Imperial German Guard Eagle – Real or Memorex?

As with the old Memorex audio/video tape commercials, does this one fool you? For the next couple weeks I am going to share some questionable items in my collection, and solicit the opinions of some of the experts in various fields of Militaria.

This is an Imperial German Guard Eagle for the front of an enlisted man’s spiked helmet. Units of the Guards Corps were considered elite and the Corps was headquartered in Berlin with garrisons in the surrounding area. Unlike Corps of the rest of the German Army, the Guards Corps were not recruited in a specific German state, but from all across the empire.

This particular eagle was purchased when I first started to use e-Bay. When nobody topped my low bid, I began to wonder if others saw anything I missed. When the eagle arrived, I noted areas of the stamping, especially the star, that didn’t seem as crisp as I thought they should be. There is no patina to the front at all, and the star itself wiggles a bit. Although the back is darkened, the brass nuts are still bright. There is no sign of verdigris. The area exposed to the heat of soldering the screw posts are a bit more whitish, with a bit of a blob of solder near the right screw post as seen from the back.

I think I was fooled – but what proof of fakery do the rest of you see?