B&N L Para bdg. Opinions?

[Kecon]

Hi friends

Would like some comments on this Para badge.
It seems to match the few I've found pictures of.
Wreath is typical late war cast, while the eagle appears to be
of a finer quality zinc that is die forged. The catch is sunken
into the metal with solder over it, like the others I've seen.
Sorry for the awful pics. It's a rainy day here so not much good light.

Appreciate any comments.
Thanks
Ken

[Kecon]

And the reverse. Poor lighting does not show the true shade

of gold on the eagle. Has the typical dished wreath as you can see.

Ken

[David R.]

Hi Ken, It looks test book to me and in good shape for a zinc one.
David R.

Hi friends

Would like some comments on this Para badge.
It seems to match the few I've found pictures of.
Wreath is typical late war cast, while the eagle appears to be
of a finer quality zinc that is die forged. The catch is sunken
into the metal with solder over it, like the others I've seen.
Sorry for the awful pics. It's a rainy day here so not much good light.

Appreciate any comments.
Thanks
Ken

[ERIC S.]

I see nothing wrong with it Ken. Mine for comparison.
ERIC

[ERIC S.]

Reverse:

[Kecon]

Thanks David and Eric for your opinions. And the fine pictures
of your badge, Eric. I guess I'll assume this piece is an original.

All the best
Ken

[ERIC S.]

Happy to help Ken.
ERIC

[John Mascali]

I concur that Kecon's badge is a textbook mid to late war B&NL Paratrooper Badge but I just want to pick up on one point. I have noticed a few collectors referring to badges or parts of badges as "cast". Kecon said the wreath of this badge was cast. It is in fact die-struck. If a badge shows signs of casting, it is usually an indicator that the badge was cast from another badge. That is not good. Very few 3rd Reich awards were made by casting. In fact, the only one I can think of right now is the later pattern Anti-Partisan Warfare Badge cast from a Juncker original after Juncker was destroyed. Nice paratrooper badge.

Respectfully,

John Mascali

[skip]

Nice textbook B&NL para for me.
John, when you say there were no cast badges then I am afraid that I must disagree. There are a large range of late war assault badges that were manufactured using the vacum casting technic, especially of note are the Assmann GABs and IABs with the marks from the ejector pads.

Skip

[Luftm40]

I agree with Skip. Many, if not most of the later war badges were die-cast or stamped. This was done because the later war materials didn't lend themselves well to the earlier die forging techniques....

[Kecon]

Hi John

Thanks for your reply. I guess we disagree about this die casting thing.
The badge I showed does in fact have a late war die cast kreigsmetal wreath.
What I understand about the German die casting process is that molten metal
was poured into a mold with a reverse and obverse set of dies. The molten
metal seeped into every crevise and even into any seperation of the dies.
Such as those that may not have been joined tightly as in loose fitting dies.
This would of cource create a casting line in certain areas. I once believed
early on that any piece that had any casting line on any part of the piece
was a fake. I probably discarded some good awards that had some traces
of casting lines, thinking thy were fakes. I look a little closer at items now
and take into consideration many other factors in determinating if it is
correct or not. Comparing to pictures of know originals also helps.

Best regards
Ken