50 Year Faithfull Service Award ?

[miken]

Hello
Can someone tell me if this is a legit award?
I don't see many around.
Thanks
Mike

[Richard T]

Hello,

Yes indeed, not an easy one to find. Congrats!

Best regards,
Richard

[Skipper Greenwade]

Nice example of a rare decoration.

I didn't realize how scarce they were until I started looking for a cased one at the S-O-S last year. I found exactly one...

Best,
Skip

[byterock]

Yep they are, even years ago they were hard to find. This one looks like a fine example.

Often this one gets confused with the Faithful Service Cross for the civil service. There were two of these second (25 years) and first (40 year) class.

This medal was a special class of the above award meant meant only employees of private companies who completed 50 years of service to the same concern, not a very common thing to happen even today so not many were ever handed out

The quality is very good and the fakers have yet to make any yet at least I have never seen a fake one withing the few I have seen.

I would be interested to know how much one of these go for these days. You can PM it to me if you want.

[tiomnajasila]

Nice one indeed,

I am still looking for one. I saw a cased one couple of weeks ago but my wallet didn't agree with me

With kind regards,
tiomnajasila

[Tom Yanacek]

The quality is very good and the fakers have yet to make any yet at least I have never seen a fake one withing the few I have seen.

I saw a fake 50-Year at a show some time ago. It was actually a 25-Year Cross that had the oakleaves gilded and the numeral '50' added to the top cross arm. Of course, the dead giveaway was that the reverse had the inscription, "für treue Dienste" instead of, "für treue Arbeit."

Best regards,
Tom

[eraser]

Please take a look at this one

Why is it complete gold and not like the cross shown

http://www.germanmilitaria.com/Polit...s/N014156.html

[Bob Hritz]

Firma Rudolf Souval used the same planchett for the 25, 40 and 50 year service medals. A civil servant was also eligable for the 50 year service cross.

Here are photos of the Souval Cross with the reverse reading 'Fur Treue Dienst'. The 50 is a separate addition, the oak leaf wreath is fire gilded and the cross is finely frosted and burnished. The loop is marked L/58.

Bob Hritz

[Bob Hritz]

Verso

[Bob Hritz]

Detail of number 50, which is a separate addition.

I have never seen another.

Bob Hritz

[David S]

Here's what it would look like on a ribbon bar

[David S]

A little closer

[byterock]

Never seen an all gilt one before or one for the cival service so I have my doupts about those two.

As a matter of fact I have only seen about 6 or 7 of them over the years all like the first example.

But again it is a rare award I would like to see some others

[byterock]

Seems there are some variations
Just read two old guides and the 50 year was silver cross with gold wreath in one and the other gold cross with silver wreath??

I will have to do a little more digging on this one

[Tom Yanacek]

Firma Rudolf Souval used the same planchett for the 25, 40 and 50 year service medals. A civil servant was also eligable for the 50 year service cross.

Here are photos of the Souval Cross with the reverse reading 'Fur Treue Dienst'. The 50 is a separate addition, the oak leaf wreath is fire gilded and the cross is finely frosted and burnished. The loop is marked L/58.

Bob Hritz

Hello Bob,

I must say that I do not like the 50-Year Faithful Service Decoration that you posted. It looks very similar to one I saw at a show sometime ago and described in post #6. I consider this type to be a reproduction. The L/58 marking is a big red flag to me. Also, the quality of this piece is sub-par in my opinion. The stippling is so coarse and crude looking, that it is very difficult to read the inscription on the reverse. On the subject of the inscription, it is my understanding that a 50-Year Decoration must have "für treue Arbeit" on the reverse. Where did you get the information that Souval used the same design for all three decorations? They may have been a producer of 25 and 40-Year Crosses, but I doubt that they produced the 50-Year. (Except maybe post-war.)

Best regards,
Tom