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    Phil Steele

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    Everything posted by Phil Steele

    1. Very Impressive collection and expertly displayed. Thankyou for showing. Phil
    2. That changes everything Chris. As far as documents are concerned you are only ahead of me by a mere 694 and I anticipate at this rate I will over take you by the year 3057. All the Best Phil
    3. Quite a collection Chris and I am not about to embarress myself by quoting my own meagre stocks but put it this way you are ahead of me with EK2's by a mere 106 although that does not count the dozen or so I have on medal bars. . Still we have to start somewhere but seriously I do hope either yourself or some other learned 1914 EK collector will take the matter to task. And I agree 100% with what Robin said....I simply hate the idea of having to have my laptop with me whenever I am answering a call of nature due to a lack of printed matter. Phil
    4. Thanks for the reply Chris. I do realise there is a large volume of work required to produce such a book or books. That said however, I would very much like to see any book published exclusively on the 1914 Cross and that also includes the documents. After many years bouncing around from one collecting theme to another I have settled down finally with collecting 1914 EK2's (and an occasional EK1). My collection is not large by some standards and I differ greatly from the bulk of collectors in that I have little or no interest in maker marks. Knowing who produced the item certainly aids in evaluation of the item but I am more interested in the historical significance of what the item represents. I am not endevouring to mock those who collect items purely for MM's, I am just stating my preference. I also delve into a few award documents for the 1914 EK2 so I would be very keen to purchase a reliable reference work on the subject. There is a plethora of reference books now available covering various items from 1939 to 45 conflict and I agree that it is time for equivalent pieces to be penned on the 1914 to 18 war. I realise forums such as this and others are an invaluable tool to the collector but I am somewhat old fashioned and would much prefer to read a book on the subject. Nothing better than sitting if your favourite chair at the end of a hard day, glass of port (or in my case strong tea) beside you and in the glow of a soft lamp reading a good book. I doubt if penning such a tome would make you rich but you would indeed have the gratitude of many a dedicated collector of the 1914 Iron Cross. I will buy any book you write on the subject. Phil
    5. Some time back I saw (or thought I saw) some information that a book was being planned concerning the 1914 Iron Cross. I believe the authors were going to be Gordon Williamson and Chris Boonzaier. I am not a regular forum person so I have not kept up with the latest news (my fault) however, I would like to know if such a book is still being worked on and perhaps a projected time of publication if such a book is still in the planning. Thankyou. Phil
    6. My point exactly...surely the profit margin would be very low indeed on such an item and the chance of selling bucket loads of them would be virtually nil. I would think.
    7. I dont really see the point as genuine 1914 EK's are not what you consider an expensive item to collect. Most dealers in Germany sell them for 40 to 50 Euro. I can understand trying to fake high end items. It just does not make sense to me.
    8. Thanks Gordon and Jens for your input. Look forward to receiving it and displaying the tunic. Best Phil
    9. Hi Guys, I have been away from collecting now for nearly a year and what I did have in my collection I had to sell unfortunatly. However, I am back on my feet again and have just made a couple of purchases I would like you opinions on. I dont have the items as yet as they are still in transit but I would like to know are the various badges attached to the jacket applicable. Could somebody tell me what the qualification badge is above the pocket and what unit the brustenhanger belongs too...(I think that is what they are called). In respect to the cap, would this be appropriate to display with the tunic. Thanks for your time. Phil
    10. Well I did indeed learn something in this thread. Uwe you must understand my confusion and maybe this will help. During my years of collecting TR badges and medals I never heard this method or anybody catagorising their awards this way. All I ever saw was " Unissued" which to me says unawarded. Never have I heard it said Unissued or Unawarded so its classed a copy. Then again I have never been a prolific user of these or other forums so I could well have missed something. Phil
    11. Fair enough...I will admit I dont know how the fakers operate or the cost of their over heads. The only point I was trying to make was as I said not every single item in his inventory is fake which was implied and I know this from experience. I never intended to try and defend the guy or sing his praise. Phil
    12. All very true but when I purchased said medal bar I was not aware of him being a seller of such ill repute (fool me). And you can bet I will never purchase from him again. The point I am trying to make is that in amongst all the bad stuff is a genuine item. Saschaw I dont doubt some of his EK'2s are not the real deal as they are indeed faked probably by the same people who fake the 1870 and 1939 EK'2. However, in response to Wild Card and I am only speaking in general terms here, do you know of anyone who is quality faking inexpensive medals like the Oldenburg FA cross, Bavarian MVK 3rd class just to name two. I dont and I have yet to see one shown on any forums. You get you odd cheaply cast in lead example but these would never fool any collector. To me the cost factor in setting up dies to accurately reproduce such medals is not worth the cost involved. They are readily available and cheap to buy so why would you bother? And unfortunately from experience I do indeed know that some of his medals in the shoddy medal bars are the real deal.
