West Wall Medals - Two To Compare

[Captain Darling]

Hi All,

I recently picked up a West Wall medal from the EStand that had good reviews and when I compared it with one I picked up years ago I noticed a significant weight difference and the older and heavier one was slightly thicker (wish I had a good vernier!).

Both are:
approx 40mm high
approx 33mm wide
came with approx 110mm ribbon
came in packet named Carl Poellath

the thinner one is around 13 grams
the thicker one is around 16 grams

I believe there was a second run of these is 1944 could that explain the difference?

The lighter medal is on the right in the below pictures (the lighter is my recent purchase that was reviewed here)





Your thought and any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks
Pete

[KLMKsunbunny]

Hi pete,

the earlier version of the medal was made of brass, and so is heavier. You can generally identify these as the brass often has a green tarnish as they age. The later version, as was the case with most german medals as metal became more important in the war effort, was made of a lighter zinc alloy.

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/serv...wall_medal.htm

[Ross Lee]

Both look real to me.

[luftkrieg]

Both are good. One bronze (1939) and the other zinc (1944).

Kind regards
Pierce

[Captain Darling]

West Wall Medal

Hi All,

Thank you all for yor replies!

Yes I was sure both were authentic just wanted to clarify the differences as they were both in the same makers packet yet there looks to be subtle differences in design (wreath mainly) as well as weight/thickness. I wondered if a different makers sample 'got into' the wrong packet. So I can assume they are the same maker just different period. Excellent.

Thanks also for the link.

Cheers
Pete

[Woolgar]

A nice original pair

Nick