VtwinVince

Those Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha items are being discussed over at SDA, apparently they are fakes.

I also 'earned' a lifetime ban over at that so-called forum, so please enlighten me.

Some members expressed an interest in seeing this item. Sorry for the lousy pictures. According to Trevor Ristow this ribbon dates to around 1900, making it probably rarer than the actual cross. I'd be interested to hear what people have to say as to the intent of these single sided crosses. I've heard everything from funeral pillow items to theatrical pieces. I have seen photos pre-1945 of these in wear by recipients, so that was definitely done in period. Overall the quality of the cross is quite nice, with hand chasing of the lettering and nice detail to the eagles. The blue is darker than what you would expect on award pieces. This cross came out of a GI's souvenir album, so there are traces of glue on the back of the ribbon.

Here is my unmarked Meybauer example from the estate of Leutnant Strey for comparison.

Of course a very interesting personality, especially in connection with Stalag Luft III.

Thanks for the additional information, very interesting.

That's a scarce one, congrats.

That's a nice one, and in good shape.

Frohe Weihnachten, ist ja ein toller Weihnachtsbaum was Du da zeigst.

I find the Epstein material particularly interesting, as some of my relatives were deported to Theresienstadt at the same time from Koenigsberg, East Prussia.

Holy cow, now there's no point in posting anything else in this thread.

Blass is a name which constantly turns up, and not in a good way. I'm stuck with a couple of obscure fakes by him.

OK, let me get organised. 

Based on those images I think that bar stands a good chance.

Thanks, but don't get too excited, the PLM is an interwar Meybauer single-sided example, although the ribbon is genuine and pre-1914.

Some of the component parts look fake to me, and the bizarre way in which the Elefant has been swapped in.

Should be massive silver gilt construction with screwed in swords. Most were produced by Godet. Here is my example, which looks like it was run over by a tank, and I had to replace one sword hilt.

Some nice material here, but I saw that colonial bar and was immediately suspicious.

Thanks Claudio, you have to wonder if this was an 'honest mistake'.

Funnily enough, he wasn't entitled to the Eichenlaub for the OZL.

Good idea, although we already have a thread listing hundreds of fakes on fleabay.

Thanks for chiming in Lorin, and it is frightening how sophisticated some of these fakes are getting.

If that's enamel, it looks pretty weird.

I personally would steer well clear of that one.

Yup, I had a close look at that one and was almost fooled. The swords didn't look right.