    13. I tell you what Ricardo if you want rid of it I will take it off your hands as it matches the one as displayed in the members gallery by David Gregory as a small medal bar with the EK. Which by definition is thus not an original medal bar. One thing I have learnt is that if am to stay in this field I will in future have to catagorise awards into the following: 1. Original Awards that were indeed awarded prior to the cessation of hostilities. 2. Awards that were not awarded in which case they are classed as non original (I still cannot get my head around this) but were available as replacements for lost, stolen or damaged original awards. 3 Fakes that being those made in backyard sheds or sweat shops in China, Pakistan or wherever and made to fool collectors. I tell you if I ever have to replace one of the medals I have been awarded due to it being stolen or whatever then heaven help the guy who tries to tell me I am not wearing an original award else he might find himself counting the clouds because he will be flat on his back. Phil
    14. Uwe, I have never intended to put words into your mouth. As I said I feel it is in the translation. So let me get this right. You do not feel that Ricardo's medal is an awarded piece as you believe it was not made during the period 1914 - 1918. Uwe I agree with you on this, I always did. You however, say that it is not a fake which is where I and I think Ricardo are getting confused because to me to me a medal is either a reproduction (meaning a copy) or its not. I have never really heard of collectors labeling awards as Originals (that being awarded during the period of conflict). Non awarded pieces meaning those that were not awarded during the period of conflict BUT such pieces are not fakes. And lastly fakes. Have I got this right on is this another break down in the translation? As a newcomer to Imperial awards is this the normal method of labeling such awards? To me the award is either (1) genuine in that it was MADE (no reference to awarded) by German (or Austrian) companies who were contracted to make such awards and I dont really care about the time line. If that were so then none of us would have any 1914 EK's made during the TR era in our collections. OR (2) it is a fake made to fool anybody into thinking it is something other than what it is. In this case with Ricardo's Bremen......I believe it was made by such a manufacturer as described in the first description number (1) but who knows when...maybe 1920's or even 1930's. In my mind and because I judge things maybe different to you then I class the medal as Original.
    15. Uwe I think maybe the problem lies in the translation and please do not read any disrespect in that statement. For me it is easy as English is my only language whereas I assume German is your native tongue. This I feel is where we are having a bit of a break down in communications and with me being Australian, we are well known for using common phrases applicable to our country which even confuse others from English speaking countries. That plus the fact we are often borderline rude without meaning so does not help but believe me when I say I in no way mean to offend anyone. I think for the purpose of this thread I agree to disagree with you. You say the subject Bremen medal as posted by Ricardo is a fake and I say it is not. Let us just leave it at that I feel. I am not learned enough to judge 100% the authenticity of any badge or medal based upon two dimensional pictures alone. Maybe if I had it in my hand I could judge it better but based on what I see I stand by my opinion. I have found this thread informative and I would indeed like to see more threads based upon what I call the common soldiers medals. Phil
    16. I honestly think that some of his single inexpensive medals are ok. I would never purchase a medal bar from this person as I have learnt the hard way. About 18 months or two years ago I purchased a four medal bar which unfortunatly was a put together as I later found out. Of the four medals however, the only one that was a fake and it was a crude one at that was a Silesian Eagle which had been cast in lead. The other three medals, Prussian War merit cross for aid, Oldenburg FA medal on non combat ribbon and a prussian service award were indeed all genuine medals. Having said that about the medal bars and I stress I am no expert but going on his list he sold a 4 medal bar with some 1870 medals including the Centenary medal which looks the real deal to me but I could be wrong. I cannot see why he would need to fake individual medals that are inexpensive to purchase singularly. I understand putting together fake medal bars as they can fetch good prices but I still feel he uses genuine medals in some cases.
    17. Uwe you raise some interesting thoughts and yes you are right everybody is entitled to an opinion. I try (dont always succeed) to base my opinion on some fact and if that is not available then sensible reasoning and I am not one who will not or cannot say I was wrong. Ok that said, I differ strongly to your opinion that any award made after the end of hostilities in 1918 is not original and I would think so would a lot of other collectors. By this you are saying that documents dated after the war for awards won during the war are also not original. I in truth dont think you mean this exactly but to me if a soldier was awarded an iron cross during 1918 but did not get his award to 1919 it is still original and so too a soldier who may have won a medal in 1914 but lost or damaged said medal during the 1920's and purchased a new one. That too me is still an original award but you differ and I respect that. As for the Lubeck cross you have shown yes I agree that is a fake centre and would hardly fool anyone. Ricardo's medal is much better quality than that which is why I am questioning it. That is a big call saying the crosses from Herr Weitze are fake....I know the old argument about dealers being greedy and just wanting sales etc etc. I am not in a position to say if they are or they are not but I must say it is very convincing aging on one of them if it is a fake and I am fairly friendly with one of his sales persons so I might just email him for his opinions on the two crosses he has for sale. Now you are also saying that crosses with the normal round rings as shown on Hueskens photo are ok. I am confused here because you and one or two others have said only flat rings. I agree with you Uwe that knowledge is better than believing but it all depends on the source of the knowledge. And will all that I do not mean any offence by any of this.
