avadski

Regarding you first class the photo's not perfect. What I can see is that the cross seems to be made by Weiss & Co. Here I'm not quite sure but I think they made only early pieces (up to 1916) which have the 'L' in the center made out of pure gold and attached separately. So again I'm not very positive with this piece as well. Better photos would reveal the truth.

Also here is a 2nd class that has enamel on both sides!

Any ideas on that?

Regarding your 2nd class, the cross seems to be made by Lauer who applied the enamel only on the obverse. The quality of the enamel work is also very poor so unfortunately it's an upgraded piece. There indeed existed period copies purchased for wearing which had double-enameled medallions, I think they were made by Godet (in 20's) however this does not seem to be the case.

Hi folks,

I'm not collecting the medal bars at all but there's a chance for me to obtain a very fine looking one so that I have at least something in my collection. Thing is I don't know whether the combination of awards on that medal bar was possible so I hope my question would not be that stupid for a newbie:

Was it possible to have centenaire medal and WH LS award on one bar? How old the guy would have been in WW2? 70-80 years?

Thank you.

but there is one big difference which does not come through clearly in the pictures. The body of the cross in posts #2 and #3 is made of zinc, while this one is war metal.

Keep them coming, there’s still a lot to be covered, and learned.

Hello, what was the difference between zinc and war metal? I thought they were the same.

My first class with sword, also by Deschler...

Unfortunately a fake my friend.

There are two reasons for that which are obvious at the first glance:

1) Deschler never made this class

2) Look at the poor enamel work around the belt buckle and compare it with the perfect work with your 2nd class with swords and crown.

...now you know why do I have the 'scream' in my signature in bold and red - looking for good MVK 1. class.

It's really really hard to find a good one.

Sorry for bad news :(

1) Deschler

2) Weiss & Co.

3) Deschler

PS...Deschler sometimes used to mark their crosses with 'D' on the edge of the swords. Cannot see that on the photos you posted.

Can someone explain how to identify each type ? I possess 5 or 6 cross, and I'd like to know the maker !

In most cases it's the swords, then the body. Post the pics and I can tell you which makers you have there.

War time - Lauer, Hemmerle, Leser, Deschler, Weiss

Postwar - Godet, S&L

I'm not aware of any other.

Definitely postwar maker and Most likely Steinhauer & Luck (Godet can be the case as well).

Ever wondered how these were made?

Let's have look inside (autopsy performed on destroyed 3rd class by Leser...someone was upgrading it from MVK with swords to MVK without swords...or was it downgrading?)

You definitely got my attention this morning with this topic. I collect only Bavarian MVKs, 3rd form .

This is one of my favorites. Late 2nd class made by Hemmerle.

Although sometimes referred to as 4th class, as far as I know, these crosses were 3rd class pieces made out of zinc and war metal.

They were made and awarded from 1918-1920. I do not know who made these crosses and as far as I can tell, this one is unmarked.

Have fun Gentlemen -

Hello, only Deschler made those.

And I'd add that the MVK was made by Deschler.

Another of his accounts is active again!

http://shop.ebay.de/...=&_trksid=p4340

Micha

Yep, and this time he overachieved himself. He offers 2 MVK 1.class and one even with crown! :violent:

He must have a factory in China. So many items on so many accounts. Here's another of his aliases I think:

ICH VERFAUFE ALLES!

http://myworld.ebay.de/ichverkaufealles12345/

Outstanding.

btw consider bigger font size. my eyes are all red after going through whole Josef's story :cool:

Nice one...and BTW it was in 1914 :)

Hello,

the mini-medal bar belonged to a Hungarian soldier.

Austrian version had a different medal:

So you have a bar that you will keep for your lifetime

Maybe this would be dumb but...is it an Octopus on the lifesaving medal? :blush:

avadski-here it is what you have been looking for....

http://www.rheinland...tent.php?coID=9

Micha

Hah! That makes it clear! How come I did not notice earlier?

:lol::lol:

I have had a handfull originals over the years, yours is a fake, sorry. All awarded items have a much better quality plus they are made of pickled iron, no exception.

Perfect, thank you very much. So the cross goes back to the dealer. My concerns about michelju's decreasing reputation are then confirmed. I have to repeat myself saying that it's a pity to see good sellers turning into 'sammlerclubs'.

Meister,

thanks for your reply. Regarding the dealer it's vice versa - he sells good items but sometimes a bad one. I got it from Michel Juergen (michelju on eBay).

I heard a lot of good and few bad about him, unfortunately it seems that I will be in the group which says the bad

BTW didn't you find my comparison with the WikiPedia cross interesting? Strange that both crosses have same flaws.

...one more thing..my cross appears to be a zinker, definitely not bronze or iron. But as I mentioned already, only source of info that I have is Wikipedia and the data in there does not necessarily be 100% true.

3)

2)

Hello,

I have an opportunity to buy this cross. Body itself along with medallion looks good, only concern that I have is the upper part where the swords once used to be (I believe). Another bad spot is where the ring is attached to the body which is obviously a repair. My intention is to go to jeweler with swords made by Leser and ask him to gilt them. Then I would attach them to the body using the original device. Whole process (along with the cross as shown below) would cost not more than 250 EUR. If you were me would you do that? I think it's worth...

Thanks for your opinions.