Nazi Eastern Front Medal ...dug in Massachusetts!?!

[lenmac65]

I did a short hunt yesterday at an old farm house permission. I was kind of shocked that I was finding nothing, as I was expecting at least a Barber or a Mercury. I was at my wits' end when I got a strong penny signal at about 4 inches. It was actually too strong, so I was bracing myself for trash when I dug this medal. I had no idea what it was until I got home. According to Wikipedia .... It is a WW2 military decoration given to both German and Axis personnel that served on the German Eastern Front (Russia) in the winter campaign of 1941/1942. Armed service personnel qualified for the medal after a minimum of 14 days in active combat; 30 combat sorties for Luftwaffe members; 60 days of continuous service in a combat zone; being wounded or suffering a frozen limb severe enough to warrant the issue of a Wound Badge. The German on the back translates to "Winter Battle in the East 1941/42" While not what I was hoping for, it is certainly among my most unusual finds. Not sure how it ended up in my town, though I have a few guesses and will talk with the owner about it. Perhaps they have a Veteran in the family that lost this "souvenir." By the way, I want to preserve it with ren wax. Does the medal have to be completely clean to use that or can it go over a dusty object? I am a little afraid to clean this any more, especially with water. Any links to an instructional video on ren wax? Thanks for any tips. Happy hunting.

 

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[xcopperstax]

Fascinating find. I know nothing about preserving something like that but I'm sure there's something you can do. I have a toy soldier that I found and its similar... kind of crumbly. I was thinking about spraying it with clearcoat enamel. You medal looks like you might be able to toothpick it lightly ie little pressure. Maybe soak it in the elmers glue water mix that people use for pewter buttons? There was a German POW camp somewhere around Central Mass maybe it came from there?

 

[trdking]

My grandfather came home with one of these and an array of many other medals badges bars cap pins iron crosses arm bands youth shirts and knives a broom stick mauser collar boards patches all from the swaziland. He said the after the war ended Many of the soldiers were willing to trade anything for these items. 1 cigarette would get you a panzer tank badge etc.. I ended up with about 30 or 40 decent pieces when he passed. (the broomstick went to my uncle) I donated it all to the George Patten museum at Chiriaco Summit California. It was time for everyone to see it.

 

[washingtonian]

Very unexpected find indeed. Cool stuff. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Mackaydon]

Great medal save !
Re; Ren wax:
Don..

 

[Georgivs]

Great medal save !
Re; Ren wax:
Don..

I know people who swear by the stuff

 

[SeabeeRon]

Interesting find!

My father had been at The Battle of the Bulge and he brought home some souvenirs. No idea what ever happened to them??!?

 

[JeffInMass]

Very cool piece of history- great job!

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Definitely an unusual find. "The Frozen Meat Medal" as it was known by many of the soldiers who received it. Hard to say how it got there, but at the end of the war American soldiers sent home everything that wasn't nailed down and a lot of things that were as souvenirs.



It's made of zinc so getting it sealed is a must or it will just keep crumbling away. Ren wax will do the job but you'll need to get it as clean as possible first. I'd recommend getting a fiberglass brush pencil from amazon and using that to get as much dirt off as you can before sealing it. They are pretty cheap and you'll end up using it on other relics too so it's a good investment.

 

[lenmac65]

You medal looks like you might be able to toothpick it lightly ie little pressure. Maybe soak it in the elmers glue water mix that people use for pewter buttons?

Interesting suggestion. I have not heard of this method and will do some research on it. Thanks!

 

[lenmac65]

Thanks for the link, Mackaydon. I bought this stuff awhile back, but haven't used it much. This video should help.

 

[lenmac65]

It's made of zinc so getting it sealed is a must or it will just keep crumbling away. Ren wax will do the job but you'll need to get it as clean as possible first. I'd recommend getting a fiberglass brush pencil from amazon and using that to get as much dirt off as you can before sealing it. They are pretty cheap and you'll end up using it on other relics too so it's a good investment.

Thanks for the tips. This is crumbling, and I would like to slow that down. I have the wax, but will have to look into getting the pencils. I have the Andre's pencils, but that is different than the fiberglass. i wish I had better preservation skills ... oh well. Thanks again.

 

[trdking]

Interesting find!

My father had been at The Battle of the Bulge and he brought home some souvenirs. No idea what ever happened to them??!?

My grandfather was at the battle of the bulge! Louis Orr He said it was a freezing cold winter and had a bomber jacket that was given to him by my uncle when they met up prior in France(Which he kept his entire like and was returned to my uncle when grampa lou passed) He said that all of the troops walked out hanging onto each others shoulders with lead guys hanging onto the back of a slow moving tank. Pea soup fog, you could not see the hand in front of your face. He listened to troops speaking German on both sides of the tank. Fog was so thick no-one could shoot. He was full of amazing stories. He said he was an idiot. When they liberated a town, the smart guys went to the banks and he went to the bars

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Very interesting find, congrats!

 

[Silvermonkey]

Now that's something that you don't see every day...especially coming out of the ground in Mass! Cool find!

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Thanks for the tips. This is crumbling, and I would like to slow that down. I have the wax, but will have to look into getting the pencils. I have the Andre's pencils, but that is different than the fiberglass. i wish I had better preservation skills ... oh well. Thanks again.

In that rough of condition another option is to set it in a block of resin. You can get clear casting resin and a mold at Micheals Crafts for around $30 or so. Cast it into a paperweight sized mold and it will never deteriorate. You won't be hurting anything by doing that because in that condition, not being a battlefield found relic, there's really no collector value to lose and you'll have a neat conversation piece that you can display and handle without worrying about it being damaged.

 

[Digger RJ]

Nice!!! Congrats!!!

 

[lenmac65]

In that rough of condition another option is to set it in a block of resin. You can get clear casting resin and a mold at Micheals Crafts for around $30 or so. Cast it into a paperweight sized mold and it will never deteriorate. You won't be hurting anything by doing that because in that condition, not being a battlefield found relic, there's really no collector value to lose and you'll have a neat conversation piece that you can display and handle without worrying about it being damaged.

That is a really cool idea. If the owner doesn't want it when I offer it to him, I just might do that. Thanks!

 

[PullTabPete]

Wow really cool find. Would be great to know how it got there, but probably lost to history.

Preserving in resin would be really cool.

Hope you find some more goodies out there.

 

[Ace300]

Awesome Find!!