German Red Cross medal (1922-1934) 2nd Class Form 1

[Hauptmann]

Hi all,

I'm hoping one of our members may be able to help out with this one. I happened to spot it on Ebay a week or so ago, lucked out and won it for what I think is a very good price and I'm just hoping it's a good one. But as I've not specialized in Red Cross awards and only have a couple of copies so far the only thing I have to compare it to is reference books as I could not find one of this type either here at GMIC or on-line in general.

It matches the pic and information in John Angolia's For Fuhrer and Fatherland Political and Civil Awards of the Third Reich, page 109 and in fact physically fits the picture to a T size wise.

I've just received it in todays mail and just finished doing scans on my trusty Epson (Hi Rick! ) so I'm hoping the pics will tell the tale:

Obverse:

[Hauptmann]

Reverse:

Obverse center detail:

[Hauptmann]

Ring detail:

Obverse enamel damage detail:

Reverse enamel damage detail:

[Guest Rick Research]

Looks fine to me. I suppose when Hindenburg Crosses and tinnies are faked, everything is being faked-- but I've never seen one of these that was.

[Hauptmann]

Side view:

As you can see... the center medallion on the obverse is made as part of the medal and is not a separate piece. Sadly I could not find any mention of this in Jack's book one way or the other re: this particular medal. So not sure if this is correct for the construction of this award or not. It's really my one and only concern as the size is right, it seems to have the age on both the medal and the enamel. Even the enamel damage seems correct if it had been worn on a bar at one point or another and knocked against other awards over time.

Plus all the copies I've seen so far seems to be of the nazi period awards and also they seem to leave the backs in metal and not enameled as on this example.

I found this quite by accident while surfing on Ebay. It had seven minutes to go, one bid and at minimum. I bid a bit higher and managed to get it at just $3 above the minimum. To say that I'm okay if it turns out to be a copy is an understatement. But if it's original as I hope then I think I did exceedingly. How well I don't know as I've not been able to discover what an original of this type would run. So hoping also that one or more members may be able to give me an idea of value (please feel free to PM me if you're uncomfortable stating such in the post.).

Once I won it that night I ran down to the bunker to check my ribbon stash as I seemed to remember having the proper ribbon and lo and behold I had a nice length. So here's a shot with her all dressed up:

Many thanks in advance,

Dan

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that someone out there knows these well enough to give me a thumbs up or down and if up an idea of value. Any comments will be deeply appreciated.

[Hauptmann]

Looks fine to me. I suppose when Hindenburg Crosses and tinnies are faked, everything is being faked-- but I've never seen one of these that was.

Many thanks Rick! Hearing this from you makes me feel tons better. Of course I'm still open to any and all comments from the membership. But I do feel very good about this one.

Dan

[Laurence Strong]

Hi Dan

Looks good to me also. Sameosameo as what is shown in "In the Service of the Reich" by Angolia. Most forgeries have a hard time replicating the see thru enamel.

Looks 100% better with a ribbon also.

Edited June 7, 2008 by Laurence Strong

[Guest Rick Research]

The M1934 was also one piece and flat:

[Hauptmann]

Thanks guys! I feel a billion percent better now and I'm definitely glad I got it.

Don't suppose either of you have even a rough idea on value? Just kind of curious as to about how well I did. Again if uncomfortable posting a value pop me an E and I'll be happy to let you know what I got it for.

And by the way Rick, that's a beautiful bar! Many thanks for posting it and for the additional info re: the construction. Till I tried looking I had no idea how little info was out there on these. Only things I could find were a couple of the higher grades and a cased West German version.

Dan

Edited June 7, 2008 by Hauptman

[redcross]

there are copies that are enameled on the back

but yours looks good to me

they often show up on ebay quite cheap

which is how I've picked up some spares

other times they sell well

hard to figure