material of the Rettungsmedaille

[Jeroen P]

Most people know / collect the Prussian and Third Reich Life Saving medals (Rettungsmedaillen), but not everyone knows they are still being awarded today. Every German state has its own version and the obverse is always different. Here you can see the different varieties:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rettung...ik_Deutschland

But I've got a question about the material of these medals. Apart from the silver ones, some are only silver plated or "just made to look like silver" (I'm terrible with technical terms).

What are those that are not made of silver? Are they just as official? Are they privately purchased pieces, or downright fakes?


Below you can see the lifesaving medal of Lower Saxony. The one on the left is made from real silver, the one on the right isn't.

many thanks

[Jeroen P]

This is the life saving medal of Rheinland-Pfalz, the first type of 1951-1971.

I know the second type is made of 925 silver, but I'm confused about the material of the first type. What is the material according to you, based on this picture? Is this silver? many thanks

[Jeroen P]

Link to the picture of the Rheinland-Pfalz medal mentioned in the above post:
http://www.die-deutschen-orden.de/wp...Fassung_VS.jpg

It appears to be made of nickel silver (which does not contain any real silver: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_silver).


This week my new life saving medal of Nordrhein-Westfalen (first type of 1951-1970) has arrived in the mail. As is the case with the Niedersachsen medals pictured in the first post in this thread, real silver and non-silver ones exist. Non-silver ones have more of a "sprinkly surface", but sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.

Real silver ones appear to be marked 800 on the edge at the bottom of the medal. I didn't know this and neither did the seller, apparently: