Kriegsabzeichen fur Hilfskreuzer opinions

[Fallschirmjager1941]

Hello Everyone,

I have recently been very interested in acquiring a hilfskreuzer badge. It is by far the most aesthetically pleasing award of the KM IMO. What are your thoughts on this piece? It looks like a tombak Steinhauer & Luck to me, but I would welcome a 2nd opinion from the forum's wealth of knowledge.


Thanks,

Jake

[martinw]

First,Steinhauer & Luck did not produce tombak Hilfskreuzer awards.they were all zinc.Tombak awards do not feature the circular catch plate,or any other type of catchplate, as seen on this example.

This is an S&L badge but it is postwar.

It bears the second type of globe,also found on S&L's 1957 awards and the hollow rivet is also a sign of postwar production.

Regards,Martin.

[FALLSCHIRMJAGER]

Hi, Martin's your man on these awards and if he says post war S&L, then that's what it is unfortunately Leon.

[martinw]

I do have a few of these postwar Steinhauer & Luck awards in my collection for the sake of interest in the company's postwar production.

I'll try to illustrate some of the differences between S&L's period and postwar production below.

Here are two S&L HK's.
The period award is on the left.There are obvious differences in the globes.The postwar globes tend to have wider lines of longitude and latitude,as you see.There are also flaws on these postwar globes,most notably on the bow waves.Part of left bow wave is missing and a vertical flaw can be seen on the right bow wave.


Regards,Martin.

[martinw]

Here are a couple of types of rivet that can be found on period S&L HK's.

On the left is what we call a "snipped" rivet and on he right is a small domed,recessed rivet.

[martinw]

The postwar S&L badges can be found with the hollow rivet,as seen on the right.They can also be found with a large domed rivet and with no rivet at all as seen on the left here.
The globe is simply adhered to the badge.

Regards,Martin.

[Fallschirmjager1941]

Martin thank you for taking the time to show me these images! I've learned a lot

[martinw]

Glad i could be of a little help here Jake.

As we know,Steinhauer & Luck used a variety of reverse set ups on their TR awards.

Here are five that i know of that can be found on their period Hilfskreuzer awards.

Most postwar badges that i have seen by S&L feature the inverse tapered pin,as seen in the example you posted.
However,i do have a postwar badge that features a laid down block hinge,i've only seen a few of these and they all have the hollow rivet.

Regards,Martin.

[Fallschirmjager1941]

Much appreciated Martin