Two Buntmetall FLL PO Badges for Study

[Tim O.]

Gentlemen

I was lucky enough to recently purchase two FLL Pilot/Observer badges. Both are buntmetall but they display the two different kinds of hinge & clasp we have seen on these badges. I thought it would be interesting to do some comparisons and see what the experts think!

Apart from the side by side shots, the photos below show the badge with the 'Juncker-style' set up with a red background and the badge with the more usual FLL set up with a blue background.

First thing of note is that the 'Juncker-style' badge has a thicker wreath and weighs 46.2g; the traditional FLL-style badge has a thinner wreath and weighs 41.7g. The 'Juncker-style' badge has a duller eagle than the other but I assume this to be because it is earlier and lacks a 'silver' plating.

In the side by side shots below, the 'Juncker-style' badge is on the left.

Here come the photos.....

[Tim O.]

'Juncker-style' detail....

[Tim O.]

'Juncker-style' hinge and catch....

[Tim O.]

The 'traditional' FLL example....

[Tim O.]

Typical FLL hinge and catch....

[Sebastien T]

Hello Tim,

Georgous bird, the barrel hinge is a rare early version. congrats

[Scott C.]

Stunning early FLL POs Tim - congratulations on nice finds.

[AFF96]

Holy smokes Tim! Words can't describe their beauty & condition.
Interesting these 2 examples once again show how makers used different supplers. The different finishes are interesting as well maybe illustrating different manufacturing timeframes for a tombak PB.
Thanks for sharing & congrats!

[adren]

Very nice

[Tim O.]

Thanks all. Unfortunately the 'FLL' badges are not discounted as much as they used to be but I'm glad they now get the recognition they deserve as beautifully crafted pieces.

[AndyC]

You have two very nice birds there


Andy

[Hans Kondor]

Beautiful birds ineeed, congrats Tim!

[Thomas Durante]

Gorgeous examples Tim, both very nice and un-upgradable IMO.

Its interesting, I would have expected the thinner-wreath example to be the earlier one. But like Seb, I think the barrel-hinge examples were the earlier ones.

Looks like the swastika on the "juncker like" example has thicker legs. Can you see some other differences, say in the eagle feathering that would lead you to believe they were made with 2 different dies?

I know that the early FLL Para badge eagles were made with a different die then their later examples. Same with the wreaths, there are 2 different type of wreaths on the FLL paras. FLL used these same two wreath types for their Pilot badges as well. However, both the early badges like you show are always found with the 1st pattern wreaths.

Tom

[Tim O.]

Hi Tom

I cannot see any obvious difference between the eagles apart from a very distinct 'step' on the upper left wing (as you view from the front) of the eagle on the heavier badge, which is only there as a trace on the wing of the eagle in the lighter version. You can just see this in the shot I took looking down on the tops of the eagles & wreaths.

I will study more closely but any apparent 'blurring' of detail is I think due to the silver plating on the 'FLL-style', which is absent on the 'Juncker-style', which therefore looks slightly more crisp in detail.

[Thomas Durante]

Thanks Tim.

Based on your comparison of both examples in your hands, can you say which one you think is earlier? Is there any increase in flaws on the wreath that would lead you to believe one is earlier than the other? I have always assumed that the barrel-hinge examples were the earlier ones since they are much more uncommon that the block hinge examples. But the thicker wreath has me re-thinking that scenario at the moment. What do you think?

Tom