pforzheim (unmarked but a few marked by other makers’ LDO numbers)
Type 3: 8-wave “RK-type”:
*"AS in triangle" - Gablonz (always unmarked in Tombak; zinc is both marked and unmarked, 1st pattern eagle always unmarked, 2nd pattern eagle both marked and unmarked)
*R.K. – Gablonz (always marked, some 9-wave variants in the zinc version)
Type 4: 9.5-wave “Hymmen”:
*Hymmen & Co. - Lüdenscheid (both marked and unmarked)
* = also made in zinc (9 makers)
-
-
-
-
-
The exclusively-zinc Minesweepers
And now, here are the 10 badges (plus one distinctive fake) that occur exclusively in zinc, having no Tombak counterpart:
Type 2: 8-wave “Juncker-type”:
“Juncker-like” – possibly late Juncker production (always unmarked)
B.H. Mayer – Pforzheim (marked)
Förster & Barth – Pforzheim (both marked and unmarked)
Rudolf Souval (R. S.) – Vienna (marked)
Wilhelm Hobacher – Vienna (both marked and unmarked)
E. Ferdinand Wiedmann – Frankfurt (marked "ÜÜ")
Unknown “flatback” maker - (always unmarked)
Type 3: 8-wave “RK-type”:
"AS in triangle" with the 2nd pattern eagle – Gablonz (marked and unmarked)
"feathered eagle" reproduction – post-war fake (always unmarked)
Type 5: 7 to 7.5-"straight-waves":
LM (possibly Lind & Meyrer) – Idar-Oberstein (always marked), 7.5 waves
Unknown "straight wave" (possibly S.H.u.Co) - possibly Idar-Oberstein if wartime (always unmarked), 7 waves
-
Bookmarks