Orcs & Elves

J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth was populated by evil orcs, made by the dark Lord in mockery of elves.

Here we see an ORIGINAL "U tongue" catch side by side with the criminal mockery of a hand snipped fake. Note that the ORIGINAL is STAMPED and rounded smoothly. Because it is STAMPED OUT of the backing, there will always be a "dimple" easily felt under the last ribbon where there is no backing metal as a result of this. (The backing on the original is not brass-- it has a coppered finish over steel intended to foil rust and usually having the exact opposite effect-- a magnet will easily tell you one way or the other ).

Note the stamped-every-space standardized devices holes on the ORIGINAL. The Third Reich backing plate maker had no way of knowing--as the faker does with his--where devices MIGHT be placed in retail sales of finished ribbon bars made to individual order.