The badge with the same exact eagle form, comes in both Tombak or zinc. I have seen a number of zinc badges with this configuration. Just like other makers, this one switched to zinc as the war neared its end.
Yuri
Yuri
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Hello Raymond,
Welcome to the forums! It's funny that your old ugly zinc badge with the straight cuts on the feathers is the real McCoy while the pretty bird with the tear drop hole between the legs is a fake. I too, have been bitten with a few fakes. As a matter of fact, I'm one of the few who is very open about it and I post my mistakes for all to see. I am probably in the top 10 for buying bad pieces over the years and tied with Marcus. Thank God I was able to come out OK on the big losers, (thanks to the legal system), but I've been stuck on the lesser badges as well. Shake it off and move on.
It's part of the pit falls in this insane hobby. Together we support each other here and our collections improve quickly. I am one of those collectors that will buy a piece on impulse and show it here for approval. I have done very well on most things and not so well on others. We all have, and now you have joined us in this crazy history hobby. You have a good one and you have a bad one, you're just like the rest of us! Welcome!
GaryComment
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Dear Raymond,
Your first badge shown in this thread, the fake, is one of a series of fakes that comes with many different maker marks and different wreathes. It is easy to recognize this fake series by the eagle´s head, none of the real maker´s badges have an eagle like that. So store the eagle´s head in your mind and you will be prepared to detect more of these fakes easily. Tim Calvert created the name FUGLY for that type eagle´s head!
Here is another example of that fake series marked JMME & SOHN BERLIN. The wreath resembles an Assmann wreath:
Cheers, FrankCheers, Frank
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revCheers, Frank
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Hi Raymond,
It's good that Frank posts this 'Fugly' , Another thing to look out for ... Some of the 'better' nasties have this type wreath and although some of them look quite good the wreath has this overly excessive drop...
Frank, sorry to have used your image.. I will, of course, remove It should you so desire, as I realize that It's the centre piece of your collection.....
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Dear John,
The "dip" (or "drop" as you say) in the wreath is a dangerous thing to remember for a novice collector as a sign that marks a fake Luftwaffe badge. Why is that? Your seasoned Luftwaffe collector´s eyes may recognize the subtle differences between a dipped wreath and the (original!) Assmann wreath, but most beginners cannot. Since the wreath above is trying to be an original Assmann wreath and certainly formed after that, it also has the "dip" that is also visible on ORIGINAL Assmann wreathes. So beware the subtle differences. Below is an original Assmann wreath with a not so obvious, but still apparent "dip".
Cheers, FrankCheers, Frank
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Good morning Frank, of course you make a valid point but, as you say, the Assmann wreath has a subtle 'dip,' the fake 'drop' has no subtlety to It, It's as big as the 'Grand Canyon' and once seen is never forgotten....
I personally would advocate teaching the new collector the 'red flag' system... to err on the side of caution, to the extreme on any badge encountered and not taking it at face value until the individual characteristics of a maker are learnt or confirmed by posting the badge on the forum...
The fake shown in this thread is an easy one to start with... It is so obviously bad with an incorrect 'bird', elongated hole between the legs, excessive drop (dip) in the wreath, etc... Other known fakes are not so obvious and on encountering any badge the 'red flag' check-list should be brought into play... With so many fakes out there, the days of the odds being in favour of a piece being right have swung in favour of a piece being wrong, so I would start with the premiss that It's wrong until It's proved right. In this way (IMHO) the new collector will get to learn the not only the characteristics of original pieces but those of the fake....Comment
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I appreciate all the help.It never ceases to amaze me the knoweldge that is on this forum.For the past 1 1/2 years I've spent most of my time on GDC forum,but finally decided to branch out.Slowly but surely I plan to go through my collection and double check everything.The bigest problem I have is I'm not focused in my collecting.If it's Third Reich I collect it.That's why it's great to be able to share with other collectors,the good and the bad,so we can keep one step ahead of the repros.Hope to be able to return the help one day.
RayComment
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