DRA Sports Badge In Gold - Opinions Please

[hagwalther]

Fellow Members,

The badge below has been in my collection for some time being a DRA Sports Badge in gold.

Time to ask 'Is it real or fake?'.

Rear script states on the left side:

EUGEN MARCUS
HORJUWELIER

and on the right:

BERLIN W.8.
U.D. LINDEN 21

Many Thanks.

[James Noble]

hagwalther, Just from the pictures provided it looks good.

[Rick Research]

I've never heard of anyone faking these, but in a world of fake "Seefahrt Ist Not" tinnies and cast Hindenburg Crosses, who knows?

If you can get the size of the image larger and crop out more background, that would help.

Here is mine for comparison. Obverse:

[Rick Research]

And the reverse: notice how flawlessly mine was hand finished, as opposed to the typical of DRL badges filed-but-who-cares pierced letters on the back of yours. Key to notice is that Marcus styles himself "Court Jeweller." That could be a QUITE important point, which only postings of OTHER Marcus DRA badges will help clear up. The punchline to this one follows in the next scan.

[Rick Research]

Yup: It's 900 SILVER-GILT. From this I am assuming that mine is one of the ORIGINAL 118 1913-14 gold badges as awarded then by the German Olympics Committee.

See thread on numbers awarded etc:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...91&postcount=1

Now, the question is: if yours is NOT silver gilt, what IS it made out of? and...

does that mean there were TWO 1913-14 types, purchased at the recipient's whim? Or... did Marcus CONTINUE making these badges into the Weimar Republic, dies unaltered? Has anyone got a silver grade (from 1920 on) "Marcus Court Jeweller" marked badge? Has anyone got a bronze grade "Marcus Court Jeweller" marked badge? (2,133 1913-14 awards?

[Rick Research]

Because normally what one finds for the ubiquitous DRA badge is made, like this bronze, by Hermann Wernstein of Jena-Löbstedt

[Rick Research]

maker of probably MOST German National Sports Badges, right into the Third Reich types

[Rick Research]

So, everybody with DRA sports badges:

1) who made yours?

2) what class is yours? (Remember: polished to shine are buffed bronze, gold should be a soft matte gilt finish, not bare polished metal!)

The existence of a 1920+ silver grade marked to Marcus as Court Jeweller would prove that he made these badges that way after 1918. Likewise, any Marcus badges which have the "Court Jeweller" omitted would seem to indicate this mark was ONLY used pre-1919. (No awards of these badges were made 1915-18).

[Peter J.]

DRA miniature

Hi Rick.

This is not related to your ongoing investigation, but
never the less it´s a DRA badge . (#34815 bronze)

Regards
Peter

[hagwalther]

Hi Rick,

I can't get any better pictures I'm afraid and mine doesn't have the '900' marking.

My bronze and silver DRA together with bronze, silver, gold and war wounded DRL are all by Hermann Wernstein. This is the main reason I posted this tread as my gold DRA by Eugen Marcus was the 'odd one out'. As such, I thought that it was suspect with a view to throwing it out and obtaining a Hermann Wernstein version (if one existed) to make up the set.

If I understand correctly, 'Horjuwelier' means 'Court Jeweller' and as such, this item is pre Weimer Republic. But, if we find a similar badge in silver or bronze then it would mean that Eugen Marcus continued using the same dies post Weimer Republic.

Do Herman Wernstein gold DRA badges exist?

Regards to all ...

[Richard]

Here are the scans of my two Eugen Marcus DRA badges. The first shows good gilding, does not have the 900 silver stamp, has a hinge that looks identical to the one pictured by hagwalther (including the angle of attachement). Notice that at the bottom of the wreath on the reverse that there is a smooth transition from the wreath to the bottom of the ribbon on one of my badges (the one with corrosion) and hagwalther's. The one with the good gilding shows a more abrupt change from the incuse of the wreath to the ribbon at the base of the badge. The one on the right has traces of gilding remaining, has a replaced pin and seems to be bronze based as there are traces of green corrosion. The one on the left has excellent gilding on the entire badge. The pin has the same blunt end as shown in hagwalther's badge. Both of these badges were obtained in Germany.





Richard V

[stuart c]

Here are my DRA's Bronze,Silver and Gold,all by Wernstein.

[stuart c]

reverse

[James Noble]

Stuart, A very impressive set of DRA badges.

[hagwalther]

Yes, most impressive ...