HM IAB Question

[Eric N]

Hello to all,

I'll throw this one out for discussion.

I recently acquired a silver IAB, maker HM in triangle (Hauptmunzamt Munchen). It looks pretty much like textbook construction (style, hinge, pin, etc.) by this maker. The only thing is the catch is made of round wire stock. All the examples that I can find show the catch being made of flat wire. Should this be a concern? Does anyone have an example with a round wire catch?

I believe it to be a good piece, just curious.

Best regards,

Eric

[Yuri D.]

Eric,

The round wire catch is OK on these badges. The logo is actually "MK" in a soft triangle. This is perhaps the first type of maker stamp for this manufacturer. Subsequent marks by this maker on zinc badges are "M. K. 1", "M. K. 2", M. K. #". If you look at the obverse of your badge and compare it to the examples in Infantry Assault Badge article in the Association page, you will see the similarities.

Yuri

[Eric N]

Yuri,

Thanks for the information and clarification on the maker mark. I have noticed the similarities that you talk about, but thought they were from two different makers. So I grabbed the MA issue with your article to compare and the similarities between them certainly do stand out. The example I have shares the same hinge construction as the badge shown on page 12 and the catch as shown on the example on page 13.

Thanks for the education and BTW, great follow up article in the latest issue of MA. I've consulted your first article many times and I'm sure I'll do the same with the second one as well.

Eric

[Yuri D.]

Thank you Eric. I find the "MK" badges to be some of the more stunning examples of IABs. The silver MKs seem to be scarcer than bronze ones, so nice find!

Yuri