Danny70

Posting these images of Sean Doyle's grave for James1964. Thanks James, it's nice to see his final resting place.

Hello James, Welcome to GMIC!. I'd love to see those photographs, would you mind posting them here and if you cannot, would you mind emailing them to me to post? Regards - Danny

Very nice Micha! I'm surprised you don't already have a '128', but I'm sure you soon will have, one shouldn't be too hard to find. Here's my marked '14' with matching envelope of issue. (Apologies for the dark pictures) Regards - Danny

Ugly?... I think it looks great! The crosshatching and the hump are remind me of the TR period Juncker crosses.

That's strange... there was no Olympic games held in 1940. They were originally to be held in Tokyo, then changed to Helsinki and finally cancelled because of the war. :unsure:

Hello bigD, Can we see the maker mark? Some S&L crosses '4' and L/16 did feature a hump at the jump ring. Regards - Danny

There's a really nice cased Zimmermann RK for sale on the WAF estand at the moment for ?13,900.

Hello TheKnight, That is just a second class iron cross with a twisted jump ring and flattened suspension ring. It is made to look rather like an RK by this process and there may have even been field-made RK replacements that used this method, but as far as I can see, without proof, this is just a damaged EK2 and not worth any more than that. There are many very good fakes and many very bad fakes of RK's out there, so if you are planning on buying a genuine RK, it would be very advisable to do a whole lot of research on them first. Be prepared and know what to look for, and for the genuine article, expect to pay anywhere from about 6,000 euro upwards. Regards - Danny

Hello TheKnight, I'm no expert, but IMO this cross looks like the 'Latvian Fake' RK. Sorry. Regards - Danny Edit: I see Harrier has confirmed it as I was typing!

Hello nesredep, That's a great looking Zimmermann ....and a great price also! Congratulations on your first cased EK1. Regards - Danny

I would not trust WIKI regarding anything like this... the faker or the guy selling this item could have put up that entry and then refer all potential buyers to 'look it up' - Danny

5tefan- That's a great looking early '55'! It's good to see an example such as this where the die flaws are not so severe. Thanks for posting. Regards - Danny

Re: RZM M1\90 - That's a new one on me... I've never seen/noticed the reversed 'Z' in the RZM code stamp before. I've seen an enamel version party pin with the stamp RZM M1\90 but the Z was correct on that one. :unsure:

The first cross is marked CD800. Regards - Danny

Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT have it restored, cleaned or interfered with in any way!!

Hello, I can't really tell anything from those photographs, but from what I can see it does look similar to the hardware on a Deschler. There are 2 known stamps for L/10 and one of them can very easily be read as LMD. Here's a mark from a screwback EK1: I don't have one in my own collection, but you can view some EK1's for comparison here: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=1835...mp;#entry177594 and here: http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/sho...ighlight=L%2F10 Regards - Danny

Hello Vidarr, and welcome to GMIC! This does not sound like any mark I've ever seen on a Third Reich Iron Cross... Is it possible that it is not LMD but a Deschler L/10? (this maker mark can look very like LMD) If you can post some pictures of both the cross and the maker mark it would help a lot. Regards - Danny

Pat, That's a great looking cross with a fantastic patina! I agree with you - it would be a shame to see one like this destroyed by cleaning and polishing. Here's a couple of my saltier '55's for comparison. Regards - Danny

Gene, I had completely forgotten I had posted up those crosses! I really must update that collection thread... lots of changes since then. As to your question... Was Brehmer the only producer of stepped swastika'ed EKs? As far as I am aware, yes, but not all '13's have this feature.... however there are also some 'Round 3's with a stepped swastika, but the maker of these crosses is not known. "...this EK stood out, as "too nice," Gustav Brehmer is one of the makers whose crosses can often be found in surprisingly good condition (as can W&L '100's). Regards - Danny

Gene - From what I can see in the pictures, I don't have any immediate concerns about this cross either. What makes you think it is a fake? Regards - Danny

Hello, Thanks for the heads up on these. Have you got any pictures of these fakes, and how good are they?

Firstly, did you actually talk to and receive the medal from the veteran himself or just family members? I accept that the family believe 100% that this was one of his war bring backs, and that you believe them, but as Chris has previously stated, the veteran himself could easily have added this piece at a later date without ever mentioning it to his family. How can you say with such absolute certainty that Chris's opinion is not the truth? At the end of the day, all you have is someones word that it is a genuine war bring-back... People can be mistaken. Don't get me wrong, I would love to find out for definite that these crosses are what they are claimed to be, but until some stronger evidence than this comes along, I remain unconvinced. Regards - Danny

Hi VINLAND30, 'For Robbery and Murder' These were supposedly propaganda pieces produced by the Russians, but many (myself included) find this hard to believe. Why would the piece be so well made? The first ones seen were of 3 piece construction as were the standard iron cross but crude copies of these in one piece are floating around too. They also appear in well made 1st class examples. It does not make sense that so much effort be put into producing such a piece for propaganda purposes. There is also no known evidence that these were ever produced during the war and until some solid proof is unearthed, I for one, refuse to believe they are anything but well made fantasy pieces. Regards - Danny

Thanks to everyone for all of the kind comments! Things have changed quite a bit since those photographs were taken... practically all of the unmarked examples have moved on to be replaced with marked examples. The search has gotten a lot slower now that the common makers are ticked off the list. The makers included in my collection (x56) to date are: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 13, 14, 15, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 40, 44, 52, 55, 56, 60, 65, 66, 75, 76, 93, 98, 100, 106, 113, 120, 122, 123, 128, 132, 137, 138, L/11, Round 3 & Schinkel one-piece. Ben - An RK as a centrepiece?!... I WISH!! I have resigned myself to the fact that I will never manage to get one of those unless I win the lottery (which I don't waste my money on anyway, so winning may be difficult!) Paul R - I have so far managed to restrain myself from getting into the world of EK1's. I have enough trouble and expense with these second class as it is! Regards - Danny

Hi Mike, That is most definitely a '98' - Rudolf Souval, Wien. The cross displays all the obvious characteristics of this maker. Regards - Danny