    18. Just to further what I was saying (I accidently pressed Post button too soon). I did not think that Imperial awards were as heavily faked as their TR counterparts so this has come as somewhat of a surprise to me when you say that Ricardo Bremen is a reproduction. I can understand TR items being heavily faked as medals from that era are in much greater demand than Imperial items. Not only by collectors but by Neo Nazi groups down to your average person who just wants a keepsake from an event that happened as far as history is concerned, not all that long ago. Plus, after 1945 awards from this war were not made again until the release of the 57 versions so there were no replacement awards for lost or damaged originals. On the other hand the Great War 1914 to 1918 is a different kettle of fish. I am not aware of anyone who purchases items from this period other than collectors and they are much fewer in number in my opinion than TR collectors. This plus the fact that such awards won during the war years could still be purchased as a replacement for many years after the end of hostilities makes me believe that many different manufacturers could have been involved in the production of such awards hence the variation. Demand and greed is what lies behind those who are involved in reproduction awards. If there is little demand then very little profit which is why I cannot understand why anyone would go to the costly expense of trying to replicate a common award when there is very little demand for it. Of course with high end Orders and the like which sell for much more money then yes I can see why someone would try and replicate them to a degree that they would fool a lot of collectors. But for awards like this Bremen medal which are inexpensive by comparison I just cannot see why anyone would bother. And I must stress I am talking about reproducing the awards to a very high standard so that they would fool a lot of collectors. Just does not make sense to me. As I am new to Imperial collecting I am here to learn. I am eager to take on opinions and advice from learned fellows on this hobby but I am not interested in the paranoia which now dominates TR collecting and the self appointed experts. Uwe whilst I think of it, I do understand what you are saying about the flat suspension ring and yes they are soldered but so are EK rings and as I stated I have one on a medal bar that has a replaced ring but the medal and bar are legit.
    19. This is very interesting and informative. Uwe based on your statement concerning the flat suspension ring do you think the medal by Ricardo in #5 the second medal without the ribbon and marked Huesken is a fake? This medal has a round ring and is very much like the version I have which I posted #3. Saschaw I would be interested in hearing your opinion on this medal as well. I gave up collecting TR items for a number of reasons but one of them was due to fakes or at least people calling them fakes.
    20. I had a bit of a look at some of his stuff that he sells and to be honest I do feel some of his items are the real deal. Agree that some of the medal bars are certainly fantasy but a few of the individual medals looked fine to me.
    21. Ricardo I seriously doubt any of the medals shown are fakes. I have done a bit of research since yesterday and have seen up to 4 Bremen medals which all differ from each other in some small way. I would say this is due to different manufacturers as I am sure this medal was still being made for sometime after the war much like various other medals and badges of the time. As for the flat style ribbon ring I also saw pictures of a few medal with round rings which mine has. I also believe that these medals are much later production and could have been made for replacements to original medals that have been damaged. To call the medal a reproduction due only to the fact it does not have a flat style ribbon ring is flawed thinking as the ring is not an integral part of the medal itself. My medal as shown is on a small medal bar and does appear much newer than the EK next to it but as I said it could have been replaced at a later date due to damage to the original. I also have another medal bar where the EK ring is not original but this does not make the actual medal or indeed the medal bar a fake. There are a number of reasons why ribbon rings could be changed. I stress this is speculation but I do believe all the examples shown are indeed original medals. Phil
    22. I have done a bit of looking at other crosses after seeing this thread and I believe your cross is fine and matches quite a few I saw. Mine would appear to be of later manufacture than yours thats all. To be honest I dont really believe these crosses are heavily faked if they are indeed faked but I will most certainly stand corrected if someone can show me some fakes. Phil
    23. Here are a few pics of mine with some circled differences.....not great pics but I think you can see the differences.
    24. I am no expert and at first I thought it was fine but on closer inspection there are discrepancies between the one I have and yours. This could be put down to different makers but I am unsure if more than one manufacturer made these crosses. All the differences that I see are very minor and are to do with detail basically for example the detail on yours is somewhat softer than mine and the dots which look like small air bubbles with the red enamel on the circle dont look right but again this could be do to different makers. I will be keen to hear more learned opinions and are there actual repros of these medals available. Sorry not much help. Phil
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