Kriegsmarine Blockade runner badge

[Rattle]

Hello,

what do you think of this badge.

It's not in the best condition and the pin and catch are missing, but i'm not looking for a mint example and don't want to spend $250-400 for this kind of badge since i don't collect Third Reich stuff.

I just want it to add to my Grandfathers pics, since he was awarded this kind of badge in WWII.

Regards,

Stephan

[Rattle]

The back,

pin and catch are missing.

Regards,

Stephan

[joetauchretter]

In my humble opinion this is a cast copy and aged to make it look like it is 60 years old . I like to stay away from these badges with the pin hinge and hook as this is done to cover up incorrect parts in repro badges . If you are not interested in collecting TR medals etc this would make a very nice display item , I hope the price is not very high .

Best Regards,

Joe

[Martin W]

Stephan,IMO this is an original Schwerin zincker.

Regards,Martin.

[Rattle]

thanks,

Now thats interesting, two different opinions

What are the pro's and con's ?

regards,

Stephan

[joetauchretter]

Remember , what I say is only my humble opinion ! I feel this badge does not have the crisp details of a die struck or pressure cast original , true zink badges can be a big problem due to the fact that zink ages very poorly . On the other hand zink is very cheap and easy to work with and can be aged with chemicals that will give it that classic " Zinker look" .On this web site and so many other sites dedicated to Gewrman militaria I see so many badges with the pin, pin hinge or pin hook missing that I consider the market flooded with them , this is a very good sign of a repro . I have tried on several original badges to break off the hinge assembly with my fingers and failed to damaged them at all , I feel a fabric loop on a tunic would be the weakest link in this story , but as there are so many badges displayed on these web sites I guess not ;-) What I find the most interesting thing about this badge is on the back where the pin hook was , look in the center of the round broken off pin hook area , right in the center of where the round wire hook was is the same coloring as the badge , this leads me to believe that that an incorrect hook was removed then this badge was colorised or chemical aged .

As a display badge I like this , as I said before as long as it is not too much money . Even is proven to be original I feel a badge with all it's hardware missing loses much of it's value in my eyes .

Best Regards,

Joe

[Martin W]

Hi guys.

first of all i think the badge does have the nice details of an original.We are looking at an image that has been enlarged about four times the size of the original badge and this can distort the crispness of the detail a little.The hinge,catchplate and maker mark are correct for this badge.Most importantly is the evidence of "bubbling" on the obverse and reverse which is very common on period zinc badges.I have not seen this on a reproduction.

Best Regards,Martin.

[Rattle]

It arrived today.

Here are a few pics and a nice collage about my grandpa

[Rattle]

The back

[Rattle]

The broken pin

[Rattle]

The collage about my grandpa.

Hope you like it !!

Stephan

[Martin W]

Stephan,

great set of photographs.I can only repeat what i said before about the badge,an original zinc Schwerin,IMO.

Regards,Martin.

[Rattle]

Stephan,

great set of photographs.I can only repeat what i said before about the badge,an original zinc Schwerin,IMO.

Regards,Martin.

Thanks Martin,

I do not collect third Reich items, but these KM badges are great looking.

Stephan

[Martin W]

Thanks Martin,

I do not collect third Reich items, but these KM badges are great looking.

Stephan

Stephan,

yes they are great looking.The Blockade Breaker badge is one of my favorites and you have one by one of the premier makers of kriegsmarine badges,Schwerin.

Do you have a photo of your grandfather wearing a Blockade Breaker badge?

Regards,Martin.

Edited May 9, 2007 by mwestley

[TerryG]

Looks original to me

[Rattle]

Stephan,

yes they are great looking.The Blockade Breaker badge is one of my favorites and you have one by one of the premier makers of kriegsmarine badges,Schwerin.

Do you have a photo of your grandfather wearing a Blockade Breaker badge?

Regards,Martin.

Unfortunatly, i don't have a picture of him wearing the badge. And i have about 80 pictures of him of his time in the KM. I dind't even know until 3 weeks ago, when i've got copies of his Marine Stammrolle (Naval military files). He was in the naval artillery and stationed in Naples with Marine Bordflakkompanie S?d.

They manned the AA guns on Transportships. He was in Crete, the Greek mainland, and Tobruk. He was sunk 4 times. In 1943 he got Malaria and was sent back to Germany where he was assinged to 4. and 18.Schiffsstammabteilung. In 1944 he was assinged to the Hafenkommandant in Port Vendres (southern France) as a telephon operator. In August 44, after the allied landings in southern France he was taken prisoner near Montepellier and spent the rest of the war as a POW in France.

Regards,

Stephan

[Martin W]

Stephan,

too bad about the photo but a great piece of history on your grandfathers service.

Regards,Martin.