Besian's DRL Badge in Gold, Real or fake?

[Tyler Ramsey]

Hello!
Currently there is a discussion ( http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ad.php?t=31408 ) on the General Wehrmacht Awards forum over a DRL Badge. I am posting this for Besian, to see if we can get more answers here
I personally have never seen one With a coke bottle pin before, or one that doesnt have spaces in the DRL, so I really dont like the looks of it. But of course I could be wrong.

Here are the photos

[Tyler Ramsey]

The back..

[Rick Research]

This thread was so long ago most of the scans have been lost to defunct image hosting, but still a lot of information remains

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ational+sports


There is absolutely NOTHING "wrong" with the DRL unpierced cypher/no maker reverse/coke bottle pin badges. That type-- and that type ONLY is OFTEN found this way. Because this type was awarded 1934-37 at the height of German rearmament and the '36 Olympics, it is possible that the issuing authority was simply overwhelmed by demand and these were the cheapest and quickest to produce by reducing hand labor: lowest bidder rush jobs.

No other type should have solid letters or plain maker-less reverses.

This piece is absolutely fine.

[Besian B.]

Wow guys, that was fast, thanks for all your help, Rick I'm immensely grateful for the info

[Besian B.]

One more question guys; is this the DRL badge in bronze version?

[Tyler Ramsey]

Maybe I can get one thing right on this one, I think it is a Gold version, but once again I could be wrong?

[Rick Research]

From the scan, it is the gold class. Bronzes are often polished to LOOK gold: they invariably have dull bronze hidden in the recesses and will over a short time turn back dull. The golds have a permanent gold finish that neither fades brown nor tarnishes.

I just realized that it is now possible to "edit in" replacement scans for the ones that have disappeared from old threads due to image hosting site changes: I am now replacing scans with these new click on thumbnails in the old sports badge article mentioned above. There will be visible comparisons of gold and bronze.