Solid massive Nickle Silver IAB

[vonStubben]

Greg,

I guess the paint question will be just another of those unanswered ones. What you have said does hold merit though.



Chuck

Hi Chuck, a little off topic but.........I have 2 fine zink "UU" marked IAB's. One that was painted and the other was not. The unpainted one is definitely more pleasing to the eye and I always wondered why the other was painted. Same question that you seem to have now..........why paint a fine zinc badge?

I.for no reason and based upon nothing but pure speculation, always wondered if IAB's, PAB's ect.......were painted for parades or dress photos. The same way that the US Army now has plain badges and what we call Stay-bright badges. The Stay Brites are used for DA photos and dress occasions. All speculation of course.

[John T]

Another interesting point is that most (if not all?) nickel silver badges do not have any sort of base plate at the catch.

[Bruce Simcox]

Hi Charles......

......Here's mine. It is the same as yours: painted finish on fine-zinc, but having a different crimping set-up on the reverse. I dare say that it too has that 'softness' of detail as a result of the finish. I tend to follow along with the theory that perhaps this type of shiny look was intended for dress occaission, photo op or parade wear.
Take a look at the misshapen oak leaf at the lower right side of the wreath......it makes me think that all the badges in this thread came from the same die.

-------------------------

Bruce

[Bruce Simcox]

Reverse side......

......Different crimping method here.

[Philippe DB]

Hi Guys,


Thought this was interesting. The same variant as Chuck's badge sold by DN some time ago. Notice the soldered on catch on top of the crimp

KR
Philippe

[Philippe DB]

And now for an other interesting thing.


You all know the oval crimp PAB

[Philippe DB]

Not only is the criming technique very similar but this maker also ran in to trouble with it forcing him to start soldering instead of crimping again. First only the catch crimp gave away

[Philippe DB]

and later on also the hinge crimp.


Just a coincidence or could there be a link between the unknown "Oval crimp" PAB maker and this IAB maker?

KR
Philippe

[robert60446]

Not only is the criming technique very similar but this maker also ran in to trouble with it forcing him to start soldering instead of crimping again. First only the catch crimp gave away

Hi Philippe,
I guess the crimping technique wasn’t easy not only for the “oval” crimp manufacturer but also for the “pillow” crimp guys. Please check the image of the IAB from below. It is “pillow” crimp example with the same hinge crimping problems. Hinge was soldered to the base instead of being crimped.

[scott3000]

a pillow crimp IAB

[scott3000]

a pab to look at

[vonStubben]

Interesting Bruce. So mine is not an isolated incident of being painted.

Philippe,

The DN example looks almost identical to mine. I can even see where the silver paint has rubbed of his example as well.

I am pleased that I showcased this badge as it has brought a lot to light! It also seems as though this crimping technique did not work so well.

Thanks guys.

Chuck

......Here's mine. It is the same as yours: painted finish on fine-zinc, but having a different crimping set-up on the reverse. I dare say that it too has that 'softness' of detail as a result of the finish. I tend to follow along with the theory that perhaps this type of shiny look was intended for dress occaission, photo op or parade wear.
Take a look at the misshapen oak leaf at the lower right side of the wreath......it makes me think that all the badges in this thread came from the same die.

-------------------------

Bruce

[Dennis P]

This has been a very informative thread. I'm grateful to all who posted.

Many thanks Philippe for illustrating the evolution of what I call the "half moon catchplate IAB", into the varying stages of the "oval crimped" IAB, and their relationship to the panzer assault badges.

Is it a consensus of opinion, that the "oblong vertical crimped IAB" such as the one Bruce posted, is also a part of this family/maker/evolution? I do see the similarities in design he is referring to.

If I'm missing the boat anywhere here, set me straight. The ongoing effort to classify these unmarked IABs is of considerable interest to me.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

[Philippe DB]

@Robert, well you pillow crimp IAB indeed is a bit of a strange one. Is the hinge really soldered on or is it only partial (lower part) crimped. From where I'm sitting it looks like the lower part is perfectly crimped in but the crimp missed the upper part of the hinge.

@Dennis What we see on these IAB's with a horizontal and a vertical crimp is the same we can see on the late war S&L PAB's. Two different types of crimping. Based upon this PAB evolution I like to think that this indeed is an evolution.

KR
Philippe

[robert60446]

@Robert, well you pillow crimp IAB indeed is a bit of a strange one. Is the hinge really soldered on or is it only partial (lower part) crimped. From where I'm sitting it looks like the lower part is perfectly crimped in but the crimp missed the upper part of the hinge.

Philippe,
Badge is on the way to Greame now, but from what I remember, the small part of the hinge was indeed crimped but the other part was soldered to the “crimp base”.