Luftschutz 1 class

[Antonio Scapini]

Hi guys, some time ago I bought this medal.
I have my opinion about it, but first I'd like to know what do you think of it.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

[Ian Hulley]

Can you show the suspension ring please Antonio ?

Cheers, Ian.

[Patrick W]

looks cast to me, the cut outs are all over the place

[Ian Hulley]

looks cast to me, the cut outs are all over the place

Patrick, here's my original zinc cross (prior to me cleaning the fluff and gravel off it) ...



as you can see these are so thick that they were either cast or stamped and then hand-finished to a greater or less extent to tidy them up ... especially the inside edges.

Cheers, Ian.

[byterock]

A rare one indeed. Would like to see a rim shot as well, the very few originals I have seen never have a seam.

[all1knew]

what's everyone think of the small suspension ring type like this?

William Kramer

[Antonio Scapini]

What I found studing these medals is (IMO) that suspension ring is not the key to understand if the medal is good or not.
My medal has a replaced little suspension ring.

I post some more pictures of the thickness and a close up.

William, your medal looks good to me, but I'd like to see some more better bigger pictures.

[Ian Hulley]

A rare one indeed. Would like to see a rim shot as well, the very few originals I have seen never have a seam.

Ok, so I know the form and source of mine and therefore KNOW it is 100% original ...





A clear seam/join.

These are incredibly rare ... allegedly around 150 awarded so what, maybe a couple of thousand manufactured ? ... and to find anyone who's studied more than one or two must be VERY difficult.

Here's the ribbon ring and jump ring ..




I have clear 'texture' shots of each arm if you want them to compare Antonio ?

Cheers, Ian.

[Matthew]

not for me

Yours does not show a seam but neither does it show shear marks . Aside from hacked inner arms, they also look to be a bit wavy where their surface should generally be flat. Color is obviously off. Tip of swastika is worn off to a bevel yet it retains its plating...
In short it would take some effort to convince me of its originality.

cheers

Matt

[Patrick W]

Ian

I have had a couple of examples exactly the same as you show and I am not convinces as to their originality- also they are finished in gold paint rather than a plating - most of that is gone on yours- this type always has these splits to the edges, not a cast seam as such but looks like it was made in 2 halves. Thats not to say it is bad but based on the examples I have studied (several in zinc and one in tombak), it falls short of what i would expect quality wise and also in method of manufacture. If you have some information you could share as to the source then that would be interesting to me personally and I'm sure to others who have made a point of studying these rare awards.

Attached images of my last original one that was grabbed out of the S&L factory stocks, it has a variant suspension loop that is perfectly round but look at quality of strike and finish for a zinc medal.

[Patrick W]

William, i wouldn't have any issue with a smaller loop but that one looks cast from those images as there appear to be several large pits on the reverse

[Patrick W]

whilst we are on the subject- here is a well documented version of the award in zinc- I have owned 3 of this version in the past- the easiest way to tell it is the flawing to the inner flanges of the cross arms

[Patrick W]

and this utter beauty is THE most sought after example in fire gilded tombak- there are only a handful of these known to exist- distinguishable by the very nicely finished flat suspension loop. Stan has one of these in his world class awards collection.

[Ian Hulley]

Patrick, mine walked in to the Malvern Show this March ... the dealer who bought it hadn't had time to root through the blue take-away bag that he'd bought ... there was a very battered Fire Service Cross 2nd Class the enamel was knocked off and either stuck back in or childishly touched in with Airfix paint, a 4 year WH service Medal, a bronze DRL badge and this Luftschutz Cross. The medals had had the ribbons swapped around ... as they often are when kids have been playing with them. The Heer LS ribbon was on this LS award and vice-versa and the dealer didn't realise they were.

The cross was extremely grubby, covered in fluff and dust as you see in the first photo I posted, the dealer (who specialised in British medals) just said it was 'interesting but hadn't had the chance to look it up yet' I asked how much he wanted and he said he 'had £100 in it' by which I now assume he paid for the whole bag. I actually walked away and drove back to the hotel 3 miles away .... only to turn straight around and drive back and buy it for £100.

If you could see the condition in-hand and have seen it in the bag with the rest of the stuff you would have zero doubts, as I have. Oh and it isn't gold paint, you can clearly see where the finish has been absorbed ,which is why I've coated it in Vaseline.

Cheers, Ian.

[Patrick W]

Hi Ian

Interesting and if it came with a load of good stuff then that adds to the chance of it being ok I agree but as it's not vet sourced it could still have been a post war addition. I have had 2 of these exactly like your cross in my hands and the finish was very old gold paint- are you able to dab an edge with some acetone and see if it rubs off at all? obviously if it is a wartime brennlack type finish it won't damage it at all.

I concur also that these are very old- the ones I held looked very good front and back but the gaping cracks in the edges, in particular at the points of the cross concerned me a great deal- I can see exactly that same thing on your cross.