Possible Gold Party Badge made into a biker type pendant. Opinions very welcome.

[Joe Mc]

Hi All,

I picked this up from a dealer today who told me he got it directly from a house clearance contact in Birmingham.

This certainly has age because the brass has patinated inside and there's old congealed brass polish where you can't reach.

When I first seen it I thought "that's a GPB" because of the white ring around the outside. It wasn't being sold as that, it was being sold as "Trench Art" made with a party badge.

On closer inspection under a loupe when I returned home it does look like the oak leaf part of a GPB has been carefully filed away as the remaining gold around the rim of the badge varies in thickness very slightly with one part retaining a bit of a lip and the other part looks filed down more and has a rounded edge to it as you'd expect with filing.

The badge now measures 24mm.

The questions I have are:

1) Could this be what's left of a Gold Party Badge?

2) If so, is there a possibility number could still be on the back? I'd love to research it if it did.

If there's a chance I would be very tempted to heat it carefully in the oven and separate it. I just hope this wouldn't damage the enamel.

I apologise in advance for the picture quality. That's the best I can get at present.

Any help would be much appreciated,

Regards,

Joe

[Joe Mc]

Pictures:

[Joe Mc]

Pictures 2:

[Joe Mc]

Pictures 3:

[Joe Mc]

Pictures 4:

[Joe Mc]

Picture final:

[ErichS]

It's a fake/ fantasy piece.

[Jon Fish]

Oh dear the 'house clearance' line

[ErichS]

Seems like a lot of crap combining out of the woodwork these days.

[Joe Mc]

Thanks for the replies.

I think the dealer could have genuinely bought it from a house clearence contact.

I know a local house clearance guy and he does find T.R items from time to time and some of the items are fakes among good items. I think a lot are from collectors who have collected over the years and inevitbly picked up items like this along the way. The Eagle and Swastika push plates and similar from the 1970's are popping up quite regularly now. The problem is they have genuine age now so if somebody wasn't aware of them then they could think they are genuine.

The "Surround" on this is clearly cruedly home made as is how the badge is mounted. The badge however looked very good so I thought it may have a chance.

The good thing is I bought it at a price where I can resell it for what it is and get my money back so no problem.

Worth a shot!

Thanks again for the replies, much appreciated.

Joe

[SiPo]

Joe, saw that thing in the guys case this morning and to be honest, had a little chuckle at how shocking it was. Saying that, I can see why you wanted to take a shot at it and it was unfortunate that it wasn't the case. Hope you get out of it what you put in.

[Joe Mc]

I think in future I'll be a bit more cautious with the seller, although he could have bought it in good faith from a house clearance guy.

What did you think of the fair? I was pretty pleased, got a couple of good buys.

[ErichS]

I think in future I'll be a bit more cautious with the seller, although he could have bought it in good faith from a house clearance guy.

What did you think of the fair? I was pretty pleased, got a couple of good buys.

If the seller bought it in good faith he isn't very educated in the hobby.

[Br. James]

Sorry to come to this conversation late, and I do agree with Erich's, Jon's and our other colleagues' reactions to this piece. Erich is spot on in his response to the suggestion that the seller could be an 'innocent' in this matter; one of the oldest lines I've ever heard in this hobby is still used today: when asked whether a piece was "genuine to the period," the seller responded "I don't know." An honest reply, at least on the surface, but as always, the onus is on the would-be purchaser to know enough about the subject to make a judgement on the spot. As we know, the motto is always: BUYER BEWARE!

As for even the possibility of this piece including a genuine GPB, NO WAY. The cloisonne centerpiece is certainly not the work of either Deschler & Son or the maker of the Fuess-marked GPB, and those are the only manufacturers involved. I even have my doubts that the centerpiece includes a genuine NSDAP Membership Badge from the period at all, though others here have more expertise with this question than I do.

But the idea of a GPB-holder going to the trouble of defacing one of his precious badges by cutting off the oakleaf surround is unthinkable to my mind. So doing would be akin to someone spray-painting a Medal of Honor to make it a different color!!

Br. James

[ErichS]

Sorry to come to this conversation late, and I do agree with Erich's, Jon's and our other colleagues' reactions to this piece. Erich is spot on in his response to the suggestion that the seller could be an 'innocent' in this matter; one of the oldest lines I've ever heard in this hobby is still used today: when asked whether a piece was "genuine to the period," the seller responded "I don't know." An honest reply, at least on the surface, but as always, the onus is on the would-be purchaser to know enough about the subject to make a judgement on the spot. As we know, the motto is always: BUYER BEWARE!

As for even the possibility of this piece including a genuine GPB, NO WAY. The cloisonne centerpiece is certainly not the work of either Deschler & Son or the maker of the Fuess-marked GPB, and those are the only manufacturers involved. I even have my doubts that the centerpiece includes a genuine NSDAP Membership Badge from the period at all, though others here have more expertise with this question than I do.

But the idea of a GPB-holder going to the trouble of defacing one of his precious badges by cutting off the oakleaf surround is unthinkable to my mind. So doing would be akin to someone spray-painting a Medal of Honor to make it a different color!!

Br. James

The membership badge is a fake as well.