gregM

Don is correct. Nice Godet

I was going to buy 1 but I have no money right now. I think Kay was going to try to get one.

Please check out this ebay auction------ http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/German1914-Iron-Cross-2nd-class-/181292163493?pt=UK_Collectables_Militaria_LE&hash=item2a35dae1a5 Looking at these crosses, they all appear to have the same very skiiny "W" and all seem to have the same forced looking patina and the same amount of frame wear. Without seeing a good picture or holding one in hand, it's impossible to say for sure but the look of these crosses plus the fact that this dealer is known for selling a lot of fake crap gives me reason to really doubt these crosses. I welcome more opinions.

Necessity is the mother of invention. I like it.

My nephew was member of this unit. He gave me this coin.

How do we go about doing that ?

I am leaning that direction as well but the theroy that the marks might be for the maker of (the pin) is interesting.

Just a quick search through past threads at WAF turned up crosses that are maker marked WS, Fr and Fr, that have a variety of the smaller "control" marks. There may be others, I just did a very quick search. My own WS has a backwards R under the pin.

Wow, no comments. Do I know how to kill a thread or what ?

Fake

I don't think we should necessarily put the "Y" marked Ek1s in the same group as the "quality control" marked crosses. The quality control marks that we have been talking about ( K, B, C, backwords R ) have always been very small stamps and always positioned up very close to the hinge and if I'm not mistaken, usually seen on crosses with the "Fr" style core. Not on slant "W" cored crosses.

Do you see an "A" or a "Y" ? Kind of hard to tell. We have always assumed they were an "A". http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2402096&posted=1#post2402096

Thanks Chris, It's not mine. I posted it for someone else who was hoping to find out more about it. Until yesterday, I don't remember ever seeing a "Y" stamped ek1 before.

Someone just posted these on another forum I am on. May be they will help spur some new discussion.

Paul Kust made miniature awards, button devices, frack chains,campaign bars and possibly the 25 year oak leaves. I was hoping you might be able to match the poor detailed oak leaf drawing to one of your Oaks versions. Just for reference, hear is the full sized page that shows his offerings.

Something you might find interesting. Here is a scan of a ribbon bar from a Paul Küst catalog page. I believe that this dates to before 1914 as the only iron crosses shown are 1870s.

A rare bird indeed.

Albert Werner & Sohne, Berlin.

Totally agree with you. Anyone who has held some of these crosses in hand can easily see and feel the difference. But as I found, this is very subjective as some people don't have a sense of humor (or style or taste)

More than 12 times what I pay form my crosses.

Agreed--I got involved in that argument on that other forum.

It makes me wonder why someone would go through all the trouble to do that.

Not rare.

Once you learn to look for the oversized 9th bead and the over/under style date, these "9th bead" fakes become pretty easy to spot.

Very nicely done research. I was surprised to see so many variations. Like Trevor, I am curious about the oaks with acorns but I understand your not including them if none were found on bars.