Vet Acquired GPB

[Ron Weinand]

Directly from the US Army Veteran, here is a Gold Party Badge that the US vet stomped on when he found the uniform with it on the front. It fell off and he picked it up and brought it home. UNFORTUNATE, but still a real one. Note the number fonts and the usual characteristics of the original: bevelled hole, boxed Ges. Gesch., bevelled edge and the nice, low number. It has character as far as I am concerned.
It came with several Luftwaffe items to include two gold transport bars.
<img src=http://www.welistforyou.com/ebaypix/goldpartybadge.jpg>
Ron Weinand
Weinand Militaria

[Wim Vangossum]

Fascinating GPB.

regards, Theo

[ErichS]

Has that been there look. Great badge with a Military style pin and a story!

[RaymondG]

I love the story with the GPB and it is great to see these pieces when they appear from the woodwork.

Nice find Ron


Raymond

[Ron Weinand]

It is a mystery that the catch and the pin base survived the stomping. If you noticed, the pin shaft made an indentation in the base around the vent hole. It must have been saved by the uniform from complete destruction.
However, the enamel damage is considerable. I thought about having it restored, but I think it is just better to leave it alone when you can be sure the story is the telling factor.
Also, one of the Luftwaffe gold transport bars was bent, so my belief is that the man was a Luftwaffe pilot.
Ron Weinand
Weinand Militaria
PS: Several people are contacting me to buy the badge: It is in my collection and not forsale. Thanks

[Erich B.]

Ron,
Nice piece with a great history. I would leave it as is also. It's also interesting in that it shows the construction details due to the missing enamel.
On another note, did anyone think to video your seminar on NPEA? I missed it and I'm sorry I did.
Thanks,
Erich

[Ron Weinand]

Sorry Erich, no one taped it this year and it was probably the best seminar program in 22 years. Too bad for those who missed it as I had nothing but great comments.
Ron Weinand
MAX Seminar Coordinator
PS: Always looking for topics and speakers for next year

[JoeW]

I agree with Erich that the construction details are fascinating. But I disagree with Ron's comment that a bevelled hole is a usual characteristic of an original, the correlary of which is that those badges without bevelled holes or no holes are not original. I have found no systematic treatment of the vent hole, if it is visible.

[sjl]

Joe's right about the vent hole - sometimes they were drilled from the other side, and so there was no visible bevel, and they move around a lot on the back. And some have no hole at all.

Still Ron, I love to see the construction of these unfortunately only visible when damaged. It looks like this one was stomped on and then dropped on a hard floor sometime in its travels.

It also points out something I'm always on about - even Gold Party Badges with a hard life don't show that much tarnish, so when you see one with a lot of black, green or other residue, think about improper materials and artificial aging.

Don't blame you for keeping it - it has more character than a mint one. Thanks for sharing.

[Ron Weinand]

Originals have a fire gold glit and I often wonder about badges that don't retain at least some of the fire glit. I feel that most fakes do not exhibit this finish.
Ron Weinand
Weinand Militaria

[ErichS]

I also like the ones that show some wear. They were worn and were a part of history rather then just spending time in a box.

[sjl]

Fakes don't come close to the fire gilt process for good reason - it's hard to do and incredibly dangerous. Gold is dissolved in mercury, and then the mercury is burned off. The badge is stuck in the toxic mercury vapour and the gold particles adhere to the badge. Jewellers have been known to die from the fumes.

The result is a beautiful, lasting finish that can't be reproduced.

[WARLORD]

You are quite right in your statement, "Fakes don't come close to the fire gilt process for good reason - it's hard to do and incredibly dangerous. Gold is dissolved in mercury, and then the mercury is burned off. The badge is stuck in the toxic mercury vapour and the gold particles adhere to the badge. Jewellers have been known to die from the fumes." However there are other chemicals that are added to the mercury for this process, which in themselfs are even more toxic, namly arsenic. This gives rise to the other name for the process, arcinical guilding.