EK 1914 1914 EK1 made in 57?

[Mike]

Does anyone know if the 1957 style EK1's are common ? I can't see why they'd have made a lot of these as replacments. I just bought this yesterday at a local shop ..for $40 I couldn't pass it up. I noticed it also has the "dot" on the top of the 12 o'clock arm to mark where the ring would go if they were making EK2's

Edited December 23, 2005 by Mike

[Mike]

Here's the back --

[Tony]

Hello Mike,

I have one too but without the dot and it's magnetic. Is your one magnetic? My one, your one and one on ebay a while back are the only ones I've ever seen.

The old soldiers would have been 60 odd years old when these 57 issues came out, so there should still have been enough men around to order replacements if needed. I doubt they would have been made in the same numbers as the 39 cross though.

I actually paid quite a bit more for mine, 60 or 70 Euros I think.

Tony

[Stogieman]

Well, the only problem with these is that yes, the style/material & workmanship is consistent with 1957 forward manufacturing... the problem becomes how far past '57 were they made. Currently, there's a "Model '57" decoration for almost all Imperial Prussian pieces. They are marked and sold as such, but IMO, they were made like last year....

[Mike]

Well, the only problem with these is that yes, the style/material & workmanship is consistent with 1957 forward manufacturing... the problem becomes how far past '57 were they made. Currently, there's a "Model '57" decoration for almost all Imperial Prussian pieces. They are marked and sold as such, but IMO, they were made like last year....

I think the fake 57's are a lesser quality than the original 57's (if that makes sense since we're talking about repros of more or less repros/replacements) the 57's will never fool a collector and the copies of them are even worse ..the guys faking the Medals already know that so (like that Latvian RK) they try harder and make better fakes ...which causes us a lot of grief. I've seen a lot of collectors paying more attention to the 57's as collectibles in thier own right. That's interesting because in the 70's , nobody ever wanted anything to do with them. I can understand why they are attracting attention now though ..

[Stogieman]

Hi Mike, I agree. There's been a big surge in interest in the Model '57 type badges. The problem is finding an actual '57 by Assmann, as opposed to the crap '57 being pushed out strictly for the "collector" market. Once upon a time I had hundreds of packets for these '57 pieces. I believe Marcus Hatton (fellow member) has the bulk of them now. The interest in these is especially heavy in the higher grade awards.

[joe campbell]

i certainly think for $40 no harm, no foul.

i wouldn't give up hope on this one, and if possible,

a reshoot of the picture with a little less brightness.

in my opinion, there were SO many WW1 vets around

in 1957 that these would be reasonable for

manufacturers to produce.

i like the hinge on this one and the reverse finish

seems appropriate. the finish on the front is

somewhat difficult to evaluate, as above.

thanks for the post!

joe

[Tony]

I thought I'd add a pic of my one for comparison.

Tony

[Tony]

And the reverse.

[Mike]

And the reverse.

************************

My God they look related !!

I'll try to take a less flashy picture later tonight ...the frame is really bright on this and Tony's as well

[joe campbell]

and mine, sorry no reverse.

joe

[Mike K]

Hi,

Earlier 57er versions of the 1914EK1 are available, but not that common. Here are the two I own. Both have pressed steel cores. The hinge/pin/catch assembly to me indicates a slightly later manufacture date than the two at the top of the thread, but still way earlier than the 80s to recent "collector's" examples. Note that all examples share the same core, which is also very similar (if not the same) as 1914EK1s produced during WW2.

Regards

Mike

[Mike K]

Reverse....

[hagwalther]

Here's a cased version - both cross and case are 1957 items.

The other give away is the font used in the '4' of '1914' date.

Regards ...

[hagwalther]

Top of case ...

[Les]

I've always tended to ignore the so-called "1957" types and have lumped them with the so-called "collectors copies." Also, there are more than a few of us who consider any Imperial medals made or restruck after 1945, as not entirely "collectable."

That being said, there appears to be more than one or two of Imperial medals that were re-struck in 1957 when the new "sano" TR medals without the swastika were redesigned and restruck. Some people think of the 1957's as collectable, some don't.

I've never really paid much attention to Imperial medals made after WWI although I have some TR era EKI's in my collection. Anything made after 1945, I tend to think of as a reproduction, even if someone tells me it's a "1957" type Iron Cross, or whatever it happens to be.

I've noticed that the major Iron Cross books (for example) don't really discuss the "1957" type Imperial awards. Consequently, what the 1957 "types" are all about, at times seems more than a little vague.

Perhaps, with the consent of the list "gods" (the good one and bad one among others...), a thread on all of the 1957 "types" might be of interest to the list. The thread wouldn't have to be limited to only Iron Crosses, but some of the other less well-known or arguable copies such as the GMVK, medals from some of the other states, and so on. Discussing the "1957's" of all types might help some of us recognize them for what they are instead of lumping them in with post 1945 "fakes."

How does the rest of the list (and moderators) feel about such a thread?

Les

[joe campbell]

seems a very reasonable idea.

there certainly is a LOT of grey 'midst

the black and the white!

joe

[Mike]

I've always tended to ignore the so-called "1957" types and have lumped them with the so-called "collectors copies." Also, there are more than a few of us who consider any Imperial medals made or restruck after 1945, as not entirely "collectable."

That being said, there appears to be more than one or two of Imperial medals that were re-struck in 1957 when the new "sano" TR medals without the swastika were redesigned and restruck. Some people think of the 1957's as collectable, some don't.

****************************

I find the 57's interesting because many of them are made using parts of the original TR dies ..like the S&L flawed type B frame RK ..as opposed to an outright reproduction using new dies and made only to fool collectors. This EK1 is the only 57 I own right now but , I won't be passing on any in the future ..I think they've earned a special category as a last generation example of the original award

[Grant Broadhurst]

1957 awards are my sole collecting interest now and i,ve been getting the odd one now for 5 years i try to get the nice early pieces but if i see a mid quality piece at a good price i get it .

I agree there are a lot of the crappy late made collectors copies about at the moment which are truly horrible but if you dig around you can get some real gems .

A lot of the early ones were made using wartime parts and have beautiful frosting and burnishing every bit as good as their WW2 brothers , plus they are cheaper and the early ones are a lot rarer and drying up as interest in these awards grows .

I particularly like the unique ribbon bars made for the badges , shields and armbands with the blue grey backing .

This was the only way a vet of WW2 could wear his awards with pride after the war using these de-nazified awards .

I tried without sucess to get a forum going on another site as they thought there wasn't enough interest .

I have a modest collection of these and if anyone wants to see what a particular award looks like i,ll happily post a pic of one here ( if i have it of course ! ) .

The imperial 1957 EK,s can be found but they are not that common , you can also get other imperial and freikorps awards made at the same time as the 1957 awards mainly from S & L .

Edited December 28, 2005 by Grant Broadhurst

[joe campbell]

grant-

i would certainly enjoy seeing any of the

'57 pieces you are willing to show! it seems

strange that the most recent iteration seems

to have so little solid information regarding it!

and i hope some consideration might be given to

your navigating a sub-forum on the '57 era.

thanks!

joe

[Grant Broadhurst]

Here you go Joe , a sprinkling of my 1957 Luftwaffe awards !

[joe campbell]

grant-

that's some sprinkling!

my thanks,

joe