Early IAB in Bronze

[Sniper 1987]

I have been searching for one of these for awhile, and even got it for a very reasonable price. The finish is very fine with some hint of wear on the hight points showing the brass base metal. Sorry for the generic photographs - all I have with me is the camera on my cellphone. This one has the distinctive catch; unfortunately, the maker escapes me. Thanks for taking a look.

[Blued]

A nice original bronze BH Mayer! Nice

[Christopher G.]

Agreed very nice addition.

Regards,
Chris G.

[Thomas Durante]

Hi Matt,

I can only agree with Chris and Chad, a very nice original bronze Mayer in excellent condition.

Tom

[Sniper 1987]

Thanks for the comments and verification that this is a Mayer (which I had forgotten).

Matt

[Graeme]

Hi Matt

What are the silver areas on the obverse, they look like remnants of finish to me?

regards
Graeme

[Thomas Durante]

Hi Matt

What are the silver areas on the obverse, they look like remnants of finish to me?

regards
Graeme

Hi Graeme,

I thought the same thing at first, but then looking at the hinge and catch there seems to be pure bronze finish on them that match the rest of the badge. I wonder if it is some type of patina, or maybe remnants of a lacquered top coating??

Tom

[Giel VW]

Hi guys

Original yes, top condition, no I'm afraid. This looks more like a cleaned ground dug. The dark brown you see is not bronze finish but discolored tombak. The only genuine finish left is as Graeme says the light spots on the obverse.

[Sniper 1987]

This is definitely a bronze - no silver remnants at all. There is a good bit of bronze finish remaining, but most has darkened. Yes, the light spots are probably where lacquer still protects the orginal light golden bronze.

I don't believe this one is ground dug either - there is no degradation to the base metal. You are just seeing the badge through bad photography because I used the camera on my phone. I am out of town currently, but I will take better photographs when I have my decent camera at home. Thanks again for the observations.

Matt

[fischer]

Hi Guys

My assessment would be this one is most likely a worn silver grade.

The reverse and hardware is not good indicator of grade and can give one a false impression.

Here is an example I have. The reverse of the badge in question reminds me of this example.

Best Regards, fischer

[fischer]

Here is the obverse...

[Graeme]

Hi Matt

Feel free to post further pics, but Giel explained it very well.

"The dark brown you see is not bronze finish but discoloured tombak"

The reddish areas that you can see in places, especially around the bayonet area, are also typical.

Fischer made a good point regarding the reverse of these particular badges not being necessarily a good indicator of grade. Silver examples in tombak and zinc show up with bronze looking hinges..

Bronze "Mayer" IABs often turn out to be highly and carefully polished silvers, and it is not always easy to determine imo.


I think the following one is definitely a bronze example, and if you compare the colour of yours, you will see that yours does not have that nice "bronze" colour..

best regards
Graeme

[Sniper 1987]

I appreciate all the observations, and I realize you are all commenting based upon your examination of my photographs. Nothing beats an "in hand" inspection, and if you had that opportunity, I know you would quickly realize that this is indeed a bronze example with the patina everyone seems to like. Yes, the brass base metal is showing through on several high points such as the bayonet and several leaf tips. If this was a badge that was highly cleaned at one time, then the whole badge should have the reddish patina.

If you re-examine the photograph of the obverse in my initial post, you can see the remnants of the protected bronze finish on the butt of the rifle and especially between the buckles on the sling. What appears to be "silver" is actually golden bronze when you have the badge in hand and turn it in the light. There are other areas as well, to include between the arms of the swastika, but are not as evident in the photograph. I will be home in a few, and I will post better photographs at that time.

Matt