EK 1939 Spot the 'deliberate' mistake...

[joelhall]

just for fun, how many things wrong can you see with this auction...

check out the price too;)

http://uk.three.ebid.net/perl/auction.cgi?...&mo=auction

[Paul R]

Well...

I like the 100 pound price and the 1000 pound buy it now! If someone was not reading it correctly, they might think that the buy it now was 100 pounds.

1. The date on the EK2 does not look like "1939".

2. Spange on a 1939 EK2?

3. IMHO, the 1939 clasp is fake.

Am I close?

Oh... the story is a lot of fun too...

An amazing item for sale and the last from my late uncle's collection. To the serious collector, I offer you the chance to own an original EKII c/w 1939 Spange.

Originally made in three parts - a backing plate, a central core and front plate, this type of medal is the most valuable but, as the war progressed and materials became scarce, the medal was massed produced as a single forging and sadly, issued on the same basis - more probably as not, as a morale booster.

The shape of the medal is derived from the Formee and Maltese Crosses, and is the only German medal that does not display Oak or Laurel leaves.

The Obverse shows the crooked Swastika at the heart of the medal and the year 1939 at the foot, whilst the Reverse shows the year 1813. A Ribbon of the national colours - Black - Silver - Red - Silver - Black is suspended through a ring, itself stamped with the number '3' - indicating the medal was manufactured by Wilhelm Deumer of Ludenscheld.

The 1939 'Spange' was most commonly manufactured from zinc although others were made from a material called 'Tomback'. The Obverse shows the German eagle clutching a crooked Swastika inside a wreath of Oakleaves above a Trapezoid indicating year of manufacture - 1939 whilst the Reverse is clean except for the makers mark L13 - indicating it was made by Paul Maybaeur.

I speak as a complete Iron Cross amateur, as I have not studied them, so please be gentle!

[joelhall]

good for a complete amateur:) sorry guys but i like to amuse myself reading sellers guff haha. of course there is a serious side to this though...

right on all counts i believe, although til my next eye operation its hard for me to tell details by photos (which has caused no end of upset when trying to id things for a while now:(), so hopefully somone can clear up whether fake or not?? (in fact it took me several tries to read your reply haha)

the spange seems to resemble certain well made re-enactors/museum pieces sold by a well known store the us, and the warning bell for the cross came when i read "Originally made in three parts - a backing plate, a central core and front plate, this type of medal is the most valuable but, as the war progressed and materials became scarce, the medal was massed produced as a single forging and sadly, issued on the same basis - more probably as not, as a morale booster" so im guesing this is a single piece rather than three parts, but like i said with photos im a tad crap at the moment

however the originality is besides the point which i wish to make, which is how people get scamed on auctions (and not always raw beginners). this sale is just an example i picked, and i apologise if its genuine and the seller is here (like i said though thats besides the point), but here goes...

the fact they dont belong together, buy it now for a grand, and the fact that the seller has told us about iron crosses rather than the item in question, it all adds to the suspicion - any "serious collector" already knows the background. indeed only the serious collector would wish to parts with sums of money such as that for items. buy the piece not the story and all that. but its always nice when people describe things we can se a picture of haha.

oh and rather than a formee or maltese its a cross patee but maybe thats just splitting hairs!

i like to amuse myself by checking out sellers sales pitch, and see what tricks they use REGARDLESS OF WHETHER ITEMS ARE GENUINE OR NOT

-blurry photos (which we all know by now) or only one view of the item

-high buy it now prices to make people think things are worth more or more in demand than they actually are (like here)

-and of course writing genuine in bold letters as often as possible (sounds bad but it works)

-including a brief history of the piece (as here) rather than the actual item in question

-pretending they dont know about an item (my favourite)

-sob stories (my grandfather just died and heres some things i found he brought back from the war...)

-lighting - again sounds silly but its an effective tool to hide flaws

-including a genuine item along with a fake

-bright pretty colours

-making up fakes with fake and original parts - done with edged weapons so ive heard

ive not long been bidding on auctions, but these are just some of the tricks ive seen used. just a lesson in what not to fall for. anyone got any others?

[martin3]

I am so happy you pointed out this site and auction!

I still own some beginner sinns and that is the spot where I can get rid of them at an interesting price!

This is a true SS chained dagger!

As the war started to become serious the grip was made of plastic and production was moved to Toledo...

And getting away with it!

Best rergards,

Martin

[vestae]

Hallo All,

a expensive price in my humble opinion....

Sebstien.