West Wall medal opinios

[udimension]

Hi for all members,

Herewith some pictures of my first West Wall medal.

Do you think that all is all right ?

Thank-you in advance.

[jack1]

All these westwalls.
Believed to be original.
I'm not convinced on some of them.
Hundreds about.

[Jean-Claude]

Bonjour Udimension,

I know nothing about envelopes so wait for the experts but the medal and ribbon look like very nice originals to me

Salut

JC

[tompress]

Looks all right here

[Stepdale]

Both medal and envelope look fine to me. Envelopes by makers other than Poellath are much harder to find.
Dale

[oldb@y410]

I really like your west wall medal! I have a very worn looking one which is nice in it's own way but yours looks great in a very nice looking way.


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[Tom Yanacek]

Hello,

Medal, ribbon, and packet all looking good to me.

Best regards,
Tom

[Ian Hulley]

It's a very nice, original early award with the original ribbon. The envelope looks fine too and it makes a refreshing change to see a different maker stamp on it.

Cheers, Ian.

[Lightning LA]

It looks fine to me as well, I really like the look of the early West Wall Medals...

[Ian Hulley]

All these westwalls.
Believed to be original.
I'm not convinced on some of them.
Hundreds about.

So, what about the thousands and thousands of Iron Crosses ... I suppose those are fake too ?

Ian

[Tom Yanacek]

All these westwalls.
Believed to be original.
I'm not convinced on some of them.
Hundreds about.

Hi Jack,

No doubt there are fakes of the Westwall Medal, like with every other medal. In fact, faking a common medal like the Westwall is more shrewd than faking an expensive medal, as the common items are not scrutinized like the rare and expensive items and therefore much easier to pass off. Collectors tend to accept them as genuine without so much as a second glance. Likewise, a clever counterfeiter will make one-, five-, and ten-dollar bills as they seldom get a double take. But when you try to buy something with a hundred dollar bill a cashier will suddenly become cautious. A friend of mine once bought a Westwall Medal at a show. It looked pretty convincing and actually had an original ribbon. But when he brought it home and studied it it was actually a cast fake made from a soft metal alloy. So we do need to remain cautious with the common items as we are with the rare/expensive stuff.

But on the other hand, with over 800,000 of these medals awarded in two separate issues (and no doubt a huge production surplus stockpile) there are more than enough originals to go around for those that even care to have one. It might seem that there is a huge market for this stuff, but in the giant scheme of things TR medal collectors are a very small niche market. We do need to be be careful, but IMO a Westwall Medal is not something we need to be overly paranoid about.

Maybe you can post some pictures of some Westwall medals that you are not convinced are genuine? A few weeks ago you asked me on another thread to post some closer pictures of some Westwall Medals that I have on Deumer display boards. I posted the images but never got a response. Perhaps those are the medals you are not convinced about?

Best regards,
Tom

[jack1]

Hello tom.
Thank you for your reply.
It makes sense what you have said and i have always thought this.
Is there any period or documented evidence that all these west wall medals were awarded like you say.
What does history tell us.

[Tom Yanacek]

Is there any period or documented evidence that all these west wall medals were awarded like you say.
What does history tell us.

In Die Auszeichnungen des großdeutschen Reichs (1943 edition), written by Dr Heinrich Doehle, State Under Secretary in the Reich Chancellery, he states that there were a total of 622,064 awards made and that awarding of the medal ceased on January 31, 1941. Of course, this number does not account for the subsequent awards that were made when Hitler re-instituted the Westwall Medal in October of 1944.

Best regards,
Tom

[jack1]

So, what about the thousands and thousands of Iron Crosses ... I suppose those are fake too ?

Ian

Ian do not be silly now my friend.

It would be nice though to inspect these under a microscope.

[jack1]

Jo Rivet


courtesy of Mr Jo Rivett.