In my humble opinion this is an extremely well made insignia. The wire work is quite nice. Officers eagles are very hard to authenticate as they were all one off hand made pieces and quality varies from poorly made to truly beautiful. That said, some details of this insignia, such as the black around the eye are not "typical" in that the vast majority of period made insignia lack same. (I have seen such a detail on insignia that I have considered authentic however) The backing material also looks surprisingly fresh and stiff, qualities not common to 70 year old wool felt, but not totally damning in itself as many of these insignia were never used and survived in relatively protected environments over the years, ie; in an envelope or drawer out of the light. The bright contrasting X at the bottom of the wreath is also an uncommon feature.
I am NOT prepared to say that the eagle is a reproduction. In fact I lean towards it being an authentic insignia. The quality of workmanship is far above Pakistani or Chinese replicas that I have encountered. Symmetry is good, and the skill of the maker is clearly evident in the execution of the inner wreath leaves and eagles body, the hardest parts to do nicely. Materials and pattern are in keeping with past examples that I have studied.
If I had to proffer an opinion I would say that it is good. I would buy it if offered to me. If that means that I have been tricked so be it.
If it's a repro, it would be the best I've seen to date. Although it does have some unusual traits with the bright X, elongated open field area around the swastika, and the long straight 'skirt' below the breast that all stick out at me beside being really symmetrical/proportional for hand done. It would be one that I would prefer to see more pictures and or hand inspect. And what's that tag on the reverse?
Interested in the Gendarmerie - Schutzpolizei - Gemeinden - Feuerschutzpolizei - Wasserschutzpolizei - Etc.Looking For Anything Polizei Related!
Funky label, and treatment of legs on eagle not up to the quality of the execution as a whole. That said I still think it has a chance. If it is a fake it's the best I have ever seen and I have made it a point to look at every example I can find.
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