Stogieman

Yes, the disc is from a W?rttemburg belt buckle. very nice!

Outstanding! What a beautiful private-purchase case!!

Sometimes, you'll find Scharffenberg labeled cases with both a Kunath label (for the ribbon) and a third label for the case maker!! Nice little "prize"!

OK Ralph, Here's the assignment! You need to get the highest Bravery decoration from each state!

Bavarian RK Max Josef.

Saxon RK Military Order of Saint Henry

etc.

etc.

Hi John. the stamped issue badge in decent condition could go anywhere from $900-$1200 USD. The silver one, think 2-3K. Difficult to judge, there's only been one auctioned off in Germany in the last 6 years.... it went over 2K Euro, plus premium! :speechless-smiley-004:

And the reverses of same:

Now, just to compare, here's a stamped pair.. Prussian Pilot & Gunner. Fronts:

And the reverse of our second example looks like this. This HD scan is an excellent one to compare rivets with note these; then pop back up to the "suspect badge"....... see la differance?

Here's a second authentic issue badge. This one had the cross atop the crown neatly filed off. The "Story du jour" I always heard was this was a sign of protest to the abdication of Wilhelm. No idea if that is true or not. Could just be "Urban Legend"....

Reverse of the gunner badges. Good set to study, these are real. The P/P in silber is the only one I ever found. On eBay germany of all places and at about 10 cents on the dollar...... I have had a total of 3 of the issue ones though. I cannot imagine that happening again in about a zillion years!

Here's a photo of my pair of my Imperial Prussian Gunner Badges. Private Purchase in Silber on the left, Issue (stamped) Badge on the right. An interesting point is that of all the Imperial Flight Badges issued (as opposed to P/P); this is the only one that ever bore a maker mark.

Here's a photo of a real one. Compare the details to the initial pix... can you spot all the differences?

(Photo cortesy of Niemann?, Hamburg. But I own this badge now.)

hey Fran?ois, How difficult is it to find these small unit pins? I have not ever seen more than a dozen, excluding the thousands of fakes floating around.

Very nice Gordon, I did not realize such a variety existed. Thanks for posting these!

Close-up of the eagle/target. Target is not a perfect match, nor is the bird... but a quick look, or crappy photos will fool the uninitiated buyer.

I must now advise anyone looking to add this (exceedingly) rare badge to their collections to excersise extreme caution when considering a purchase of one of these badges. flame

Details. Note that the rivets are bigger and appear to have "flattened" heads. Very close, but not the same as original, period badges.

Reverse. Note the 3 rivets and almost perfect maker mark. flame

Sadly, they (whoever the b*stards are) have now started making close (but no cigar) copies of the Imperial Prussian Air Gunner Badge. Following fotos were culled from eBay, playground of many crooks. This badge is close, closest yet. But it IS NOT real. flame

Hi David, I never figured this one out. A Bavarian making a Saxon "Fashion Statement!! I combed through my archives and could not come up with another Bavarian bar with the device. But this one was clearly made this way! One of those things we'll probably never figure out!

My "Twin" informs me my picture of brit POW's from Perrone belongs here! Whoops!

I agree Gordon, what a farce...... :speechless-smiley-004:

Awesome cross, nonetheless. I'd bet it's a Godet. The angled pin end mounting to the hinge is a spot-on match to not only Godet EK1's, but to a couple of (definately) period Flight Badges I've been studying and trying to pin the maker down on.

heh, heh, heh...... I know where this came from. I'm his "Pusher"..... he's easily amused. A good bar (or two, or three) and he can be made to perform amazing "tricks" jumping

Hi Don, best bet is to deal with very trusted sellers. The other for-sure original out there that few people know about was made by Juncker. Unmarked, but typical pin/hinge assembly as in their early WW2 Auxiliary Cruiser Badges. Hold one of these puppies in-hand and you'll instantly know.

One of my serious recommendations to folks is long before you buy something like this, try and visit friends, dealers and shows. handle as many badges as you can. In-person, the real stuff sticks out like a sore thumb as compared to the dodgy pieces.

They have cheesy enamel. They are (usually) uniface, with blank, or "stippled" backs. Quality is just awful. These pop up on US eBay and people bid them up.

(Heavy Sigh)

If half the people out there who spent money on this rubbish spent HALF on books and learning, they would be so much better off!

(Sorry, personal axe to grind here. I HATE fakers)

:violent-smiley-017: