Steinhauer & Lück Kriegsabzeichen für Minensuch - U-Boots - Jagd - und Sicherungsverbände.

[Adrian]

This badge is variant M2.6.4 on the Classification Table.

Defined by the round sheet metal hinge and round wire pin and stamped sheet metal catch on a round base plate.

Usually found with hardly any finish or the finish has toned to a dull grey colour this one has been refinished at some point but has been done to a good standard which points to it being done by a manufacturer or professional rather than a collector with a tin of hobby paint.

[martinw]

Nice badge.
I have an S&L Hilfskreuzer with the same reverse set up.

Cheers,Martin.

[Adrian]

I have another Minesweeper with this set up but in the faded look without the refinishing. I can't find the thread to link at the moment. I also have a Panzer badge with the same round metal hinge too. They seemed to use this set up across a variety of badges.

[Norm F]

Hi Adrian,

I agree completely with your description of the finish on your badge. The topic of Steinhauer & Lück is interesting and challenging. As we know, S&L, like Souval, continued in business untinterrupted at the end of the war. As the "Souval of the north", they were a major supplier of post-war awards in the 1950's both with and without swastika, and later also made awards for the Bundesmarine.

Like Souval, their output after the war included leftover badges, hybrids of leftover and post-war parts and eventually likely some post-war struck awards. The dilemma comes in trying to sort out which is which, especially when it comes to leftover zincers vs. post-war assembly.

For the 2-piece Hilfskreuzer awards, we have the added clue of post-war globes with atypical rivets attached to wartime-compatible badges, but for service badges of one-piece construction (all the other services including Minesweepers) we don't have that "smoking gun" to help us sort out "wartime-compatible" appearing badges.

When it comes to the finish on S&L zincers, we tend to think of the faded grey badges as "wartime-compatible" and bright gold finish as likely post-war, but figuratively it remains a "grey" area. In the case of Wilhelm Deumer's zinc Minesweeper badges, there were clearly two grades of wartime finish available -- a basic finish that faded to grey and a higher quality finish with better longevity. With S&L, that distinction is not clear. There are several zinc examples with a well-maintained gilding on the obverse like the M2.6.6 attached here, but these are usually associated with a faded grey reverse. There are enough KM zincers with this type of finish to suggest they were indeed finished in S&L's factory, but what's not clear is whether this was a late wartime premium finish or a post-war finish, and for now this remains a mystery. What's clear on the attached M2.6.6 with the gold wreath is that the silver and dark finishes on the water feature are identical to those seen on the "wartime-compatible" finish on the attached M2.6.4, both badges having received a coating of lacquer in those areas.

Now, your badge is unusual in that the well-preserved gilding is also on the reverse, and the obverse water feature is devoid of the final lacquer application. Furthermore, on the main pin you can see both the original gilding plus smears of the secondary gilding, more suggestive to me of a later refinishing process. The unanswerable question is more specifically where and when; like you say in the factory or by some other professional? For now, we ponder.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Norm F]

More food for thought. Here are other S&L zincers with well-preserved gilding on the wreath. On the Fleet badge in particular, note that the voids in the swastika are still grey, perhaps suggestive of a refinishing process.

There are no such "red flags" on the two S&L Coastal Artillery badges. However, when you consider the discovered hoard of S&L Coastal Artillery badges in their original cellophane packages all faded to grey, it's hard not to be suspicious that perhaps all the bright gilding we see on other S&L zincers is post-war "refreshment", similar to Souval's practise.

[Adrian]

Thank you for your well presented input Norm. As you say, a grey area that we will likely never know for sure the answer.

I do wonder and this is purely my musing, if it became clear shortly after manufacture of the zinc badges that the finish was reported or discovered as not being up to standard and if there was a recall or a move to replace any sub standard badges with faded finish for a better quality badge.
Therefore, S&L exchanged better finished badges for those where the finish had faded or been rubbed off too easily. Awardees could go to a local dealer or direct to S&L and swap for a better badge.
The faded or prematurely worn awards returned to S&L. They then would have these inferior quality awards in house which were subsequently refinished to a higher standard and re-issued. Obviously they would not be able to retrieve every single award which could account for the variety we see in collections today.

From my limited browsing, it appears that the majority of zinc badges encased in cellophane for so long have lost their finish. I would bet that heat, humidity and the badges not being able to 'breathe' has accounted for the loss of finish. The break down of cellophane over time perhaps giving off a gas or making the environment within the packet one that accelerates the loss of finish.