Anyone taken a look at the Deutsche Kreuz in Gold on the classifieds for $1,200?

[LuftCollector]

"The makers mark is '20'. "
Thats a good one...lol

[Adrian]

"The makers mark is '20'. "
Thats a good one...lol

Funny because.......?

[Eric Zentner]

Gold front and silver back??? with a strange makers mark makes me doubt it and date looks vey strange to me.

[Adrian]

Gold front and silver back???

The finish worn or polished down to the tombak base metal? Don't forget, that part of the sunburst is a different piece of metal than the back plate.

[Eric Zentner]

Side by side..

[Adrian]

The 11 o'clock Zimmermann flaw is there as found on originals.......

[Redcap]

I agree with Adrian. The correct die flawing that you look for on a genuine Zimmermann is there. This looks like a good piece which has simply lost its blackened finish to the inner sunburst. Better pics are required but I certainly wouldn't write this one off.

[Eric Zentner]

This is what i see and would be glad to be wrong!

[Adrian]

Any further thoughts on this one? As it is for sale it would be good to get a conclusion.

[tempelhof]

it would be great to see pics of much greater detail, but that being said, i don't see anything here that convinces me this is a fake.

if this doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement, it's because it's not. just don't like having to make a call off these pics. i don't see anything that tells me it's fake per se, but there are a couple of unusual aspects to my eye but they aren't such as i would see as making it an obvious fake by any means.

the wear pattern to the sunburst is pretty extreme given that condition of the surrounding details. i'm not sure what is up with that. was the finish tampered with?
at some point over the years did someone attempt to clean it in a way that damaged that finish and, as a result, they simply continued the cleaning so that at least the "damage" was uniform? i mean if you strip the finish somewhere, you have the choice of stopping and having this obvious spot of damage or of continuing so that the finish is uniform at least even though what you are continuing with is further damage and intentionally at that. hard to say what people do to items over the years, but i am simply trying to explain the severe damage to the finish in that one aspect of the badge where, in the finish of all other areas of the badge, the effects of "aging" are much more minimal. there is inconsistency. i am just thinking out loud here as to how it can be explained.

the catch, as pointed out, is a little strange. but i can't call if fake over these things.