Poor West Wall Ehrenzeichen

[mrg]

Faking a West Wall...

Really...

I have seen Fake West Wall medal at shows the ones I have seen are made off lead and bend easily, some have different rippon loops and are of quite a good quality but this if a fake would be a further step up. I would be happy with this.

[Don D.]

Honestly you think germans could produce/award medal with this defect?

Do you think the Germans were infallible? There are lots of awards with manufacturing defects that made it thru the system.



I still think it is a zinker. The tombak ones show the details in the grass better and have a better defined ose to hold the ribbon ring.


Yes, there are fake West Wall medals out there.

Here is a tombak one for comparision. Note the details and smoothness.

[münster]

That medal is fine to me.

[Don D.]

And the reverse. Note again how smooth it is compared to the other one which has a grainy texture you find with zink badges.

[keifer kahn]

Don.

Well said!!

I know that for private purchase awards the packaging was obliged to carry guarantee details,indicating the sellers legal responsibility to replace "faulty" goods free of charge.

I think this would certainly imply that the Germans themselves were implying that the buyer may potentially end up with a defective award.

[Wolgadeutscher]

it is a Zinker, not Tombak

[Heinz Steinkopf]

Hi I have had several of thes over the years and not all were of the same thickness, I personally cannot see anything wrong with this award, not of great quality I admit but in my opinion early war original (but always hard going of pics) but the wear, colour and contrast of the award leads me to believe this is early war. Fakes that I have seen are not of this quality unless there has been a big step up. Original is still my opinion

I actually meant not the thickness relative to other West Walls but the gradient in thickness of this particular medal.

[JustinG]

Que sera, sera, Whatever will be, will be; ...

I also have seen fake examples of the West Wall medal. There have even been fakes made of Hindenburg crosses surprisingly.

Even with mass production, I still think that this award has some flaws. As a collector, with prices for West Wall awards maybe around less than 100USD range, I would personally pass on an award like this. There are better examples out there with out this bent/ deformity.

Post manufacturer damage like this is sort of hard for me to believe. This award was not parade mounted. It was not an award that would be worn. Paper packeted or even loosely kept, I can't see the recipient causing this damage to this award. Common damage from storage, mishandling; I would think would be along the lines of a "crush/crimp" damage, not expanding the inner ring to seperate and still keep the oakleaf vein in good condtion.

Everyone has their opinion. If this award is yours, then there are members here who believe your award is a genuine zinc example; congratulations!
If you are hoping to put for sale this award. Then the price should definately reflect the fact that this award has a defect.
With the relatively low cost of these awards and this being an unmarked version (not a rare maker) Then, I don't see this badge being anything special.

I wouldn't pay much to have this in my collection.

Regards,
JustinG

[Ischak]

Justing is absolutely right. There are better medals, which seems not like fake or like original medal with defect. It is common badge with fine price, so why to keep in collection this crap ? Even details are bad.

45 Eur cost set medal+envelop or less.

[münster]

How many Westwalls do you see like this?

[Heinz Steinkopf]

Josef, Justin, I do neither want to buy nor to sell this award. I have posted it here because it seems, as I have stated above, "strange". Just to discuss its authenticity
Anyway thanks a lot for the opinions.
What I see is that it is in no way an early one since it is made of zinc. I completely agree with Don Doering.
Of course I would appreciate if anyone who believes it to be original could post some West Wall of the same type for comparison.

[JustinG]

Best regards

I am happy you got a good response from the members here. I am in no way an experienced collector. I was simply posting my concerns.
These forums are great to learn and flex our collective knowledge so we all become better collectors. I have learned something from this thread.

My last statement was in the assumption that this might be heading for the estand;
it seems that several people post awards like this hoping to get the thumbs up before sending an item to the estand.

I am glad you got some good feedback.

Best of luck in your future endeavors.

Regards,
JustinG

[Heinz Steinkopf]

I am glad you got some good feedback.

Best of luck in your future endeavors.

Regards,
JustinG

Of course I still hope to get some answer like:
Good. Here is a pic of the same award from some unquestionable source
or
Fake. Here is a pic of the same one sold as a copy

Still there are good responses from very experienced collectors that are worth listening to.
And the medal itself still is good example of some indefinite thing still keeping its mistery.

[Heinz Steinkopf]

Post manufacturer damage like this is sort of hard for me to believe. This award was not parade mounted. It was not an award that would be worn. Paper packeted or even loosely kept, I can't see the recipient causing this damage to this award. Common damage from storage, mishandling; I would think would be along the lines of a "crush/crimp" damage, not expanding the inner ring to seperate and still keep the oakleaf vein in good condtion.

I assumed that the damage was received after manufacture since there is an area of naked zinc present. If this deformation was a result of poor casting we could expect this area to be covered with brass in subsequent galvanizing process. And for me it still looks as a result of tough storage or handling. Just IMO.

[blutundehre]

Honestly you think germans could produce/award medal with this defect?

I have seen some off-set strikes and double strikes on some medals and even some badges
so it would not be difficult to believe and I think it would depend on the maker.
A deschler or godet probably not, but a lesser known maker maybe