Help Appreciated with Kriegsmarine Zerstoerer/Destroyer Badge

[GlennAgain]

I'd be very grateful for your help with this award...Authentic or Reproduction?
I'm leaning towards Authentic but these are out of my main focus of study...
Thank You kindly!
-Glenn-

[Rakkasan187]

Glenn,

What is the maker's mark under the clasp? It looks at one point that the clasp and hardware were resoldered, possibly to reinforce what was there originally,,,

See if you can get a shot of the maker's mark (if that is what I am seeing under the catch)..

Best regards, stay safe

Smitty

[GlennAgain]

Thank You for your reply, I just now messaged the Seller with the same question regarding the reverse marking...I'll let you know as soon as I find out...
Glenn

[GlennAgain]

It's F.O. for Friedrich Orth, Wien...
Thanks again for your help!
Glenn

[Rakkasan187]

Glenn,

Hopefully you will get good pictures, and just be cautious, when a seller doesn't take pictures of a maker's mark when it is there they may be trying to hide something..

Hopefully they will reply and then we can assess it better for you..

In the sellers description do they mention if it has been repaired or not?

Smitty

[rbminis]

When comparing what can be seen of the maker's mark with one on one of my IAB's, it looks okay to me.
Wait for better photos though.
Ralph.

[GlennAgain]

Here we are...I think it's a good one...Your Input is greatly appreciated!
Glenn

[Brett]

The newly supplied photos appear to be of a different badge. Certain pits, blemishes and traces of gilding are absent on the second lot of photos.

Regards
Brett

[GlennAgain]

Thank You, Brett! Your eyes are much, much better than mine...That's all I needed to know regarding this Seller and Badge...ugh.
-Glenn-
I'm glad I posted this for vetting...!

[Rakkasan187]

Glenn,

I am far from being an expert on these awards and I spent some time looking through some of my reference material and I am not familiar with this type of horizontal hardware setup on Friedrich Orth destroyer badges.

I was under the impression that the FO made awards used vertical pins. I also looked at some other information from the WAF which has a database of makers and some of their unique tell-tale indicators..

Look at post #17, for the Zinc FO made Destroyer badge with the vertical pin. (Courtesy of the WAF).

The badge you were interested in purchasing I presume is Tombac, and could be the reason that the hardware on the backside is horizontal rather than vertical..

Wehrmacht-Awards.com Militaria Forums

If you look at this spread sheet data in the link below (courtesy WAF) look at No. 48. The description of the hardware for the FO made Destroyer badge. The images of the badge in question don't actually reveal the question mark shaped catch, but I could be nit-picking at this point.

https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/for...ch?id=10081347

And one final observation from our own forum. If you look at the link below, here is a thread in regards to a FO destroyer badge and the same questions were raised in regards to the pin and catch..

destroyer badge,,,opinions wanted

I hope this information helps a little and again I am far from being an expert on these but I have never seen an authenticated original FO made destroyer badge with this type of horizontal hardware and the sites that are selling them may be misinformed and are actually selling copies and reproductions..

Hopefully some other members who specialize in Kriegsmarine Decorations will comment and either confirm my suspicions or educate me.. Either way I look forward to learning..

Best regards everyone, stay safe

Smitty