EK 1914 Unmarked 1914 EKII

[Troy Tempest]

Hello again gents, I read this recently, and being the learner, thought I'd ask you all about it:

The best example and mot commonly stamped medal I have come across is the WW1 German Iron Cross. This medal came in two distinct classes, the 1st and 2nd class. Both classes were produced by private firms, who were under contract to the German Government during the war. When you consider that 11.7 million 2nd class crosses were produced during the period 1914-1918, all war examples were stamped with the initials of the manufacturer, such as K.O., S.W. etc, and in some cases had the silver content stamped to the suspension ring as well, such as .800 or .925 which recognised the silver purity of the medal frame. All copies I have seen and heard of have no stamp and therefore are not authentic.

I thought that there were plenty of original 1914 EKIIs that were not marked? Or am I wrong? Thanks gents!

[dond]

He's wrong and you are right.

[Troy Tempest]

Thanking you once again dond!

[Tom Y]

Where did you read that nonsense? eBay?

[Ulsterman]

Silliness. 11.7 million? I thought Germany only had a population of 80 million total in 1914.

[Troy Tempest]

Hi Tom, yes, it is from a guide to spotting fakes on ebay from our friend who is selling the Desh & Sohn 1870 EK! I was just reading some of his guides, when I noticed that. I thought that was a lot of EKs for a start, I'm sure there were many more Hindenburg Crosses made than EKs, and Im pretty sure there weren't over 11,000,000 HKs made (or were there?), and I was unsure over whether every single EK was marked. I was pretty sure they weren't, but I was also pretty sure that just because it's unmarked doesn't mean it's not real, but thought I'd ask the experten!

http://search.reviews.ebay.com.au/members/spitfire_ace_68

[Tom Y]

I forget. Was that EM or SA? EM's always been a veritable fount of mis-and dis- information.

[hunyadi]

"I understand what this means to the collecting community who have been burned over and over and over again by the unscrupulous reproduction industry. Therefore I personally have undertaken the project collect these known reproductions and expose them to the collecting world so that in the future, such things will never happen again. In order to compile this database and to relive some of the economic burden that you have suffered, I am willing to pay you $15 for each and every unmarked Iron Cross. I will also be buying the other fakes - the ones that appear to be maker marked, but are indeed marked by the fakers to make them appear more original. These fakes that I am referring to here are the thousands of ones with unreadable marks. Because of the German strict guidelines for inventory and manufacturing accounting no Iron Crosses could ever be delivered to the German Service of Supply for distribution where the makers mark could not clearly be read. Because I care so much about the collecting community I will also reveal this shocking detail that only a few of the great experts know: All Iron Crosses were named on the lower rim...

Shocking I know - but all the lies about unatributable crosses perpetrated by the collecting community are simply not true! Therefore as a gesture to expose even further this lie, I will buy all unmarked, unreadable maker marked and all unnamed EKs to compile a database that will put these spinsters to ultimate shame."

All Iron Crosses First or Second Class for $15. Void where prohibited. Shipping and Handling is sellers responsibility minimum charge is $28.99. No refunds accepted, seller will never get their Iron Cross back and you will probably never hear from this person again. Database is purely fictional and is only for personal gain.

[Troy Tempest]

Hi Tom, it was SA who was selling the Desch & Sohn, oops, sorry, I mean the Resch & Sohn 1870 EK. This review of his is another shot across the bows in his ongoing war with EM! It carried over to the Axis History Forum where he joined up as two different members solely to continue this attack on EM. As I said before, I've bought off both so I'm not here to champion any one particular seller. I just wanted to make sure my non-maker marked EKII might be genuine even though it is not marked! I bought it from a non-ebay dealer, I'm happy with it.

[joe campbell]

i have somewhere approaching 90

different maker mark variations in my

personal collection of 1914 EK 2's.

by FAR, the most common EK "variation"

that i see is "unmarked".

trust me, i've handled at least in the thousands

of EK 2's. more are marked than not, but some

of my most beautiful crosses are...

joe

Edited October 2, 2007 by joe campbell

[Mike K]

I am embarrased that both of the a**holes involved are Australian. All I can say is that I DO NOT KNOW THEM!

I saw one of them had listed a brand new produced cased 57EK1 at over Aus$500 and some idiot had bid on it! And if it was a shill bid, then I re-emphasise that it was an idiot that bid on it.

I hope the moderators here monitor IP addresses and keep them off this forum!

Regards

Mike