Peter Cornwell

Ashley, Thanks for sharing. That 1870 EK1 is superb. I am most envious. Graf, Agreed, an original bar nigh on impossible to source/afford. But don't we all have duplikats or the best fakes we can find in our collections ? I know I have.

Ashley, Good selection of nice crisp cores there by the looks of it. Like VtwinVince I would be interested to see the reverse of that EK1. I note that you have so far managed to resist (or avoid) a 1914 bar addition ?

To my ears the introduction voice-over is spoken by an NE English 'Geordie' but the main character speaks S Midlands English. He meets in turn a (French) Canadian, Australian, S African, & what is trying to sound like a London 'Cockney' talking rhyming slang. But no Welsh, Irish, nor Scots accents included unfortunately.

Maker unknown (to me at least). Along with several other makers, Godet are known to have used such screw fittings on their crosses but often with oval backplates.

That's entirely possible and IMO quite likely. I have only ever come across one example of a 1914 EK1 accredited to ASSMANN before (images attached). I wasn't convinced on the attribution then, as now, but the similarities with your own cross are self evident.

Droocoo, Welcome to the forum. You are embarking upon a most ambitious enterprise and I wish you every success with it. But have you seriously considered the scope of what is involved ? An example from every maker will represent a formidable collection once complete. If you haven't already done so, I would recommend that you first obtain some good reference books on the subject so you can recognise common core types of different makers and typical fixings etc. Not every maker stamped their crosses and I would be reluctant to simply accept the word of a seller on their origin. As I say, good luck ! PS I'm no expert but, from the photo, your first cross does appear to have a core type known to be associated with MEYBAUER. So, so far so good ?

Very neat and tidy group. The unofficial campaign bars are a nice addition. Thanks for sharing.

Strewth ! Nothing's sacred, no-one's safe. It's relentless. What do we do when this guy learns to sew properly ?

A 1914 EK11 'KM' also in the Max AURICH collection as cited (C31) by HEYDE. And, as you would expect, another example appears as T193 in WERNITZ & SIMONS from an 'unknown maker'. It seems they are to be found everywhere.

Just realised I also have one in my own collection. Images attached for core comparison etc.

Nette Stuck. Several IC2 KM ring stamps have appeared over the years I have been filing images. Of course, that doesn't make any of them 'right' but they certainly look OK in the photos. Also, listed as a known stamp on 1914 IC2s by BOWEN. NIce find.

Graham, That's a more than fair comparison to at least one known example of a Friedlander EKII ring stamp with its typical curved panel edges. The EKI Fr stamp took a very different form. I'm sold.

My first thoughts were Petz & Lorenz but not. Schickle was my next guess and although closer, again no match. More research required obviously. One of the more expert collectors here will know for sure.

I certainly do. That's as good as they get. Thanks for posting.

Alex K is spot on. Any crosses stamped DESCHLERSOHN or MUNCHEN 9 I always treat as FAKE. There must be thousands out there. By their usual standards, it must be said, this one is not as bad as most of them.

Saschaw, No unsourced lists but comparison with images stored over the years attributed (rightly or wrongly) to different makers. As I said, no good match but Rothe u. Neffe had been my first thought but soon discounted.

Hauptmann, A nice looking cross and with that distinctive 'out of kilter' number 4 you would think it would be cinch to ID its maker. But it has me totally flummoxed. Rothe u. Neffe came to mind but the reverse core says not. Hopefully, someone here can offer you a better opinion. Thanks for posting.

Quite a souvenir and a beautiful piece of history. Cecil Bartlett SHAW was born in Folkestone, Kent, on 2 May 1883 and joined the Royal Navy as a Midshipman on 15 Sep 1897. In Jan 1899 he was serving aboard HMS Victorious in China transferring to HMS Goliath sometime prior to Jan 1901. He had a distinguished naval career retiring as a Commander. He emigrated to Australia where he died on 12 Jan 1946.

Amen to that Greg! I couldn't agree more.

Erik, You're welcome. Glad that you are now feeling more confident about the cross (although I still wouldn't go for it myself). Researching past contributions to this forum is often all it takes to find an answer to our questions. Good luck with your bid.

Erik, I now better understand the appeal of this cross to you. As you say, the hinge and pin look good. The maker's stamp (from what we can see of it) is positioned correctly for a WS otherwise it might equally well be taken for a crude We. As for the inscription, it's probably wise not to let this embellishment over-influence your opinion of the cross itself. As Graf has just said, if you're happy with the cross as it is then, without good provenance, an inscription is a bonus and should never be your main reason to buy.

Hello Erik, Difficult to say for sure from a single photo but that is an awful strike by anyone's standards. Even with the pressures of maintaining heavy wartime production demands that shocker should never have got through even the most rudimentary of quality control. That said, a clumsy core doesn't necessarily make it a wrong-un though, on balance, I would pass on that one. So to answer your question, it is clearly a bad core but whether it is a genuine WS or not I cannot say but remain extremely doubtful.

And one more for luck! This belonged to my late father who served in the Met from 1936 initially as PC H315 stationed at Leman Street. After serving with the Welsh Guards during WW2 he returned to the Met transferring to Brockley 'nick' as P515 until his retirement in 1968.

Thanks for the heads-up Stephan.

Thanks for posting ArHo, as you say useful images for comparison purposes. As fakes go, that 1914 is bordering on caricature but for EU10 so what?