25 year SS Medal

[BobI]

Hi Guys!
I just picked up a collection and this was part of it. I am pretty sure it is original but would apreciate your opinions.
Thanks!
Bob

[BobI]

2

[BobI]

3

[Glowlight]

Does anyone have an opinion about this SS 25 medal? Good or bad, I'm interested!

[Larry Lipps]

It would help to see some better photos of the badge itself.

[BobI]

Here is the obverse

[BobI]

Reverse

[Larry Lipps]

I've only seen two of these with a good pedigrees so I'm not the best reference, but I don't see anything I don't like. Probably 20 times more rare than an RK.

[CurtD]

Medal looks good. Ribbon looks like a replacement. It is the wrong size and the runes are too long.

I'm pretty sure I have seen this medal before on the forum, but I can't locate the thread.

[BobI]

Hi!
A trusted friend bought this from a vet with 5 8-year SS medals, the ribbon is not a replacement. It is 100% and has not been seen on this forum before or any other forum.
Best Wishes,
Bob

[CurtD]

Hi!
A trusted friend bought this from a vet with 5 8-year SS medals, the ribbon is not a replacement. It is 100% and has not been seen on this forum before or any other forum.
Best Wishes,
Bob

I'm curious as to how you know for certain the ribbon is not a replacement. What are the correct dimensions for the SS 25-year ribbon?

[BobI]

Hi Curt!
It was purchased on a hotel buy within the last 6 months buy a friend. He is a dealer who is actually “squeaky-clean”. In fact as I was buying a large amount of his inventory, which is mainly American, he asked us to remove the “questionable” items we found. We have known him for about 15 years and only have the best to say about him. This brings us to the vet, who would have no access to a replacement ribbon. Lastly, I suspect Frank H. would have mentioned it to me when I sent him scans of the medal. I personally like it so marked it at full retail with the hope no one would buy it.
Anyway, this is my reasoning behind the ribbon being original to the medal.
Best Wishes,
Bob

[Skipper Greenwade]

I agree that the medal looks okay, but the runes are huge. That was the thing that put me off initially.

Skip

[Glowlight]

Does anyone have a picture of another 25 year ribbon they could post for comparison?

[J C Gray]

What are the correct dimensions for the SS 25-year ribbon?

The SS=Service Award 1st. & 2nd. class was normally issued with a 39mm wide, cornflower blue, moire rayon ribbon, onto which gold or silver bullion runes measuring approximately 16mm in height were directly embroidered. The unusually wide dimensions of this ribbon was to allow the medal to be neatly court mounted, without the need to apply a separate runic device, such as the type that can be seen on some Polizei medal bars.
The runes on these ribbons generally appeared in either of two slightly differing forms, suggesting that different manufacturers using different unterlagen were employed in their production. One type of embroidery utilised for the SS=Service Award is quite sharp with well defined angles and cross-strokes, whilst the other known style is quite spindly with less defined, almost rounded features. Both styles of Sigrunen are, however, embroidered with the down-strokes perpendicular to the weft of the ribbon, in order to give an overall harmonious appearance to the mounted medal.
A trial run of 35mm ribbon with the runes woven into it in a light blue was also manufactured in 1939 by Karl Loy of Munich, but was never issued, presumably as it lacked the elegance of a hand embroidered version.
Although normally discredited by collectors, the ribbon for the SS=Service Award was also manufactured (complete with bullion embroidery) in the more usual 35mm width as is shown by the photograph below. This photo apears in the 1939 publication "Orden und Ehrenzeichen im Dritten Reich" by Heinrich Doehle and also shows the use of vertical runes. Another interesting obsevation in this book is the utilisation of the circular suspension ring on this medal...another feature that is usually instantly discredited by collectors when authenticating these awards.