Opinions on this 1936 Olympic medal?

[Vadim K]

I do not know what the maker's mark says, seller has not
gotten back to me on that yet, but what are the opinions on
this medal? It looks fine to me.

[VerKuilen Ager]

Looks like it just might be an L/58 repro from the 1960s. If that's the mark on the ring, you should proceed with great care.

[TerryG]

Olympic medal

At first glance this medal looked ok to me. I will be taking a close look at mine but can you please give us more details as to the signs to look for...

[Vadim K]

Histaria, the mark is indeed L/58. What do I look for on this one to see if its original? I do not have the medal yet but seller agreed to an inspection period.

[VerKuilen Ager]

The L/58 mark was extensively used by the Rudolf Souval firm to mark its reproduction pieces in the postwar period (particularly in the 1960s and 70s). I bought lots of these from the infamous Ken Lane, Klietmann's Berlin firm, and direct from Souval back in those wild west days when we didn't have a clue what was going on. Many of the Souval pieces (particularly some of the medals like the Olympic) were very well executed and, of course, have 40+ years of aging on them at this point.

While there was supposedly some legitimate use of the L58 number, it's generally considered the kiss of death these days. If you obtain this piece, you'll want to plan on keeping it forever.

Original, cased Olympic medals are fairly common as Third Reich awards go. I would wait and get one of those. The medal ribbon is usually sewn at the corners, and it will have a pin that's sewn on.

P.S. What are everybody's feelings about ribbons with a pinking shears cut (the zig-zag pattern created by a tailor's scissors, usually used to cut out patterns and shown on the end of the medal shown in this thread)? I suspect that this was rare to unknown on pre-1945 ribbons. Opinions?

[Richardxyz]

Histaria, great information to know. It is an aim of mine to also obtain one of these at sometpoint in the future. I'll give the L/58 a wide berth.

The pinking shears argument has reared its head before, but I forget the conclusion. I am unsure, some say pinking shears have been around for years and therefore good could have been used originally others not. I am inclined to believe the line of thought that says that original uncut rolls of ribbon have been cut up at a later date by someone with pinking shears.

[Frank Heukemes]

Dear all,

Pinking shears are not a post war invention. I have definitely seen pinking shear ends on original and untouched ribbons.

I agree on Histaria´s remarks about the medal. MIGHT be ok, but there are so many of these around that one should get one that is more "secure". I personally prefer the magnetic ones, which is just a taste preference, zinkers are ok as well of course.

Cheers, Frank

[Tony Farrell]

I have a set of pinking shears that date from the 1920s - they were my grandmother's. They are also the correct tool for cutting material such as ribbon - as opposed to a blunt & rusty penknife - which is what some ribbon 'suppliers' seem to have used. I'd take more notice of pinked ribbon than that cut with a straight edge, as it's more likely a tailor has cut it.

Good info on the L/58 Souval 're-strikes' by the way, as I have my eye on one of these at present.

[Kevin Sanders]

1936

Good call and G2 on the 36 Olympic medal Histaria. I know Vadim appreciates it.

Vadim - keep in mind though, that not all L58 marked awards are repro's. Souval was an authorized manufacturer out of Austria, I believe. Just FYI.

Kevin