The cross is indeed a very good reproduction. Certainly cast from an original. As mentioned before, the comparison has to be perfect, except that the tooling flaws will get worse and worse towards the end of the war as seen in the "T" in "Verdienst". If you look especially at the crown it is evident that your cross is cast from an original. The pebbling on those crown brackets are smaller then on the original and are therefore a clear sign of the normal shrinkage occurring during the casting process. Other signs apply. One has to always make sure that the piece is coined and not cased. Please check my web page at www.medalnet.net and read up on those few signs that will make it easier to determine whether a piece is coined or cased. As I had mentioned before, one has to have this kind of cross in hand to be 100% sure. It looked very good on those initial photos and convinced even me enough to possibly order it with the right to return the piece. You may download pictures of an early MVK in high resolution here: MVK picture I MVK picture II Both files are bigger about 14.5 MB, so make sure your connection can handle it.