GAB - Frank & Reif - Some Opinions Needed

[kray]

a fake one
pitting holes, not matching Frank & Reif fonttype and totaly wrong hardware

[Mike H]

....

As requested .....

Mike

[SNOOPY]

Hmmmm...

Boy that last pic of the full shot of the badge shows one beautiful looking fake!

[Indy]

Mike,

I think your F&R GAB is a fake one. If you check Frank's book on page 409 and 411, you will see casting holes for reproduction ( pitting holes) and shear mark for real production massive badge cut-off sign.

we can see casting holes on lower parts of features, and we can't see shear mark on your GAB. Plus, hinge and catch are not matching to known F&R GAB setup.

So, I would say your F&R is not a good one. I also think faker polished some pitting holes, but it's so hard to remove those tiny pitting holes at lower features.

best regards,
Indy

[Wim Vangossum]

I agree with what most of the dedicated GAB collectors have said here. It's a quality fake. If you're no real GAB collector this one can easy fool you. But that's the general rule nowadays in the combat awards sector.

Regards, Wim

[redfaced]

I stand corrected!

[Mike H]

....

Have a look at this F&R on estand:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=427204

When I originally posted the thread, I was mostly concerned about the catch. This one has the plate under the "C" catch which mine does not. But boy, does it look a lot like mine otherwise!

Best,

Mike

[redfaced]

It does - same tiny holes.

[Mike H]

....

Thanks, then the one on e-stand should be discussed as well.

Mike

[Indy]

Mike,

I got one F&R couples years ago. I finally found the show case key, so I could take it out and took some pictures.

best regards,
Indy

[Indy]

shear mark

I would say it's hard to see shear marks on F&R GAB, but you should see them by nake eye when you have one on hand.

I'm sorry about those pictures. I couldn't find my camera. I used flash light to show the shear marks.

[kray]

Thanks, then the one on e-stand should be discussed as well.

Mike

Hi Mike
the one you mention is IMO an original example, also noticed some pittingholes but it looks more like zincpest, polished away, as you can see most of the pittinholes are in the wreath, not all over the badge like yours. The hardware is a match to original example also the fontstyle of the marking, so I would give it the thumbs up.