Original Prussian made zepplin crewmembers breast badge of the Imperial German Naval Air Service, these breast badges were made of heavy pressed Tombek & coated in copper to adhere the fine silver finish! Actually issued after the great war, the first batch issued in 1920 & issued to serving crewmembers in the Imperial German Naval Zepplin Units as a commemorative badge with production ceasing in 1923.

This example has a finely detailed finish including the berries between the upper leaves of the laurel wreath in the upper half of the badge & the acorns interspaced between the oak leaves at the bottom! (invariably missing or just a blob on the fakes) & also the flared thick original pinback attachment, designed to pierce heavy wool material of the period that encompassed the badge & offering it some stability should it become unclipped..(another failure of the fakers, a lot of fakes have round thick..ish pins that are not correct as in some other German badges of this period), the Zepplin Crewmembers badge was never made with such a pin!

These badges were reproduced in the 1960's using the original dyes, but were fitted with easy round long pins, also attention to the stamp marks as an original 100 year old stampmark is clear, deeply pressed & defined! The Tombec metal is zinc based copper & heavy, a fairly hefty press would make the finely detailed indentation into such a metal. Lead has been used as an alloy in many fakes but silver doesn't stick to lead, Tombec is definitely not pliable as softer lead is & it also wears a lot easier & scratches very easily!

The silver mark is directly under the flared pinback attachment!

Please look at the detailed pics of this badge & we are happy to answer any queries you have!