Help With A luftwaffe Badge Please

**Fairchild** · 03-29-2011, 02:29 AM

Hello there all,
I am a very, very new member here and apologize in advance if I posted this in the wrong area. In any case, I have to admit that I am no good at telling fake from real when it comes to German medals and decorations. It's out of my comfort zone, so I figured I would post some pics of the new items my father brought home and ask for you guys' expert opinions.

Dad brought home this Luftwaffe badge the other day and after looking it over I became suspicious of it's authenticity. Even though this is out of my comfort zone since I am not used to seeing Third Reich badges, it just looked wrong to me. The pin in particular looks strange. What do you guys think?

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 03-29-2011 02:29 AM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**Walkwolf** · 03-29-2011, 04:05 AM

The pin looks to be a replacement.

I'm not sure of the badge itself, but someone here
on the Forum will let you know for sure...............!

**ppsh33** · 03-29-2011, 04:25 AM

hi , sorry to say, bad news , its a cast copy . if you look at pic no 3 you can clearly see the casting line on the eagles leg and on the swastika . these badges were die struck . not to worry we have all got caught with fakes ,it goes with the hobby. good news is you are in the right place for advise . there are many very experienced collectors here only to ready to advise and help review potential items you may want to purchase. use the search function and you will find many examples of genuine awards , its a bit of a minefield collecting German awards . spend time looking at as many genuine examples as you can . welcome to the forum and enjoy the hobby ........cheers paul

**Anubis** · 03-29-2011, 01:03 PM

Bad fake.

**Fairchild** · 03-29-2011, 08:17 PM

Thanks guys. I figured as much, but since I don't deal with these often I wanted to ask the pros first. The good news is that my dad did not give anything for it; he found it somewhere ages ago. I will certainly take a look at the badges on this site to help develop a better feel for them. Thanks for the welcome, and the help.

~Alice

**Adrian** · 03-31-2011, 10:26 PM

Hello and welcome, thank you for posting.
As the others have said, your suspicions were correct and it is a fake. As I've said before, please post your questions and potential purchases before you spend any money, everyone here is helpful and will do their best to advise you.

**Fairchild** · 04-01-2011, 08:43 PM

Thank you Adrian, I will surely take that advice to heart. I want to explore the forum and all the authentic artifacts before I go out looking for more Third Reich badges for sure. I generally figure that anything under $100 (I think that's about 62 British pounds?) is usually a fake in this field. The only thing I know for sure about Luftwaffe badges is that they seem to be very pricey if they are real.

**Adrian** · 04-01-2011, 09:06 PM

Yes, Luftwaffe badges are arguably the most expensive type of badge to collect. It would be very rare that you would find a genuine one for less than $100 and if you do then you will be very lucky!
You can get reasonable deals if you're patient and shop around and don't want mint examples. I picked up a Juncker Beobachter Abzeichen (Observers) for less than €300 because the pin was a replacement, I didn't mind at all and it is one of my favourite badges. There are very good fakes around too so please be aware of them and please post here on the forum before you spend any money. Any decent seller selling original badges shouldn't mind holding an item while you get it checked out if they have nothing to hide. Get good, clear photos too, blurred and out of focus shots are hiding something!
Use the search button and ask plenty of questions, everyone here was a new collector at some point and we've all been stung by fakes at some point so you're in good company!