Fake EK2 or really rare!?

[LarryC]

Saw this one on ebay this morning.... the seller claims that this EK is really rare because the ring goes through the cross rather than being soldered to it.

Is it BS?

[NickM]

I wouldn't say it's "really rare." Could be just that the original ring snapped off and this was a field repair. Can't imagine anyone having a drill in the trenches. Not even sure if that hole could've been made with a hammer and nail, but in any event it's not a rarity. It's not like they were ever issued like that.

The fact the ebay seller is prepared to over-exaggerate would probably deter me from buying anything from him.

[LarryC]

Thanks for the input! I wasn't planning to buy this EK ( I bought one last weekend and one EK a month is more than enough!)....
Larry

[unimarc]

Is it ????!!!!!


:-)
Marc

[NickM]

hehe, they made something like 1.5 million of them. Sure I could squeeze a few thousand of them into my collection. Only the lack of money stopping me.

[Nathan362]

Im not very well versed in these, but if the core is supposed to be Iron, and the border is a separate piece, is this not fake? I base that on the solid appearance, and the fact that the black on the crown has worn, and looks brass to my eyes... If I am wrong please tell me so I do not pass on a good WW1 Iron Cross (in the future)!

[Walkwolf]

Looks a fake to me - it's a one piece, and the beading is horrible.........

[NickM]

I thought there were brass EK2s in existence for the Navy? Just saying, as it wouldn't be a reason to me to discount it.

The bigger issue for me is that bloody hole someone's made for the ring. In the trenches they wouldn't have had access to a drill. They may have had access to a hammer and something sharp like a nail, but could you make a hole like that through such hard metal on an EK2?
And the edges of the hole look too sharp to be the result of a hammer and nail. In my view that hole was drilled, and that couldn't have happened out in the field.
Assuming it wasn't done in the field, you'd take it to a jeweller. Who wouldn't in a million years make a hole like that, they'd solder a new ring on.

Which makes me think it's either a fake that's been attacked by a moron, to give it some fake provenance ("It's very rare, Guv").
Or it's a genuine EK2 that's been attacked by a moron.

Being sold by a seller who likes to exaggerate and "big it up" to make it more salesworthy.
Personally, I'd pass on it unless there was provenance with it to say who it was awarded to, and how that hole came to be.

[NickM]

Im not very well versed in these, but if the core is supposed to be Iron, and the border is a separate piece, is this not fake? I base that on the solid appearance, and the fact that the black on the crown has worn, and looks brass to my eyes... If I am wrong please tell me so I do not pass on a good WW1 Iron Cross (in the future)!

I wouldn't let the colour cast in a photo put you off. I do photography and I've found it very hard to get my highly-polished EK2 to come out as shiny in photos as it actually is. Most of the time it comes out looking dark grey.
So if a photographer with a Canon dSLR can find it hard to get the colours to come out right, you can bet a non-photographer with lesser equipment has every chance of turning out a silver medal that looks brass.

[Chopperman]

These are 1 piece crosses. Made of a brass like alloy.
They are old. From ww1 or just slightly after. I do not
believe they were awarded crosses. I have heard ideas
that there were made as theater props and as souvinirs.
I don't think anyone knows for sure. I have a similar
one in my collection as just a Ek varient. I would not buy
one on the assumption that it is an awarded cross and I
would definiately not pay collector prices for one.

BTW---The whole Brass Navy crosses story is pure BS.
There were no special crosses made for the Navy and the
exisistance of crosses made from non-standard materials
was done by more than one company in ww1 especially
late in the war as materials were getting scarce.