This is a heads-up for any of you who might want to have a “genuine” DOR (Deutsche Ozean Reederei) cap badge as currently offered on Ebay. Big surprise, they are not original nor are they good copies. They are just plain fakes. There were 48 DOR badges made in 1916 for the crews of the U-Deutschland and the U-Bremen. 24 of those badges went down when the U-Bremen vanished at sea in September 1916 and will never be on the market. The remaining 24 were on the caps worn by the U-Deutschland crew. So, at best, there are maybe 24 DOR hat badges out there somewhere, but I doubt it.
In 2016 I had Robert Lubstein in Berlin, the original, and only maker, of the badges, make a few copies for me, all of which I can account for. The Lubstein Company made the badges for me using the original pattern and material. They were not cheap. A friend who lives on the East Coast sent me these photos of what is being offered on Ebay.
Fake Alert!!!
Note that the ghost image of what is on the front of the badge bleeds through to the back side. That is a sure sign it’s a fake. Here is what the back of a Robert Lubstein badge looks like. It’s solid and the badge is relatively heavy, .25 ounce or 7g and it is very stiff, there is almost no flexibility to the badge
Here are the two sides of a Robert Lubstein badge
Fake Alert!!!

Fake Alert!!!

I have a feeling that the U-Deutschland thread on this forum prompted whoever it is to create knock-offs of the badge to cash-in on the upswing in prices for U-Deutschland-related artifacts. Dwight