Concerns about my 107

[Sniper 1987]

I purchased this SWB from a dealer who I trust, so I put it in my collection without any thought. However, after researching 107 SWB's in this forum, I became concerned about a few of the details, i.e. the catch plate and some extra material evident on the obverse. Please give me your expert opinions. Thanks.

Matt

[Sniper 1987]

Reverse.

[Stöckel]

Hello,

is a good SWB.
Regards Jan

[Hans N]

Sorry but not for my collection.

[don]

Looks cast to me ....Look at back and the front.I have also not seen catch set up on 107 like that.Picture not clear to see hinge plate.
don

[Sniper 1987]

The badge was originally obtained from this dealer (see website photos):

http://www.regimentaldepot.com/TR/TR%20Main.htm

If you click on the Badges section and then Wound Badges, you will see better photos of item #2797, which is this badge.

In order to verify my suspicions, I cleaned the obverse of the badge with a paste of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and warm water, a technique I have used to clean silver coins. The badge became very shiny, which would indicate that it is made of a modern white metal alloy versus zinc. It is certainly not tombak. The imperfections on the obverse became more evident, i.e. the "veins" on the upper left sword blade and extra metal in top center of the pebbled background area.

Also, the reverse appears to have a "stippled" finish with some bubbling, but there is no finish at all, just bare metal. Therefore, the bubbling and texture is cast into the badge. The last indicator is the non-standard catch and catch plate. I have viewed numerous 107 SWB's on this forum, and the only one with this type of catch plate was viewed as suspicious/likely fake.

Thanks for your assistance in educating me and pointing out a fake that I have had sitting in my collection. Time to get a refund from the dealer.

Matt

[jiipee76]

Definetly bad one,frontal pictures in dealersite shows too many faults on frontside alone.Backside is also looking horrible and hinge for example does not look like it should.

And after looking other badges in that dealer,i say there is plenty of other questionable items there.

[fugpaw]

I've got quite a few Carl Wild WB's (they're one of my favourites), this one has so many differences to all those I have - from what I am seeing the following are all wrong: the hinge, the catch, the bubbling on the rear, the front is a very poor finish.

To me it's definitely a fake cast badge.

Mike

[don]

Can you put your picture in Favourite fake wound badge thread.
Trying to get a thread with fakes in it.
Thanks
don

[Sniper 1987]

I will take better photographs of this fake and post them in the appropriate area. Thanks again.

Matt

[ERIC LIN]

Hmm.....I was not quit sure at first about this SWB when I read this thread...
but depends on every detail on this WB... I can say I would step away!!

There badge itself looks really rough, the swords and the back.

Eric

[Hans N]

Well for what it´s worth, here is a matching one with the same dimples and dents. This one speaks more than yours Matt but clearly shows us that your´s a cast fake and should be enough to convince any doubter out there.

[Hans N]

An exact match down to the "flaws"

[Sniper 1987]

You are correct; this one has some of the exact same dings/flaws cast into the badge, as well as the incorrect hinge plate. This should serve as a warning to collectors considering a 107 wound badge. Make sure the metal is either zinc or tombak, not a modern silver alloy, and the catch plate fits correctly in the depression.

[jiipee76]

Here is example how it should look like: