Minesweeper for IDing and opinions.

[andrei1774]

Hi,
I would like to get your opinions on this one. I think it's zink S&L. Am I right?

[andrei1774]

more

[Norm F]

Hi,
I would like to get your opinions on this one. I think it's zink S&L. Am I right?

Hi andrei1774,

It is indeed a zinc S&L. Although the zinc S&L's are very common, this one is unusual in that I've never seen one with that silver finish on the reverse before. Most have a gilt ferrous main pin and faded finish on the reverse which may have been gold or silver at one time (hard to tell). There's also a variant with a different catch which does have a silvered main pin and silvered reverse, but yours has a flat-wire catch and silvered reverse -- a first for me.

Here are two examples showing the usual gilt main pin and faded reverse finish. Note the usual shininess of the water column while it seems like there's a more matte finish on yours.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Norm F]

And here are two examples of the (earlier?) variant with the slender stamped sheet metal catch and the silvered main pin.

Of course, with S&L zincers it's always a challenge to know whether the badges were wartime produced or post-war assembled from leftovers, and so best described as "wartime compatible".

Best regards,
---Norm

[Norm F]

Of course there's also the common variant with the round-wire main pin but again on these the pin is always gilded, not silvered.

Best regards,
---Norm

[petopoint]

nice mines

Nice examples, thanks for the pics. There is a lot of silverwash
on the bottom one as mentioned.

Peto at point

[Norm F]

Hi,
I would like to get your opinions on this one. I think it's zink S&L. Am I right?

So there you have it, your badge looks like the common Type 2.5.5 shown in post #3 but the finish is a mystery, not previously encountered on these badges.

Best regards,
---Norm

[andrei1774]

Thanks Norm,
That's how I got it from S&L sample board for GI. We would probably never know wartime hardware or leftovers for GIs

[Norm F]

Thanks Norm,
That's how I got it from S&L sample board for GI. We would probably never know wartime hardware or leftovers for GIs

Hi andrei1774,

That's interesting. Do you have any photos of the sample board and other items from it?

Best regards,
---Norm

[Norm F]

I've seen this example somewhere in the past on the internet which has a very similar silver wash to the reverse as Andrei's but has the usual gilded main pin.

Best regards,
---Norm