Wappen mold

U

USN

Well-known member
Good evening gentlemen,

I'm not sure if this is exactly the right forum for this piece but I wanted to share an item I've got coming in the mail, it appears to be half of a mold/ stamp for a Prussian wappen. I've never seen one of these before so I think this could be an interesting piece to discuss.IMG_20220322_191721_905.jpg
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USN said:
Good evening gentlemen,

I'm not sure if this is exactly the right forum for this piece but I wanted to share an item I've got coming in the mail, it appears to be half of a mold/ stamp for a Prussian wappen. I've never seen one of these before so I think this could be an interesting piece to discuss.
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That's a cool looking piece Will, congratulations.

I'm skeptical it could be half of a "die" for stamping out a brass or steel front plate. I say that because it has no provision for it whatsoever to be placed in a metal stamping "press" which would use a die to stamp out a wappen.

Are you sure this is made of metal, and not a plaster mold casting of a wappen?

A die to stamp out a wappen eagle would be made of some sort of hard metal, and there would be square corners and/or well defined straight edges, or even a perfectly round shaped die would also work, in order for it to be secured into a metal stamping press and thus be used as a proper metal die to stamp out eagle wappens. I've seen dies for coins, and other metal products over the years.

From looking at your excellent photos, I would estimate this is a plaster piece that has had a Prussian eagle wappen pressed into the plaster of paris material. Maybe it is made out of metal. I'll be pleasantly surprised for you if it is metal, and not a plaster casting.

I hope this makes sense.

Best Wishes,

Alan
 
I think so too. Molds for pressing brass would be out of steel to withstand tens of thousands of pressings. But if a real piece of mold was found, it should belong in a museum.
Anyway, it is an interesting piece (y)
 
I agree with Alan. A stamping die would have sharp detail definition, not the "fuzzy" detail that this piece demonstrates. JMHO.
 
I'm not sure what its made of, a friend of mine in Canada spotted this at a store and got it for me so I have yet to actually hold it in person, once I have it in hand I'll post an update on it but I do agree that the details aren't very prevalent especially where the words would be on the plate but I wasn't sure if that was possibly just due to poor photography.
 
I asked my friend what he felt it was made of and he put ut on a scale, it weighs 4.6 pounds and apparently sounds like tile when you tap on it so it definitely isn't a stamp.
 
Probably one of those ChiCan repros! 😊 Those Canucks are always up to something devilish during their long winters. 😜
 
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b.loree said:
Probably one of those ChiCan repros! 😊 Those Canucks are always up to something devilish during their long winters. 😜
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You're probably right lol if only we had some allies up in Canada to protect us from such things.
 
Some early brass stampings where made with only a female die. Lead would be poured into the female to produce a male. But given the quality of every Wappen I've seen, it appears to me that they were stamped out using both a male and female die of tool steel. The image on this piece is reversed, therefore if would have to be the male die, the detail is not there for it to be so. Also, the back would have to be machine finished flat to sit in the press. BTW - I spent 20 years working for one of the largest stamping companies in the US.
 
aicusv said:
Some early brass stampings where made with only a female die. Lead would be poured into the female to produce a male. But given the quality of every Wappen I've seen, it appears to me that they were stamped out using both a male and female die of tool steel. The image on this piece is reversed, therefore if would have to be the male die, the detail is not there for it to be so. Also, the back would have to be machine finished flat to sit in the press. BTW - I spent 20 years working for one of the largest stamping companies in the US.
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Interesting, but if this is made out of (as best its been described to me) a tile like material could this actually be used as a die?
 
No under the first strike the tile would shatter
Unfortunately this is a fantasy piece made for what ever reason.
 
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USN said:
I asked my friend what he felt it was made of and he put ut on a scale, it weighs 4.6 pounds and apparently sounds like tile when you tap on it so it definitely isn't a stamp.
Click to expand...
A plaster piece could weight that much, as could a ceramic piece. It looks like it's probably made of plaster from looking at the back side of your item. Hardened plaster will sound like a tile when you tap on it. I have a couple of Czech Legion in Russia WW1 veteran statue clocks that are made of hardened plaster, and they sound like tile when you tap on them.

Watch this Will to understand the metal stamping die process:

 
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Makes sense, but I'm not too upset it didn't really cost me anything but the price of shipping, the real question is what am I gonna do with it now lol I can't imagine a use for it and I have a personal rule of not selling/ trashing gifts.
 
Ever since I started collecting these helmets, I have been totally impressed with the quality of Victorian and Imperial German metal work especially the wappen. Beautiful fantastic quality.
 
Alright gentlemen,

The mold/ cast is in and surprisingly it is made of metal, you can see the glint on the edges of it. I don't know for sure if that means anything as far as originality but it is better than it being plaster or tile.
 
I don’t know any cast metal with a surface of such a mass, but may be it‘s a graphite mold?
First of all I would test if it's magnetic to make sure it really isn't plaster.
 
Thats possible, its not magnetic and again it does have a glint on some of the edges which looks like metal.
 
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