UBoot Badge Orth

[genoa41]

I feel this badge is right ,nice gilding ,but the eagle's head looks like indefinite/in the rough ,then the square mark is strange for me (I remember a round mark)
Opinions ?
Thanks
giorgio

[genoa41]

rev

[mrg]

Hi Giorgio, as you have already said the head lacks the F.O style, better pics of the mm may help. I have to say the finish is not text book F.O and the square mark on the reverse is strange. That alone would put me off. Forgot too mention but if you look at the eagles legs they appear to lack the detailAll the best

[genoa41]

Hi mrg
Ihave come across this badge in an Auction , so I have not other pics .
The badge maybe is good but I am not convinced of it .
As far as I can see the mm looks like right
best regards
giorgio

[mmiller]

Giorgio,

The first thing I see is the finish. Most F.O.s do not retain nearly this much gold. Since they are zinc, the gilt wash usually has slowly eroded, and the grey zinc color shows through.

I'd use caution with this one. Let's see what other members say.

Regards,
Mark

[John R.]

Can't make a call with these pictures and the blurry head.

[genoa41]

Hi Mark
I agree , but I don't find reasonable and technical reasons to assert the badge is a bogus
regards
giorgio

[mmiller]

Giorgio,

The badge looks like it could well be authentic. But I do not believe the finish is authentic. And there is still the issue of the head. It looks like some gilting from an the airbrush tool, same as was used to cover the swaz, is on the neck of the eagle. A close-up of the head would help.

Regards,
Mark

[John R.]

Hi Mark
I agree , but I don't find reasonable and technical reasons to assert the badge is a bogus
regards
giorgio

I agree with you 100% Giorgio. Please find if you can the dimensions, weight, and decent clear images of front and back. Otherwise, the badge is fine. John

[genoa41]

I can't have other informations/pics because the Auction is over .
I have often trouble judging the gilding particularly over the zinc . There are too different colours . Since the badges are zinc , the gilding usually has eroded and the grey zinc color shows through . To some extent I would rather the zinc badges w/t gilding.
In this case the gilding is too good to be true . Right or wrong ? I don't know . The pics often are deceptive .
Many thanks for your kind advices
regards
giorgio

[John R.]

Then you will never be sure until you buy the badge and can examine it. In many auctions, I have emailed the owner or auction house and obtained better images. The ones that did not come back, well, that answered the question did it not? For the ones that did, the item was either real or not as became obvious with the new images.

So you might try that. For the one above, I would not have bought it without better photos from the owner although nothing but the blurry head jumped out to indicate it was bad. John

[genoa41]

Hi John
I agree totally . In this case I was not interested to buy the badge ; but interesting to discuss . I am looking for a FO with vertical pin
yours sincerely
giorgio