Quote:
Originally Posted by Unknownsoldier
A recent pick up that came on a postwar german beret, but the badge had ben on there a long time and I'm not liable to discount it because of that. It is curved and feels some what thinner than others I have and have handled. The crown is off putting to me, partly due to the lowness to which it sits on the canopy. This doesn't look right to me, I don't think the stamping on the crown is very good, but the usual die fault isn't there I'd look for and the feathers seem ok-ish.
If anyone can confirm/deny (I have my own suspicions, but before it gets made into a French para badge for an upcoming display I'd like to check it's not real  ).
Thanks...
Tom |
Hi Tom,
This badge used to be thought of as not genuine by some collectors because it had parallel chute lines on the left hand side. I have noticed recently however that this pattern has become more popular and generally accepted as ok.
Personally I am keeping an open mind about it, I have on one occasion seen one with a post war group of medals which apparently came straight from the family.
Although I have not yet seen one on a WW2 beret with provenance it may be the case that this is a post war pattern as there eight post war years of King's crown which is sometimes forgotten by collectors. I have also seen these sell on eBay for between £15 and £25.
I have a couple of these in my collection and would advise that you find a cheap fake, die flaw in the LHS wing (with the pointy wing tips) badge to turn into a French example for display.
Jack