3 u-boat badges

[Jesse Rocco]

I'm pretty sure these first two are good. The last I ask...

(of course I'd like to hear anything on the other too)

#1 - L/56

[Jesse Rocco]

# 2

#2 gwl

[Jesse Rocco]

# 3

#3 Stamped L/18 on the pin. TOMBAK

[GordonA]

All look good to me L18 is a little weird? Looks Zinz to me..

[Jesse Rocco]

Tombak ?

All look good to me L18 is a little weird? Looks Zinz to me..

I was thinking the same .

"TORPEDOS LOS" references this on pg. 176. It talks about the "TOMBAK" version carring the stamp on the pin. What confuses me is the material. What is "TOMBAK" anyhow ?? Is this in reference to the material used ? Just as Gordon said above, this one looks to be zinc. The book talks of 2 verisions from B.H. Mayer, one of "fire-gilded tomback" with a stamp L/18 on the pin and later a zinc one. Did the zinc have this stamped pin as well ?

[GordonA]

The L 18 looks ok to me just not very common Maybe some more guys will chime in Yes Can be marked with Tomback and marked in Zinc, Nice badges You can always send me the L18 and will inspect it for you!

[Jesse Rocco]

Thanks

The L 18 looks ok to me just not very common Maybe some more guys will chime in Yes Can be marked with Tomback and marked in Zinc, Nice badges You can always send me the L18 and will inspect it for you!

Thanks Much Gordon, hope somone else has a copy of "TORPEDOS LOS" out there because I'm confused...nothing knew though

(the check is in the mail Gordon )

[Martin W]

All three badges are good originals.
If you read Gordon's book "Torpedo Los",p176 a little further down you will see that he mentions on the later zinc type of badge the L/18 MM can also be found on the pin.
You have one of the later zinc type of awards and a very different design from the early tombak examples.
BTW,tombak is a brass type alloy with a high copper content,used in the production of many early TR awards.
Hope this helps.

Regards,Martin.

[Jesse Rocco]

I am very thankful for this forum and all the input from fellow collectors. Its a huge collective of knowledge that teaches everyone involved. THANK YOU ALL

[John R.]

OK, the thread is cleaned up and lets stay on topic. Carefully read forum rules in the future for post content. My only and last warning.

To the badges, all three are good as already noted. All three are zinc including the last one. It is not tombak. The main two types of metal are tombak and zinc, there are others. Your L/18 does exist and it is mentioned in Torpedo Los and various threads on various forums. It is rare and seems to have quite a bit of nice finish remaining. Rare in that it is marked which is nice to see.

All metals have been discussed thoroughly in this forum (use the search function) and a google search would also answer the question for the chemistry involved. Nothing new here.

On the net, go to Bender Publishing and you can buy Torpedo Los. Either order online or call Roger Bender on the phone. He usually picks up and you can put in your order. There is no shortcut to this hobby--members can help as much as possible, but the search function at the top right is where you need to start, buy the books, post the badges and ask your questions.

We are supposed to be helping each other and unless you have been around this forum a while, hard to know the protocols involved. Sometimes a polite PM clears it up by the way.

I will agree that often, perhaps most of the time, the "thanks" is missing when the question is answered. However, the response to this should be measured. I guarantee there would be no Moderators if this was such a big deal to us.

John