Hi wild card, you are right.... the clasps for the 1870/71 medals were issued in 1895, the 25th anniversary of the war..... What was official were the names of the clasps - what was inofficial was the purchase of the clasps.... every soldier who wanted a clasp or two or three could go to a jeweller and order them - normally every soldier or vet could get the clasps for the battles listed in his military pass. that`s why there are different types of clasps, different types of writing, different materials..... every jeweller made it a little bit different. Then there are some more completely inofficial clasps for some Vets that wanted a different writing for some special battles - completely inofficial: for example: Cernierung von Metz, Vor Paris, Champigny.......