EK2 1914 FAKE or not

[spunkmaja]

Hi,

I am new at this forum and was hooping for some help regarding a EK2 1914. I recently purchase this and it should be original, I was told. It looks like it was produced yesterday and not 100 years ago. It even looks better in real.

Thanks
Jonas

[cropduster777]

Hi spunkmaja,

I'm new here as well although I've seen a few EK2's before. In order to be sure, I'd have to see the medal edgewise to check for 1) a professional soldering job between the frames and 2) a minuscule gap between the sliver frame and the core. Furthermore, although this was not always the case, you could check to see if the core is magnetic. You can also check to see if the ribbon is original by placing it under a black light (original period ribbons will not glow under blacklight).

Based just on these photos though, I'm gonna go ahead and say A) It's real and has been cleaned or B) its real and is still in mint condition, which would make it a very nice example indeed. If i were you I would check to see if the frame is silver. rub your finger on the edge of the frame for a few moments and smell it (and the cross). does it smell like silver?

[Walkwolf]

It does look new or heavily cleaned.

Appears to be original...........

[spunkmaja]

Thanks for the input. I bought this from a real dealer so there should not be any doubt that this is original. But everyone can make mistakes. The posted pictures are from his site where I bought it.

Some more input:
1. It is defenitly a three piece construction with magnetic core. It has a minuscule gap between frame and core.
2. Seems not to be silver frame.
3. I compared the soldering with my original EK2 1939 cross and it have same professional touch.
4. Ribbon seems to be original, but I will test it later with a black light.


What exactly does it mean that the cross has been cleaned?

[cropduster777]

By "cleaned" I'm referring to the silver frame being cleared of patina using either physical scrubbing, chemical solvent, or the aluminum/baking-soda method. How ever, if your suspicion is that the frame is not silver, then this rules out those cleaning methods as they relate to silver tarnish. It still could have been cleaned but to my knowledge, 1914 EK2 were always made with silver or silver plated frames. Thus, that is a red flag in my mind. But, you could be wrong and/or I could be wrong...someone correct me?

[spunkmaja]

As far as I know the frames of the EK2 1914 crosses where made out of silver in the early stages of the war. Then they where usually also hallmarked on the suspension ring with 800 or 900. Later in the war the frame was silver plated due to shortridge of rare materials like silver.

But I’m not sure what silver pladed really means. Is it a thin silver layer ontop of the frame? And if so, what material is the frame mostly made from?

Or does silver plated means that the frame where made to look like silver due to some special treatment of the metal?

[oradour]

Gents, this Iron Cross is a perfectly good "KO" maker marked example, "KO" = "Konigliches Munzamt, Abteilung Orden" (The Royal mint orders department) in Berlin. It has been cleaned, a matter of personal taste, some collectors like them to be tarnished/with a certain patina (the silver frame can often turn black!), while some "sympathetically" clean their medals, I have both in my collection...IMO it does not detract there desirability either way...as for construction, basics.....the Iron Cross was constructed from 3 pieces (discounting the fixing furniture, ring/pins) a front and a rear frame made from pressed silver or German silver, and an inner core made of iron, there are one piece crosses, they tend to be pressed from brass or a mixture of alloys, these types will have black painted centres and silver plated frames, i.e. an amount of silver was applied to the surface, usually as a wash, this could and did in many cases wear off in time, leaving the base metal.
Prost ! Steve.

[spunkmaja]

Thanks for the help. I'm feel more comfortable now.

[don_kihotis7]

Blacklight doesn't help at all. If someone used detergent to clean the ribbon then it will be glowing. So it's not a very reliable method. The burn test on the other hand is 100% reliable.

[Adrian]

Here's marked KO from my collection. Note the different core and also the slight differences in the frames. This example has been cleaned. Jonas, I would like to see better pics of the ribbon on your cross, preferably against a different background but from the above pics, it doesn't look original.