Gary B

Hi, Thanks for the comments. Those ATC tabs are hard to find, so I did not pass them up when I saw them. Gary B

I am trying to get one of each of the different waffenfarbe in the highest NCO rank possible. This is the highest I have seen for Air Traffic Control.

Medical....

Flak....

Some senior NCO tabs

A new pair of tabs to go along with his lower siblings....Oberst Engineer-Construction

Greek made tabs for comparison

Reverse French made (interesting in that they look like Reserve tabs from the reverse)

Hi, Well the forum seems to have been quiet on the tab front lately so I thought I would post a few new tabs and some that I never posted from before.....first up is pair of Leutnant Flight tabs made in France. Gary B

Hi, Nice way to find badges and at a great price. One more thing to add, the case is for a Pilots badge. Gary B

Nice tabs, Paul. Gary B

John, Thanks so much for taking the time to post these badges. These pictures really helped alot. Gary B

Thanks John. That clears things up a lot. I am sure I will have more questions for you like 1st and 2nd pattern Assmanns! Gary

John, Thanks for the reply. I was hoping I would get some of your great graphics! So what is a J1 eagle. From my readings you can have pure J1, J2, J3 pieces but also mixed eagle and wreath patterns. Is this correct? Gary B

Hi, Could someone post some pictures of the various wreaths? I understand there are J1, 2 & 3 wreaths for Junckers. I basically see that the 2nd patterns are more "massive" than the shallower 1st pattern. What is a 3rd type? And did other makers have different pattern wreaths. Thanks. Gary If you have any detailed pictures that would be helpful!

Here is a set with metal gulls. Gary B

Hi, I hope this picture comes out since it is a scan of a photo copy. This is an interesting picture of an officer whose collar tabs have 2 metal gulls over a bullion wreath. I had pictured a set similar to these in an earler post. Gary B

Dear Matt, The fakers are faking everything, so the best defense is to be armed with as much knowledge that you can. Unfortunately there are no books on medal bars per se. I would recommend getting to know as much as you can about the medals that comprise the bar, after that the art of detecting a fake or post war put together bar is just that an art. You should be able to pick up some good pointers from the forums. Both Ricks are an invaluable source of information. A month or so ago I tried to start a thread on how to detect a good bar but it seemed to lead to a dead end since there are so many things to take into consideration. To sum it up I would say that all of the medals must be original, the combination of awards must be feasible, blacklight to look for glowing white thread (this test should be used in conjunction with other tests), look at the construction methods/sewing (backing plate could be brass zince or steel but should look old and not brand new), look at how the cleanliness of the medasl mathes or does not match the ribbons (wear and dirt should be consistent). And if in doubt show it on the forum and get some opinions. As for size of bars, most of the bars in my collection are 2-4 medals. If you are collecting TR awards you will be hard pressed to find a pure TR bar with 5 or more medlas. If the guy had that many medals he probably had some WWI service as well so he should have some WWI medals. As for the really big bars I only have 1 with 8 medals and 1 with 7 medals. The huge bars are really quite rare. If you see one that looks too good to be true it probably is! Hope this helps. Gary B

Very nice Engineer tabs. I love the ones with the snaps on them. Gary B

Paul, I think your conclusion is logical. I dont have Angolias book so I guess I need to get it. It also makes me think that I should have bought the pair of blue waffen farbe with metal gulls and aluminum cord for my own collection!!!! Gary

Dear Rick and Matt, Good eye Rick! Based on information I had picked up from reading posts from both of the "evil twins" I was able to discern that this piece was not a piece for my collection. I returned this many weeks ago (within the 7 day inspection period). As has been noted in the thread, the SS medal was sewn down with different colored thread from the rest of the medals. As a matter of fact there were 4 different colors of thread used in the assembly of the medal: light gray and light blue to hold the medals down, green and dark gray to sew the actual ribbons to the backing plate. The catch and pin are made of brass which in itself is a possible combination for construction of bars of the period. Unfortunately, as has been noted by the evil/good eye of Rick, the catch was hand snipped. There was even a scribe line present (I learned this from both Ricks). Additionally, since there were loose pieces of thread on the bar I took the opportunity to snip and burn them...all smelled like nylon and left a hard black ball of residue. So the bar went back to whence it came. As for the NSDAP bar, that went back this week also. I realized the SS bar had problems as soon as I received it. I also realized some "issues" with the NSDAP bar but over ruled them due to the source. I have learned from this to trust my gut instincts. The only big bar I have bought that has been 100% good was bought on this forum from Stogieman (the WMC/WMM bar) Thanks again Rick for your advise! Gary

Hmmmm, Paul has been quietly adding to his collection! Good job. Why do you state that the flak tabs are late war? because they dont use buckram?? I like the Field div tabs. I have seen the same kind of tabs with a blue waffenfarbe but was told by GP that they were unidentified NSFK. Gary B

Tom, It is good to see you posting here! Welcome! Gary B (the other medal bar collector!)

Hi, Here is a link to a new medal bar in my collection. http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=6696 Gary B

Hi, Here is a rare medal bar that came from an old collection. The bar belonged to a Gauleiter and came as part of a grouping. Unfortunately the grouping was split up in the sale and the name of the Gaulieter was fogotten. I hope to be able to ID the bar one day. Gary B