Richard Gordon

Maker 25 (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Graveur-Gold-und Silberschemiede-Innungen)

Maker 24 (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Hanauer Blakettenhersteller)

Maker 23 (Arbeitsgemeinschaft fur Heereshedarf darf In der Graveur-u. Ziseleurinnung)

Here's a viewing of most of my EKII collection. Almost all are with their respective paper envelope. S&L (no packet)

William I think as the pictures are a bit blurred maybe members don't want to jump in... I don't collect the KvK series myself but I have had a few in my early days and from memory I would say the set-up of yours looks like a Steinhauer & L?ck piece and therefore should be marked '4'. Can you check for sure on the marking? Another point on the cross is the grey area around the hinge. Again, the picture is not clear enough to see but is this a repair or just tarnishing? From collecting cased Iron Cross 1st class, I have no issues with the case. Rich

Paul Welcome to GMIC! I hope your questions get answered here to your satisfaction. It would be great to see more of your collection when you have the time to post it. Regards Rich

Micha Well that is one problem as I have no idea which were from ring markings and which were from packets. Of course, there was a certain amount of trust involved that those adding information where doing so correctly and honestly. We could go back through the old thread and separate them though. Rich

Gawd, I love that photo everytime I see it. Just imagine how many EKII's there are there... From memory... this is from a museum in Russia? Anyone remember where?

Here's a list that I was compiling. This is from either a marked ring or packet but does not list the equivalent LDO number. As you can see there are many confirmed makers and may be even more as yet undiscovered. Rich 1 Deschler &Sohn Munchen 2 C.E. Juncker Berlin 3 Wilheim Deumer Ludenscheld 4 Steinhauer & Luck Ludenscheld 5 Hermann Wernstein Jena-Lobstedt 6 Fritz Zimmermann Stuttgart 7 Paul Meybauer Berlin 8 Ferdinand Hoffstadter Bonn a. Rhein 9 Liefergsmeinschaft Scmuckhandwerker Pforzheim 10 Foerster & Barth Pforzheim 11 Grossmann & Co. Wien 12 Frank & Reif Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen 13 Gustav Brehmer Markneukirchen/Sa 14 L. Chr. Lauer Nurnberg-W 15 Friedrich Orth Wien 16 Alols Rettenmaler Scwablsch-Gmund 19 E. Ferd Weidmann Frankfurt/Main 20 C.F. Zimmermann Pforzheim 21 Gebr. Godet & Co. Berlin 22 Boerger & Co. Berlin 23 Arbeitsgemeinschaft fur Heereshedarf darf In der Graveur-u. Ziseleurinnung 24 Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Hanauer Plaket-ten-hersteller 25 Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Graveur-Gold-und Silberschemiede-Innungen 26 B. H. Mayer's Kunst-prageanstalt Pforzheim 27 Anton Schenkl's Nachf. Wien 33 Friedrich Linden Ludenscheld 39 Rudolf Berge Gablonz a.d.N. 40 Berg & Nolte Ludenscheld 44 Jakob Bengel Idar/Oberdonau 49 Josef Feix Sohne Gablonz a.d.N. 50 Karl Gschiermeister Wien 52 Gottlieb & Wagner Ldar/Oberstein 55 J.E. Hammer & Sohne Geringswalde 56 Robert Hauschild Pforzheim 57 Karl Hensler Pforzheim 60 Katz & Deyhle Pforzheim 65 Klein & Quenzer A.G. Idar/Oberstein 66 Freidrich Keller Oberstein 70 Lind & Meyrer Oberstein a.d.N. 75 (Unknown) 76 Ernst L. Muller Pforzheim 77 Bayer. Hauptmunzamt Munchen 85 Julius Pletsch Gablonz/N. 86 Paulmann & Crone Ludenscheid 92 Josef Rucker & Sohn Gablonz a.d.N. 93 Richard Simm & Sohne Gablonz a.d.N. 98 Rudolf Souval Wien 100 Rudolf Wachtler & Lange Mittweida 106 Bruder Schneider A.G. Wien 107 Carl Wild Hamburg 109 Walter & Hentein Gablonz a.d.N. 113 Hermann Aurich Dresden 114 Ludwig Bertsch Karlsruhe 117 Hugo Lang Wiesenthal a.N. 120 Franz Petzl Wien 122 JJ. Stahl Strassburg 123 Beck, Hassinger & Co. Strassburg 125 Eugen Gauss Pforzheim 126 Eduard Hahn Oberstein/Nahe 127 Moritz Hausch A.G. Pforzheim 128 S. Jablonski G.m.b.H. Posen 131 Heinrich Wander Gablonz 132 Franz Reischauer Oberstein 133 (Unknown) 137 J.H. Werner Berlin 138 Julius Maurer Oberstein 140 Schauerte & Hohfeld Ludenscheid 142 A.D. Schwerdt Stuttgart

Wow! Very nice P/O. I have not seen marked with the small 'A' before. My pilot version only has the raised large 'A'. Rich

Nothing in this hobby is safe. Everything is faked and even the cheapest, most common pieces have been reproduced. I think the key is to find a collecting buddy who has experience is your chosen field. Joining here was your best move...we are your collecting buddy. I think learning the originals is important and also seeing examples of reproductions and comparing will help you to recognise good from bad. Beware, there are soome very, very good reproductions of the EK2... 3-piece, magnetic cores, frosted ribbing and polished frames just liek the originals. These came out in the 1980's but carried incorrect markings on the ring - 333. No such numbering code existed in the Third Reich but the cross itself was almost perfect. These, I believe, are attributed to a modern faker by the name of Floch. You should go through the Iron Cross forum thread by thread and familiarise yourself with what are originals. If you can, go to shows and handle originals but go with someone who can help you. Also remember, while alot of fakes are one piece castings, there do also exist originals which are one piece too. Confusing, huh!? Rich

Thanks, guys! Rich

Personally it hasn't affected me. You would think there should be advantage for me with strong GBP but I hardly ever buy from the US as there's the customs charges, etc to add in so the advantage gets wiped out. Rich

Dave That's a really nice bar. I would not have though a 4 piece bar could be identifed with such ease! Incredible!! Rich

Marked L59 to the centre and a dot to the underneath of the pin. Rich

Just like to share with you another new addition and another first...this nice L59. It's a bit of a sleeper. Underneath the tarnish it looks to be really nice condition. You can see that the core retains it's flat black finish with a few rubbed areas.

Here's my L/13 and also shows mis-alignment to the frame. I just never realised it was common the L/13 as my early Meybauer is fine. Rich

Rick I often wonder how many hours are required to identify such a bar... Did you spend 2 months getting to the root of this one? Rich

Steve You are killing me now! I wouldn't be too worried about the missing plate... these are so hard to find in any state! Still missing from my collection. Rich

I was thinking this was off-set just like my L/13 marked example. I didn't realise this was common for these and mine was a one-off! Rich

Greg Judging by the core it looks a one-piece type? Rich

Steve, Somehow I missed this one... Another very nice example of KAG and one I have not yet added to my collection. One day though... Rich

Super collection! What I like most about the 1914 EK2 is that they are still affordable and have so many variations. Cheers Rich

Very nice pair Greg. Any shots of the back to show the pin set-up and marking? Rich

Very nice, Steve! Rich