Gordon Williamson

Clamshell screwback KVK1. These can be tricky as Floch made Clamshell versions of his fake KVK1. The Floch pieces have certain distinctive characteristics though, so its possible to tell an unmarked original like this from a Floch.

Laurence,

Thought you might like to see this one.

Nick,

Don't beat yourself up about it, this type is also faked ( in both First Class and Second Class) and in the circumstances you describe,amongst a whole load of dodgy bits, the one you saw may well have been a duff one.

One good thing to look for on these ( and also on the regular round 3 types) is the dimpled finish under the paint. Jim's is absolutely textbook.

I don't think its necessarily any more dangerous than other areas of collecting. There are fake , ( or re-named) British medals that would fool the unwary, and no shortage of re-strikes of the rarer British Regimental Cap Badges.

If you specialise and really study your subject, I don't think German stuff is so much more risky than any other, but you really do have to specialise.

Very nice photo. Shots of the "Nichtk?mpferband" being worn are hard to find.

On the Iron Cross, very unlikely that it will ever be awarded again. It is technically a "temporary" award which has to be re-instituted each time the country goes to war, then falls into abeyance in peacetime. So, it would only every be re-introduced if Germany went to war again. Highly unlikely. (War in this case being a declared state of war, so e.g. German troops serving with Nato peacekeeping forcves etc wouldn't qualify anyway.)

Jim,

Although I think these are just about the ugliest EKs around, they are extremely rare and you have got yourself a very fine example. Congratulations.

Dave, that W&L EK1 is a stunner ! and Jim, that cased EK2 is one of the nicest I have seen, with what has to be one of the rarest known markings ( as far as position is concerned). A real treasure !