Mike

WOW~Mike

Very happily saw is familiar with our history extremely to you, thankyou praising!

Not any numeral on ring,In the box base with green writing, is possible because the time for along time discoloration

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Hi Nan Su ,

Those are the markings or stamp I was wondering about (the RZM mark),,they are still there and that's great

Sometimes with age the paper on the bottom gets damaged and you don't see the stamp mark.

Are there many WW2 collectors in China ? I know several collectors in Japan but ..never knew if there was a large collector community in China.

Thanks for posting the pictures ..those are great medals and nice condition

I think that is exactly what happened. Fortunately for us, the wreath is different also, therefore the chances of them being able to reproduce the zimmerman wreath accurately are low. I do not think that they can correct their error with the existing wreath and would have to have another crack at it with an entirely new wreath.

I know they'll try though ..At today's prices ,it would be worth it for them to recall the dotted ones ..take them apart and re-rivet them back together with new repro wreath. The Internet must be a real pain to them!

And then what will they do about the Zimmermann flaw at the 10 o'clock position of the starburst ? (& other flaws) ..I think it's getting harder and harder for them

One thing I find interesting though ....did you notice how, ever since the "dotted date" controversy started ..we rarely see them for sale now. If they are fakes , I'm sure whoever would be making them would pull them off the market so the wreath can be fixed.

Here's the "Welcome Home" letter from King George. I was told that he was part of the Burma RR nightmare and survived ..he died in his 90's.

The Sword (I'm guessing it's pre WW1) is engraved to his Father ..the Captains son said that was the only Sword his Dad had.

I was wondering if anyone knew of a site that would list the Officers of the 4th Norfork ...I have a named grouping to one Captain Hall who was held by the Japanese for 5 years ,,,I'd love to find more out about him. Here is the grouping --

Over the last 5 years I've noticed many of these HJ Gold badges for sale with a thinner Swas than I remember them having. Yours looks a lot fuller, the way I think they should be and the number looks like it was stamped after the badge was made. Maybe they have diff style repros of these out now ? I know that thin swas version I've seen bothered me right off the bat.

Very nice DK's Mike ,I also have a light Zimmermann that is quite tarnished(especially on the silver disc)

I wouldn't mind an example of each maker but my wallet won't let me

Dave

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I agree Dave ..and it's not getting any cheaper .I think we have one of the few hobbies that forces us to invest ..sort of like being driven to buy stocks and bonds rather than dinner history fever!

The good thing is ...the money will always be there and belong to us (when/if we sell the item) and the item will still always belong to History it's a win win

Extremely happily knows everybody! The hope and you have more exchanges!

The Chinese writing has the very many written method, it is simply unable "to be square" describes. We are called "the calligraphy art",moreover each written method all has the glorious history and the school.Just like we like "the Peking opera" "gong fu" and so on to be same,detailed is performed the category, the gate faction the Performs to differentiate. Our proud being called "National essence"

Hi Nan Su , You have a wonderful language and proud History.

I have a Chinese Nationalist ID book or pass that was issued to an American Tech Advisor during the War. I was told that it would not be that easy to exactly translate because the language has changed since the 1940's ..is that true ?

If you'd like to see it ..I could start another thread about it because it is rather interesting.

Your 2 NSDAP medals are in really nice condition. Are there any ink stampings on the box or any numbers stamped on the ring that holds the ribbon ?

Thanks --Mike

Thank you for sharing your DKs. Are they really as heavy as they look? I bet there were a lot lost in the field.

Although the gold version is considered most desireable, I feel the silver grade is awesome!

Paul

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Hi Paul , It's not that heavy but ..if you had to wear it all day long, you'd know it was there that's for sure . The 2 I have are lighter versions , there are heavier models out there . Someday I'd love to have a Silver .There were less Silver DK's awarded so they are a little harder to find and higher priced.

Nice light zimmerman, Mike! I too like the DKiG, depsite it being an awkward piece. I think you achieve inner peace when you have one of every maker, so keep going!

It would have been so much easier to complete all the makers 30 years ago ...now it will take spending money to make up for that lost time ! Oh well ..I'll worry about that when the next DK's in my sights.

One thing though ...For some reason I always thought that most of the cloth DK's used the same wreath as the 20's and 134's ..the wreath on my cloth DK does not match them . The date is comp diff. Have any of you run into an assortment of wreaths used on the cloth versions.

Even the beloved 1933 RPT isn't safe......

Hi Don ...Are all the 1933 RPT repros semi hollow back or , are they also selling the solid style (unmarked)as well ?

hey Mike, I'm in Ware...... head west on 9 and don't blink or you'll miss the whole "town"!

(OK, OK, no where?, Ware? jokes!)

I know ..it's but ...nice meeting you via the UK ! My family has a Restaurant a few towns away from you ..The Castle ...small world huh?

My Dad owned a Shell station in Ware back in the 70's

I'd like to add (hopefully not stirring too much controversy in the process) that while I have always understood the significance of the DK in the hierarchy of WW2 German awards..... I have always found these to be butt-ugly, clunky things.

I respect the other feelings/opinions and the guys who like/collect these puppies.... but man, these are nasty looking to me!

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Hi Stogieman , The funny thing is , years ago I felt the same way UNTIL ..I owned one and saw the detail,construction and delicate quality they have. A lot more involved than making most awards.

BTW ..I'm orig from Worcester ..where are you in Mass?

Stogieman ..I have not been home in years but , is that the new dialect they use in Worcester these days ??

Here's my small DK collection so far .The bad part about this is --DK's are addicting ...once you get one , you want another ! is there a DK support group out there?

Back

The tarnish really gives it a "dark Star" look ..

First picture --

Hi gents ...I just got it in today, it shows it's age but I'm really happy with it. Thought I'd share it with you

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For some reason , I can't load the pictures ..I'll try again later

thanks --Mike

I like it because it does not "fit the mold" ...who knows , maybe the pin snapped off while being worn and the Zimmermann factory did the repair. Or ..could there be more like it out there ? That would prove that Deschler did sell stocks to Zimmermann. I'll keep my eyes open for another now . Whatever the case ..it's a nice one ...I can see why you kept it .

Reini you have a wonderful grouping , a complete collection in it's own right.

I also own 4 Gold Party badges and an award doc but unf , they don't match. I learned that before the US turned all of the NSDAP records back over to the German Gov , everything was microfilmed and brought back to the US . One day I called the Gov archives in Alexandria Virginia and spoke to a researcher there about the poss of connecting one of my numbers with a name. He told me that I would have to come there in person and look it up myself , but it could be done. He did tell me however that they've found that after a person had died , his number could have been reissued because they've found duplicate numbers in the archives. If this is true , it would make it a lot harder to confirm who actually owned an undocumented badge.

--Mike

Is there any sign of the hinge and pin being replaced ?

Yeah, and the youth (Boy Scouts?) uniform seems to me to be the only 100% legitimate uniform here.

Well Ed ...One thing you can be sure of , I didn't buy them at WalMart

The funny thing is ..If I had seen this set at a show ..and that poster was not with it , I would have written it off as a repro or fantasy uniform .. It's always the same I guess , the less we know about something , the easier it is to label it as a fake !

It must have been more of a fashion , or look they were going for rather than a useful camouflage. It's interesting to see how Dictators always seem to pay special attention to the Youth though ! Teach 'em at a young age. I was thrilled to get it !