Cased BH Mayer Silver Wound Badge

[RobertE]

This badge was a little surprising to me. First of all, I've picked up wound badges in silver and gold in the LDO boxes, but this case seemed too nice for a silver WB. It's ever bit as nicely made as a mid-war quality EK box, from the button to the hinge - but for a silver wound badge?

The badge isn't particularly high quality either - I expected a nice tombak to fall out instead of the molded hinge/catch variety.

The badge is mint and clearly marked 26, thus matching the embossed makers mark on the case. Does anyone know when they stopped with the fitted WB cases? And is this box configuration common for mid-war WBs?

Regards, Robert

[RobertE]

hinge - doesn't look like it ever had the paper hinge covering -

[RobertE]

No doubt who pumped this one out -

[RobertE]

Badge has all it's silver, but is nothing extraordinary -

[RobertE]

But with a 26 makers mark, is original to the case. Just seems odd to put such a mediocre badge in such a nice case!

[Andreas Klein]

Hello Robert,

Mayer used the case for the WB too. I've seen it sometimes with the gold grade in it or an unmarked 1 type.

[Nordmark]

Hi Robert,



are you sure that this is a silver wound badge? It looks like a wound badge that has lost all its finish, with the gilded setup it also could a gold one with no finish left...


Regards,


Daniel

[Andreas Klein]

Hello Daniel,

the setup is made from tombak and has without any finish on it a yellow colour cased by the base material. Therfore the colour of the setup is no sign for the grade of the badge.

[RobertE]

Daniel, good question. This badge has about 100 percent of a silver finish. regards, Robert

[Darrell]

Hi Robert,



are you sure that this is a silver wound badge? It looks like a wound badge that has lost all its finish, with the gilded setup it also could a gold one with no finish left...


Regards,


Daniel

I'd bet Daniel is correct. This is a Gold zincer that's lost all it's finish. THe key is the color of the pin The question always remains whether the two started life together.

[Hans N]

Hi Robert,

i see something that could be a trace of gold finish on the catch.
Take a look and tell us what you see. There can be small specks of finish still present if looking hard.

[RobertE]

Thanks Darrell, appreciate the comments. This is a silver wound badge - it has a silver finish on it, not a raw zinc base showing through. It came with a large vet-acquired DKiG grouping which was shown in other threads, and all the badges - EK1s, KvKs, the DKiG, and my LW Honor Clasp were all cased and mint. The Eastern Peoples in gold which I also picked up was also cased, and has 100 percent of it's gilting over zinc - it also has been cased since the war.

- I believe the medal is original to the case: it is maker marked and so is it's case, direct from a vet estate auction with other items of providence

- the badge has a finish applied to it, and it's silver. You can see a bit of the flecking where it's spotting on the reverse, but it's there

A gold badge in the case would have been much more logical, and I sure agree a bright brass pin belongs on a gold vs a silver. Anyone else have a silver 26 so we can compare the pins?

Regards, Robert

[RobertE]

Hans, just saw your comment. I'll have to get it out tonight and report back - wouldn't be the first time I was wrong. Sure looks like a silver finish to me, though!

[RobertE]

I can't find any trace of gold, but maybe i'm looking hard enough. I've got plenty of plain zink badges, but this looks like an applied finish. You can see some age spotting, and light greying inside the stipled areas.

It does make alot more sense to it being a gold badge, though. Perhaps every bit of the gilting came off it, and this is some kind of a "primer coat" I'm looking at. Sure doesn't look like raw metal - but again, I could be wrong. And it would explain why such a mid-grade badge was in such a nice box!

s/f Robert

[RobertE]

Other side - the gilt under the pin looks like a mar when in hand, not a gilt mark. I think since this badge was in the box, with little air and at least one side in continous contact with the box surface that we'd see some gilt remaining, somewhere.