Need opinions on these Panzer Collar Tab Skulls...

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Darren, to tell if something is die struck you need to look at the edge of the insignia.

These badges were formed by being made out of pressed metal. Imagine a pastry cutter. The press comes down and forms the shape of the badge and at the same time chops it out of the sheet metal. Around the edge you will be able to see this sheer mark from the press. I enclose a pic of an SS cap eagle which illustrates what I am trying to describe. Overall detail to all die struck badges and insignia should be good and crisp. But dies do wear and later produced badges will suffer from this.

Moving on to castings. Now if a fake item is cast from an original the sheer mark can be replicated, but it is not a sharp. The reverse edge to a cast badge will often be iregular.

Hope this helps?

Cheers, Ade.