Radio Operator / Paratrooper Badges, Real or Fake?

[Nydigger1]

This is my first post on this forum so thank you for letting me be a part of it! Here is the situation. I recently purchased a group of medals and badges and these two were in that grouping. The owner from whom I had purchased had these in his collection for almost 20 years and were purchased from a reputable dealer in the early 90s.

Are they real or fake? Any help would be appreciated.

Just as a side note, the paratrooper badge has no markings, BUT the radio operator badge does.

The radio operator badge is marked G.H. Osang Dresden. Now I know alot of these have been faked, since he is not a "commonly known" maker of this badge. I say that because a luftwaffe collector told me that Osang did in fact make these badges from 1935-1939 and that if it is the real deal that it is an extremely rare piece. A knock off would have been made of zinc but my example is made of silver / has very good detailing that Osang fakes do not have (also the only examples that Osang made of the radio operators badges were made of silver ONLY, not zinc). I have been told the closures and wear on the pins on both badges is correct as well.

I wanted to get the forum's opinions on these pieces. Thank you!

[bastogne]

Badges

Those look like tough ones

I'm suspicious of the ROAG…
i'd like to see what others have to say …

[Blued]

Welcome to the forum!

Osang didn't make ROAGs to my knowledge. Regardless, it is a fake in my opinion.

I'll let the others weigh in on the para. Looks like S&L, and a good one, but I haven't studied these as much as I should....

There's a wealth of knowledge in threads and people here, and we are all here to learn and help. Enjoy!

[Atomic]

Hi and welcome here in WAF,

the para badge is an S&L piece, but the ROAG is an fantasy badge and for sure not good.

Joe

[Sebastien T]

Hello and welcome,

The ROAG is a fake and the Para is an S&L

seb

[Nydigger1]

Thank you everyone for your imput and I appreciate it. I knew the responses to the ROAG would not be so good so let me just past a message I got from a WW2 luftwaffe collector and you guys could weigh in. Ill probably end up returning it anyway.

"Just spoke to *****, he stated it could be authentic. Very few were made by Osang, but they were made in 1935-1939. Another company that made them was W. Deumer Ludenscheid. Theirs were made of a double zinc mold, with a silver wash that almost always worn off. leaving the same patina that yours is showing if not worse. I sent him the photos of yours and he said that if you paid less than 1G, its probably not real but a good copy. The ones that were made with the silver wash by Deumer go for upwards of $600. He said that the pin would have more wear and bend to it... unless if it was never used. But most likely, it was worn if it was awarded. Germans were very adamant about wearing their awards on the battle field etc. It is stated that Osang never made zinc badges, but zilver base mixed with other medals. If that is the case with yours then it is an original.

So to sum up my piece is silver, there is slight bend to the pin and quite a bit of wear that isnt seen in the pictures, and purchased from a guy who bought it from a reputable dealer in the early 90s for $900, back then. Those are the positives.

The negatives are that most do think its a fake, OR I was also told that the stamp could have been added post war?

What do you guys think? Would they make a repro out of real silver (I had it tested)? I think there is a bit more to the piece.

[Darrell]

Thank you everyone for your imput and I appreciate it. I knew the responses to the ROAG would not be so good so let me just past a message I got from a WW2 luftwaffe collector and you guys could weigh in. Ill probably end up returning it anyway.

"Just spoke to *****, he stated it could be authentic. Very few were made by Osang, but they were made in 1935-1939. Another company that made them was W. Deumer Ludenscheid. Theirs were made of a double zinc mold, with a silver wash that almost always worn off. leaving the same patina that yours is showing if not worse. I sent him the photos of yours and he said that if you paid less than 1G, its probably not real but a good copy. The ones that were made with the silver wash by Deumer go for upwards of $600. He said that the pin would have more wear and bend to it... unless if it was never used. But most likely, it was worn if it was awarded. Germans were very adamant about wearing their awards on the battle field etc. It is stated that Osang never made zinc badges, but zilver base mixed with other medals. If that is the case with yours then it is an original.

So to sum up my piece is silver, there is slight bend to the pin and quite a bit of wear that isnt seen in the pictures, and purchased from a guy who bought it from a reputable dealer in the early 90s for $900, back then. Those are the positives.

The negatives are that most do think its a fake, OR I was also told that the stamp could have been added post war?

What do you guys think? Would they make a repro out of real silver (I had it tested)? I think there is a bit more to the piece.

All due respect, it doesn't appear that your source really knows much about these badges. You don't deem authenticity based on appearance and price.

[Thomas Durante]

All due respect, it doesn't appear that your source really knows much about these badges. You don't deem authenticity based on appearance and price.

I can only agree. The Osang is a common fake that is found with other maker marks on it too. I would also say that Osang was more of a later-war maker, especially when it comes to Luftwaffe badges. I don't think they got involved with LW production until 1942 or so based on the types of original badges we see by them (LW flight clasps, Erdkampfabzeichen, LW para badges (only made in zinc), etc.

Tom

[Nydigger1]

Much appreciated advice. Thank you everyone. I have one final question:

Is there a possibility that the piece is real, BUT, that the stamp was added after the war? Someone told me that sometimes people added stamps to badges post war to increase the value. In that case, disregarding the stamp, would there be any way to test it or look at any specific parts of it to see if its real / fake? Im just so in love with the piece and its specific detailing that im having a hard time bringing myself to want to return it.

Im new to this so thank you with your concise answers and for being patient with me. Its a learning experience!

[Blued]

Although that did happen, this unfortunately is not the case. The ROAG is a fake completely.