WW2 Romanian Paratroop Badge

[fredswiss]

A good friend has gotten together with the son of a US WW2 veteran. Among a number of both common German and US items are a WW2 Romanain Pilot Badge and a WW2 Romanian Paratroop Badge. We've found some examples of Romanian Pilot Badges for sale on various websites but have not found anything on Romanain Paratroop Badges (other than one comment stating that they are very rare). Does anyone have any information on a ballpark value and their actual rarity? Thanks in advance for any help.
Fred

[Tonomachi]

I can't post photos but I thought I'd share what happened to me with my quest to locate and buy an original WW2 era Romanian paratrooper wing. I was at an insignia show in Northern California circa late 1980s when I came cross a table with WW2 era Romanian medals being offered for sale. I began chatting with the seller who was originally from Romania. I told him that I was interested in buying a WW2 era Romanian paratrooper wing. He told me that he had never heard of such a thing so I drew him a picture of the wing with the chute, risers, wings and the cross in the circular base with four crowns. He asked me how much I was willing to pay for such a thing. I told him 500 dollars. Several months went by and I got a letter from the seller who was living in Romania. He told me that he went to some sort of governmental military archive and located information concerning the paratrooper wing that actually did exist during WW2. He told me that if I was still interested he would look for this paratrooper wing for me. I wrote him back and told him that I was still interested. Another several months went by and I received a second letter from this seller with a photograph of what I thought was a WW2 Romanian paratrooper wing. I wrote him back and told him that the enamel color wasn't right and like an idiot I sent him photos I had of an original WW2 era Romanian paratrooper wing. A couple of months went by and I got a letter from this seller with an address in Morgan Hill, California. He told me that he had sent the paratrooper wing I was looking for to relatives at this address and that I could pick it up for the agreed upon price of $500.00. So I drove over to an apartment complex in Morgan Hill and a Romanian family answered the door. The head of the household handed me two boxes each with a Romanian paratrooper wing. One had the wrong color enamel but the other had the correct color enameling. I had brought a jewelers loup with me and upon turning the wing over the color of the metal was brand spanking new! As I recall the rivets were peened over and looked like it had been done a week ago not 60 years ago. The seller had probably obtained the original dies for these paratrooper wings and had them copied but with his first attempt he did not have the correct colors. So I declined both paratrooper wings and as I left I could hear the head of this household yelling at someone probably over the telephone in a foreign language. I never hear back from this seller. So there are very good copies of WW2 era Romanian paratrooper wings out there. Since this happened I came across what I think is an original WW2 era Romanian paratrooper wing at the very same insignia show maybe 4 to 5 years ago. It was supposedly part of an estate from a WW2 era vet who brought these back with him from being stationed somewhere in Europe during WW2. I paid $700.00 for this Romanian paratrooper wing. Afterwards at the next show I saw what looked like a Romanian badge being offered for sale by the same dealer. He told me that this was part of the same grouping of militaria that the paratrooper wing had come out of. So I had to have it and bought it for 200 dollars. It turned out to be a Romanian Officer badge for something like their West Point Military Academy. However this is not the end of the story as I sent photos of this academy badge to a Romanian insignia collector who feels it might be a copy. So even though my Romanian paratrooper wing looks like an original piece I have a little doubt because of the academy badge.

[fredswiss]

Thanks for sharing your information. I certainly believe the one my friend has seen is original based on the provenance but I will alert him to the fact that high quality copies do exist.
Anyone else?

[fredswiss]

Thanks for sharing your information. I certainly believe the one my friend has seen is original based on the provenance but I will alert him to the fact that high quality copies do exist.
Anyone else?

[castagain]

Fredswiss, sorry I missed this thread when it first appeared. WW2 Romanian parachute qualification badges are rare, and it's difficult to find reference materials or photos to judge an authentic piece from a reproduction.

R.J. Bragg and Roy Turner's book "Parachute Badges and Insignia of the World" has a line drawing of the badge on page 193 (Plate 3), along with some background history on the 1st Parachute Battalion, which was created from a parachute company originally formed in 1941.

I often find that with badges like this -- where direct comparisons are hard to make -- you have to look laterally at other qualification badges manufactured in the same country and era, to identify construction techniques and materials used in other badges that should be present in yours.

Two readily available sources for these comparisons: One is a thread on this forum, about WW2 Axis pilot badges, by Kaiserwilhelm. He shows detailed photos of authentic Romanian pilot badges, and some of the info on that thread may be useful to you. Another source is the website www.ww2wings.com, which also shows good examples of pilot and observer badges from Romania.

An authentic Romanian para badge would be worth $500, I agree.

Good luck, castagain

[fredswiss]

Thank you Castagain for the information. I appreciate it.
Fred

[Alex Stefanut]

I have one such piece, I will post fotos soon.

Alex

[Alex Stefanut]

Fyi

[Alex Stefanut]

And in wear... this is one of the two official models.

[Bob Hritz]

I collect Axis and Allies paratrooper qualification badges and have now seen, for the first time, what appears to be an original Romanian para qualification badge. I would love to find one for my small collection.

Thank you, Alex, for posting your badge.

Bob Hritz

[Alex Stefanut]

There are two official variations. I will post fotos soon with the second one.

Al

[Alex Stefanut]

Second model (cut-out) in wear.

Al

[Rene Chavez]

Alex can we please see the reverse of the badge?

Rene Chavez
www.foreignvolunteerlegion.com

[Alex Stefanut]

@Bob - thank you for your positive feedback
@Rene - I would rather not post the back here. PM me with an e-mail and I will send you pics. The reason is that these are heavily faked, but the fakers did not get the pin catch system right, and this is the clue no 1 when seeing a fake. The system is the old Romanian type with a ball and a hinge.

Al