not wartime, no 57er and no fake but top rare

[Seewolf]

Hi gentlemen,

i was long thinking about a good thread title for this piece. It´s nothing from the above but IMO a very interesting piece.

It has been found in the later 60´s in a big trash can on the "Hardthöhe Bonn". At that time our ministry of defence was still located there.

A young girl was playing around and outside the building was a big trash can with some pieces/awards in it. She took a few and went away.
About 45 years later her son gave all these pieces to a german collector who showed the items in the german SDA forum. All pieces have been made by S&L, a few 57ers, postwar !! observer and pilot and prototypes for the "Ehrenmedaille der Bundeswehr"

My heart stood still when i saw this one and i immediately contacted him and we made a deal about this one.

What is it now? Well, seems to be a prototype for the small battle units badge first class. At that time they were thinking about making a wearable version of metal instead of the cloth pieces.
Apparently there never started a serial production but we will never know why. The "Bewährungsabzeichen" and the 1st grade are for sure the most awarded classes and i think that was the case that they thought about making a metal version. Seems they completely switched back that the 3 known clasps are enough for wearing. That´s why we always find (if one pops up) the clasps on ribbon bars.

Would like to hear your thoughts about this one. For me a top rare and absolute collectable prototype that fits more than perfect in my collection. Diameter about 40mm.
Below my piece and and muster how the cloth version looks like.

[Seewolf]

Helmut Weitze has still a non cut out and unfinished version for sale

[Nigel N]

Hi Rudiger!
I love it!!!!!!!!!!
Great piece, something, different, and unseen, this is what I love to see!
We have already seen several pieces by S&L, that were prototypes of pieces that never went into production!! The TDB and ADB medals were similar, there was the Westwall that Maciej showed us, etc etc.
So for me, that's what this is Rudiger, exactly as you said, the fact that we also have the story behind the piece, how, where, and when it was found, all adds to this piece!!
The badge itself is really nice, great design, good quality and hardware from around 1960, or shortly after I would think?
The most interesting thing I've seen in a long time!!!
Well done on landing this one Rudiger, and of course, thanks for showing it here, and sharing the story behind it too!!!!!!!!!
-Nigel

[Seewolf]

Thanks Nigel

That one is from perfect craftmanship, no flash, very well painted and crispy details.
And the spotty silver colour reverse reminds me to the very early S&L GAB´s. All fits perfect to early or mid 60s.

Man, that´s great that in our collection area we make make such discoveries ..... the poor TR guys won´t have that fun

I am VERY happy to own that one. Here we can see that even in the 60s they thought about new varieties of the old TR stuff

[Skyhawk]

Hi Rudiger,

Really cool item! The design of the badge is one of the best even for someone who collects LW and not KM. I agree that the '57 area is very dynamic and the various items are great fun to collect. Even more so in many instances than the TR stuff. A little easier on the budget too!

Best

[Steve 5]

Rudiger, a fantastic find !
Congratulations on obtaining this one, like you say rare, I would say as rare as hens teeth !! These prototype 57ers, of which there are a few in collectors hands, reveal a fascinating insight into the manufacturers design process, and are part of the 1957 range timeline, and as a KM/Marine collector it is the icing on the cake
Prost ! Steve.

[reichenberg]

I have always thought that there is no better find than an un issued prototype in whatever field of collecting is involved.
The problem with many items such as medals and coins ect is that unknown prototypes are often disregarded by purists because they don't fit in to a known group and so cannot be classified or are treated as fakes. This does not seem to be the case as far as 1957 awards are concerned and I'm sure there are others out there waiting to be discovered.

[jonathancol]

I definitely like this badge. It's always good to see unique pieces like this land in good collections.

[Tom B]

It truly is a beauty ! So very well made for a prototype badge. I sure would like to rummage through the files at S&L. I can't even begin to Imagine what other surprises there would be. I'm glad you found it...if I would have seen it I would not have ID it for what is was. Tom

[Nigel N]

I was thinking that maybe we could start a new, dedicated, thread specially for these prototypes that never went into full scale production???
If you guys think its a good idea, please let me know, and if there are any other, similar pieces that we have seen, or heard about, and could be included, again, please let me know!!!
-Thanks
-Nigel

[Tom B]

I was thinking that maybe we could start a new, dedicated, thread specially for these prototypes that never went into full scale production???
If you guys think its a good idea, please let me know, and if there are any other, similar pieces that we have seen, or heard about, and could be included, again, please let me know!!!
-Thanks
-Nigel

Yes Nigel, This a Very, very interesting subject IMO Tom

[xmember]

Hi Rudiger,

Sorry, I'm late on this one. What a rarity! That's a sound story behind the piece which would be hard to dispute in my opinion. It has all the marks to be a quality piece ready for production. Good work on grabbing this piece Rudiger. It's a keeper.

Regards,
Rudy

[jonathancol]

You and Rudy both have had excellent luck of late.

How do you plan on displaying this one?

[Seewolf]

Hi JC,

i´ll display it in my U-Boat and small battle units case. Space is getting less there but this one fits
I´ll make a shot this evening of the display

[Seewolf]

Jonathan,

for your enjoyment my display
As i said .... less space left