Minesweeper maker?

[stdub]

Hello guys,

is this one original an who made it?

Best regards,

stdub

[Norm F]

Hi stdub,

It's a genuine zinc Deumer, Type 1.2.5 in the classification table:
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...38#post5485738
I'm not sure that the price on the reverse is wartime though. Seems like it was done with a marker and is pretty dark relative to the wear on the badge? It also looks like someone tried to wipe it off or lighten it up at some point since the finish looks lighter around it.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Giel VW]

I agree with Norm, original Deumer. Price seems correct for this badge but someone indeed marked it over again as the original writing probably faded away.

[BubbaZ]

Agreed, nice Deumer zincer
Here is mine with golden reverse (these usualy can be found with silvered reverse).
Cheers,
Hubert

[Norm F]

One more observation to make that corrects an inaccuracy of my previous thinking. I once had the badge that Hubert has posted in hand some time ago before he acquired it, and initially I had doubts about the gilding on the reverse since it was acetone soluble and revealed the grey-silver coloured finish below. However, now seeing other examples like the one posted by stdub with precisely the same finish, it does indeed appear that this is another of the several varieties of finish used by Deumer during wartime on their zinc badges.

Although badge finish is a very interesting and worthwhile area of study, it's always a tricky subject because of the numerous varieties used originally as well as the long time that has passed since then with the many well-meaning attempts to "freshen" a badge. That's why I purposely left finish out of the Minesweeper Classification system and concentrated purely on morphological differences.

Anyway, it's nice to see these two similar examples posted in the same thread.

Best regards,
---Norm

[stdub]

Thank you very much guys!

The gilding on the back was the reason why I was not sure if it is really good.

Best regards,

Joerg