SS Medal Bar Anyone?

[old siagon]

Greetings to All,
Back in the day I had a nice medal bar with the 8 year medal on it but it is long gone. I recently picked up this one from a good friend and it is the ONLY SS item in my collection. Since I really only collect medal bars now this is saying a lot. Try to find a nice original un-messed with one today, almost impossible.

I thought I would post it for all to see and enjoy!
Happy Hunting!
Vince

[old siagon]

Close up

[Yubari]

I would not have problem with this one. But it is the first medal bar with visible needle end. Also I am not much into SS stuff so no 100% clear statement on SS medal - but looks also fine!

[sniper11]

Thats a very nice medal bar.
Troy

[J C Gray]

It doesn't look anything like any Original SS 4 year that I have ever seen ie. it is definitely not an original Type I or Type II, nor is it the same as the (possible) Schickle version that turned up on the forum last year. These leaves the outside possibility that it just might be one of the elusive 'P&L' versions, but this is a very big maybe and the apparent total lack of any surface stippling causes me major concern.
I would like to see some straight on, in focus, close-up shots of both the obverse & reverse.

[Chet Sowersby]

I echo Johns concern about the SS 4 year medal. It does not look good to me.

Chet

[Antonio Scapini]

I agree, a fake medal.

[old siagon]

A few more photos for review.

[J C Gray]

Thanks for the extra pics, but No Stippling = No Good, in my opinion.

[Chet Sowersby]

Still bad IMO as well.

Chet

[old siagon]

Does anyone here own or have a photo of the Petz & Lorenz SS 4 year medal??? You can't say something is bad if you don't know who all the maker's are and have compared it to all know examples.

[Tom Yanacek]

Hi Vince,

I really like the overall look of this medal bar. The components and construction appear to be of the Third Reich Period as best as I can tell. At the same time, though, I am very concerned by the doubts expressed by some of the members here, who know SS medals much better than I do.

As I see it there are three possibilities here:

1) This bar is completely original and the SS 4-Year Medal is some elusive type by a manufacturer that we are not yet aware of.

2) This bar is an original period assembly that has been messed with to a certain degree. Perhaps the bar originally had a Police 8-Year Medal that someone removed and replaced with a fake SS medal. If this is the case, someone did a very convincing job as I see no disruption to the ribbon for the long service. The medal also has black thread securing the eyelet as does the KVK2X. However, the two annexation medals do not appear to have tie-downs around the eyelets. The inconsistency in the way in which the medals are secured does raise some concerns of a messed with bar.

3) The bar was assembled postwar using all original parts except for the SS Medal. We must remember too that medal bar assembling did not become a lost art with the ending of WW2. Many of the skilled workers that were making medal bars during the Third Reich were still around in the postwar years. It would be naive to think that some of these skilled workers were not assembling medal bars with surplus part stockpiles and then supplementing the original parts with reproduction parts as stockpiles dwindled.

I do not have the answer to this particular medal bar. And this has always been a drawback to collecting medal bars: Sometimes it is just impossible to know, with certainty, the true history of the medal bar's assembly. In such cases all we may have to rely on is what our gut instinct tells us.

Best regards,
Tom

[J C Gray]

The one thing that jumps out at me is the extremely good looking condition of the Kvk, Anschluss & Czech awards compared to the SS medal which looks like it has been through the wars. The SS Award seems to be the only one with any wear to it... the finish on the Anschluss Medal seems to be just tarnishing to the silvered finish rather than wear.

[Yubari]

Tom wrote it perfectly as always! I would sign it! For me it would not have been an issue to have such medal bar - even for further examination.

[inimicus]

I've only owned 2 of these L.S. medals and the background stippling and x-hatch is very distinct; here the details are disturbingly blurred. as-yet unknown or obscure maker? 'factory reject'? maybe but I think unlikely. I like the KvK a lot, tho.