Question about marked west wall

[Tiger88]

Hi! West wall medals are plentiful and not expensive, 20-30 €. But for the first time I have seen one marked L/11 for sale. Is it rare? Unusual? Or quite common?
And what would be a resonable price for it?

Thanks for looking!

//Thomas

[Woolgar]

Unusual, it wouldnt put much on the price though, maybe 5 euros or so

Nick

[Tiger88]

Thank's Nick!
I thought that since Deumer is a popular maker, it might be worth buying.
But the price is too high already, must be the mentioned Deumer collectors.

//Thomas

[luftkrieg]

I agree that these are uncommon. I have one of these and I have seen one other posted here in May. These versions are usually thicker than a standard West Wall Medal. Is this one thick like mine?

Kind regards
Pierce

[VonPeter]

I agree that these are uncommon. I have one of these and I have seen one other posted here in May. These versions are usually thicker than a standard West Wall Medal. Is this one thick like mine?

Kind regards
Pierce

The one Tiger88 is talking about looks nothing like yours.

Look at the wings, shovel, swastika, letter on reverse, the uneven inner rim and so on.
I not sure i like yours Pierce.

Here is Tiger88´s to the left and yours to the right.

[Tiger88]

Hello Peter!

Nice to see someone else that have an eye on this site. And an interest in the same things Are you saying that the one on "our" site is good?
I surely think so.

// Thomas

[VonPeter]

Hello Peter!

Nice to see someone else that have an eye on this site. And an interest in the same things Are you saying that the one on "our" site is good?
I surely think so.

// Thomas

Hi Thomas,
Yes, i agree. "Ours" looks like a good one.

[Tom Yanacek]

The one Tiger88 is talking about looks nothing like yours.

Look at the wings, shovel, swastika, letter on reverse, the uneven inner rim and so on.
I not sure i like yours Pierce.

Here is Tiger88´s to the left and yours to the right.

Hello guys,

I have always been leery of Westwall Medals that are marked with an LdO number on a split suspension ring. The ease at which these suspension rings can be swapped around is always a cause for caution, IMO. Some medals, such as the Second Class War Merit Crosses and Russian Fronts, are frequently found with maker-marked suspension rings. But other medals, such as the Westwalls, War Merit Medals, and Annexation Medals, are almost never found with maker markings. Having said this, though, I've no doubt that there are some completely original, maker-marked Westwalls, etc. that are out there in collections. And they would be considered very very scarce, in my opinion. It would not surprise me either, if Deumer did stamp some of their Westwalls with their commercial production code 'L/11'. IMO, they would be a likely candidate indeed. So if any manufacturer was going to mark their Westwalls, I would put them at the top of the list. They were even known to stamp their 'L/11' code onto the rim of a few Annexation Medals at the six-o'clock position.

I have two examples of definite Deumer-made Westwall Medals, but both of them are the later issues in zinc. Still, I don't feel like this is comparing apples to oranges since, IMO, the same tooling would have been used to make both the early and later production pieces. (The original dies being modified only to incorporate the integral suspension eyelet into the later die-forge production runs.) Neither example is maker marked, but I am absolutely positive that both of these were made by Deumer. The first one is still attached to a Deumer sample board. The second example I just bought over the past weekend and immediately recognized it as a Deumer. From the small piece of ribbon as well as the hole and string impression left in the ribbon, I am sure that this was once attached to a Deumer display board as well.

IMO, the one posted by Peter, on behalf of Thomas, looks like a Deumer, but the example posted by Pierce looks nothing like a Deumer.

Best regards,
Tom

[Tiger88]

I totally agree! It's too expensive already. But maybe not for a Deumer fan.
I'm a K&Q guy myself

[Tom Yanacek]

Deumer #2:

[Tom Yanacek]

Deumer #2 reverse:

(Notice how the second dot of the umlaut is very indistinct, indicating a dirty and worn die.)

[Tom Yanacek]

A closer look of the obverse:

(A Deumer will display some of the nicest groundwork at the base of the pillbox.) Nicer than any other manufacturer, IMO.

[Tiger88]

Thanks for your valuable input Tom. It seems that Peter and I are on to something good, so to speek The current bid on the site is way to high though, Deumer or not

//Thomas

[Tom Yanacek]

reverse:

(Notice the faint second dot of the umlaut and the flaw to the top of the 'Z' in 'SCHUTZE' caused by slippage of either the metal or the die during compression.)

[Tiger88]

And the R in FÜR is much higher than the other letters. I did not notice until now.

//Thomas