Eric Stahlhut

cut-out naval wound badge?

years later, a perfunctory internet search will still yield virtually no information concerning for this award. in 29 years of collecting i have seen very few examples...here's what the ribbon looks like: i am actually quite impressed with the quality of this 45 mm gilded bronze cross--unmarked but the quality is reminiscent of products from 20s/30s makers such as paul kust or heinrich timm. struck really well with excellent detail; it's rather large compared to other medal bar filler vanity awards whose recipients had to obtain by purchasing themselves from a retailer. here's an example next to another ehrenkreuz, albeit from 1934:

....or as a Kaesereibe!

i suppose you could also get away with calling that medal a jeton

underneath the dust and grime on the core there's that beautiful classic 'piano-black' lacquer. reverse has the more common type of hallmark

even though current literature and catalogs call it a bewaehrungsmedaille, a short search shows that the term plakette is equally valid for this piece, if it was intended to be worn from a necklace, watch fob, or bierzipfel. it certainly wasn't made to be suspended from a ribbon

the metal insignia themselves seem to be fairly prevalent, but to encounter an example still attached to a collar tab is a rare occurrence. in any condition! removed from uniform and perhaps glued into a scrapbook. yellow is noticeably more vibrant on reverse

link to another good thread http://gmic.co.uk/topic/61375-new-schutzdivision-photo/?tab=comments#comment-581215

would you mind posting measurement and weight? let's see how it matches to the example i have. p.s. also, perhaps the letter seems to reference two separate items: the aforementioned 'plakette' and a previously unreferenced 'abschiedszeichen' or going-away commemorative badge? (or does the wording of the letter describe the "going away gesture" of gifting the plaque)? also, the pin on the "club/ordenssammler" example appears to be larger. look how it extends past the wreath

here's an image of the corresponding document:

i noticed that in my first post i neglected to include that sometimes these crosses are also attributed to c.f. zimmerman. anyhow, here's another that i find interesting due to the fact that the front frame is silver while the rear frame is of silvered brass. pin appears to be silver.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Iron-Cross-1870-Germany-original/253729533409?hash=item3b13756de1:g:78YAAOSw1NJbPJBo

superbly mounted piece to a flanders veteran

hard to find, seldom encountered! such self-purchased "vanity awards" for non-combatants seem to be quite rare.

very interesting indeed. well done!

thank you for the correction, matthew. when i made the post back in 2008 i was probably using a nimmergut or niemann catalog for reference, which most likely had very limited or inaccurate information. and thank you for reviving this old thread with an updated and detailed summary!

thank you. here is another cousin, who despite having been not worn so much, deserves to be included in this gathering. some say sedlatzek, others say mayer p.s. note the rounded inner corners of the frame. seems to be found primarily on screwback examples

a screwback version

a superbly worn example hand-engraved, the most seldom seen version of hallmark from this maker... ...with a few of it's cousins, the mayers

hiya, chris! nope, the austrian-made version is larger at 48 x 46mm. gilding worn down to base metal, which appears to be tombac

pretty excited to have found this, simply because of the obscure austrian maker. seldom encountered! i edited the reverse image in order to show the hallmark a bit more clearly.

then why is the obverse of the badge fairly shiny and bright after nearly 100 years? no signs or smells indicating recent cleaning--- one would think that being made of brass it would be extremely tarnished. the reverse certainly is tarnished, but not the obverse. the silver half moon and letter band are somewhat tarnished, as would be expected from silver or silver plate.

...and in jewelry terms, "echtgold auflage" means gold plated... i couldn't imagine they were worried about knockoffs, but if they were, that could explain why their brand seems to be the most replicated of all the makers