Panzerkampfabzeichen: Original ???

[tony75]

Hi
what are your thoughts on this piece. I bought a ww1 grouping and this badge was at the bottom of the pile. im no expert it looks bad the catch looks awful maybe it was repaired late war??
thank you for your time and help
Tony

[Adrian]

Hi Tony and welcome.

The badge doesn't fill me with confidence, the hinge looks quite strange and I've never seen one look quite like this. The overall details are quite 'soft' and there appears to be a flaw on the edge of the wreath in the 7 o'clock position. My opinion is a fake badge but let a few other badge collectors chime in, they might know different.

[rbminis]

I believe this is a cast copy of a F&R Panzerkampf Abzeichen. Lack of details on the obverse and the cast hinge lead me to believe this.
Ralph.

[tony75]

Hi Adrian
thanks for the info and help
Tony

[all1knew]

Hello there,

This is absolutely a cast Frank und Reif / BH Mayer design and is completely lacking in overall quality of appearance. The details are soft, there are casting "pits" in the metal and the real giveaway is there is no catch plate on a zinc badge, which would be present if authentic, thus this badge was "cast" with the hinge mechanism directly fitted into the design.

William Kramer

[tony75]

Thank you all for the help and info
tony

[Stewy S]

Hello there,

This is absolutely a cast Frank und Reif / BH Mayer design and is completely lacking in overall quality of appearance. The details are soft, there are casting "pits" in the metal and the real giveaway is there is no catch plate on a zinc badge, which would be present if authentic, thus this badge was "cast" with the hinge mechanism directly fitted into the design.

William Kramer

Exactly. I totally agree. Stewy