Jump to content
News Ticker
  • I am now accepting the following payment methods: Card Payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal
  • Latest News

    Recommended Posts

    • Replies 71
    • Created
    • Last Reply

    Top Posters In This Topic

    Posted

    A short question to both of the twins..... Rick, Rick: how do you want to organize our battle clasp comparism? Shall we make one thread for each battleground (CHINA MEDAL, SOUTHWEST MEDAL, COLONIAL MEDAL) or all in one - I think all in one would be too much, there you can`t find anything again.... just give some short ideas and instructions and then we can start :D

    Heiko

    Posted

    I need a better scan of the clasp and if you can show me the reverse of the clasp also..

    thank you

    Heiko

    I will see what I can do - it may take some time.

    Thank you,

    Wild Card

    Posted

    thank you for the new pics. Without having it in my hand I would say this is a original old piece. But maybe it is a private purchased clasp from a jeweller that normally is not making orders and clasps... ;) It has not the typical styles - but I would say it is old and ok. As you can see in the following examples there can be some "designs" for the same battle clasp, let`s take your "DOA 05-07" - here are my pieces of that years...

    Heiko

    Posted

    I don't know, you have to watch him very carefully....... he will lick anything you bring over to scan...... kind of like my kid who licks her leftover slice of pizza so no one else can eat it....... maybe Rick licks everything so no one else can have it?

    Hey Rick,

    My dog lifts his leg on territory that he wants to lay claim to? so perhaps the Evil One's (notice the capital letters for proper grammar) licking is not so bad.. considering the alternative (though perhaps that leg lifting would help with the patina a bit) :P

    Cheers

    Mark

    Posted

    Actually, the correct spelling is The (Truly) Evil One?

    Anything else...... well, infered, always infered.........

    I should be able to drop this bar at his house tomorrow for examination/comparison.

    Posted

    Helko,

    Thank you for the assurance regarding my clasp. I have to admit though that compared to yours (all of them!), mine looks pretty poor.

    Best wishes,

    Wild Card

    Guest Rick Research
    Posted

    :Cat-Scratch: You people! Everybody knows from the "Lovejoy" TV series there are certain things which are essential in the antiques business. Scoff at my insider secrets, but I shall reveal no more-- let us just say that the Masons have "loose security" by comparison.

    And with "comparison," let us go on to this random sample over many years-- the top three mine and the bottom one His Evilness's, brought by today in a gap in the blizzarding for a GOOD scanning:

    [attachmentid=21632]

    Notice that there are a variety of shapes and sizes and materials. The upper two are obviously from the late 1930s (indeed, the SW Africa has its matching medal bar too) while the Bavarian might well date from during WW1 (who knows).

    Guest Rick Research
    Posted

    Closeups: notice the differences in style, size, and finish--

    [attachmentid=21634]

    Bear in mind that these bars are 3mm high! The largest are 19mm wide, and the Kalahari/Nassob are by many percentages SMALLER than the "nice" ones, at only 15mm wide.

    "Detail" at this level is something that is verging on requiring a microscope. You have to hold these up almost touching your nose to actually SEE what they say. Consider how much variation there was in details of full sized crowns, ciphers, and dates on Iron Crosses, for instance, let alone comparing these REALLY TINY ribbon bar bars to the "full size" medal bar bars. The same comparison could be made with Oldenburg Friedrich August "vor dem Feinde" bars, full-versus-miniature.

    [attachmentid=21636]

    versus

    [attachmentid=21637]

    Guest Rick Research
    Posted

    These tiny bars are pinned through the ribbon and on top of the metal backing, rather than jamming extra holes into the backing. So they wiggle enough to see that they are indeed fire-gilt and have tiny little prongs near each end:

    [attachmentid=21638]

    The letters and background are not as sharp as the ones on the China medal-- but then, neither are the OTHER two SW Africas-- including the plain non-firegilt (or its finish has gone like the lower one on the 2bars SW Africa) "Oranje" (first offered for sale more than 10 years ago--I missed it then). Part of the "crudeness" of these two becomes apparent at this magnification as the POLISHING on the miniscule letters not being that great, either. (On the other hand, I'm glad MY pay check didn't depend on buffing something 3mm x 15mm all day!)

    It would seem to me that we have at least TWO different companies' products here-- one that made very nice 19mm wide little bars, and one that made "good enough" 15mm wide bars. To compare, it would have to be 19mm to 19mm and 15mm to 15mm. I have a number of EK2 1914/39 Spangen-- different designs from different companies. Ditto with the Braunschweig Ernst August "wreathed horse" devices.

    Now, you're LOOKING AT 100% of how many I have ever had in my hand. But for what it's worth-- and barring a flood of the same tiny minis flooding onto the market in the usual implausible "over the top" crazy fraud bars (with Red Eagle peacetime ribbons with swords, NSDAP 25 etc etc etc) I'd be perfectly happy to have this "boring" ribbon bar in my collection.

    Posted (edited)

    What about the alleged misspelling of "NASSOB"? Does that fit your "good enough" theory in terms of quality control?

    PS I lust after your China bar!

    Edited by Bob Hunter
    Posted

    HHHMMMMM - I think I have to forget the next medal bar purchase and take the money for a good scanner... :love: great pictures!!! Here is something in miniature from me...

    Picture N?1 shows the bar again of which I am very shure that the AUOB clasp is a fake....

    Picture N?2 shows the 100% original PEITANG-FORTS clasp of Oberst Kadelbach again...

    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now



    ×
    ×
    • Create New...

    Important Information

    We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.