Braunschweig SA Badge

[Chris Lee]

Braunschweig SA

I hate to bring this up again, but does anyone have a 1st pattern and if so, can you post pictures? Thanks

[Pitomnik]

The real one - ground dug in Stalingrad . 100% original !

[vbergman1]

This one's right wing is slightly shorter than the left wing by about 1/32". It is magnetic. I have no history at all in it.

[vbergman1]

and the back. Opinions? comments?

[Larrister]

Anyone wondered why a political badge like the 1931 Braunschweig badge would be at Stalingrad? These NSDAP honour badges were generally prohibited for wear on military uniforms, even in the rare cases when a military type had one from a previous career in the SA. Not a lot of SA Truppen at Stalingrad - even fewer at a Luftwaffe mess, if the cutlery is any indication of what was there at the time.

Not impossible, I guess, but Stalingrad was hardly the cloakroom at the Nuremberg rallies where you'd expect the golden pheasants to gather. It's like "vet pick ups" of an SS dagger from the beach at Normandy - what the heck was it doing there when it should be in a dresser drawer in Berlin?

One other thing - if it was found in what looks like fireplace ash shown in the photo, ash is incredibly corrosive, and I see no damage to the finish at all.

Here's a second pattern Braunschweig badge being worn on a Heer uniform.
Possibly being worn for the portrait photo?

Cheers
Larry

[vbergman1]

I did a bit of photo analysis on the 1st pattern badge I posted a few days ago. Here's my observations:

The badge appears to be assymetrical, that is, the left side (when viewed from the front) is smaller than the right side. If you place a grid over the image, this becomes quite apparent.

The right wing is indeed slightly shorter and lower than the left wing--it is also bent back a little farther than the left wing.

The center of the ribbon bow at the bottom of the wreath is not centered on the badge.

The eagle is slightly off center to the left.

Yet the details are quite crisp when using other badges as a standard. It's definitely made of steel, since it's magnetic and has rust spots.

Here are my questions: Are these deformities a result of uneven stamping force during the stamping process? This could happen if the die were not quite seated properly in the press, couldn't it? Or if the press had some alignment issue? Since this is a tinnie, would the maker simply sell the slightly defective badge anyway?

Or is this the result of a faker using original dies without really knowing how to seat the dies properly? Or is it caused by a faker's bad die?

Food for thought!