Hi Oradour, thanks for the info. I try not to think about items I shouldn't have sold!! I'd never thought about the fusion of Third Reich size and Imperial design on the '57 EK's before; but it's a very good point. I must get an example!! Cheers, Richard.
beware, they are now faked !.... the Fedral German order/rules do not stipulate makers, so theoretically any 57' made by anyone/anywhere, to the specs given in that order are 57' awards !...i and many collectors do not subscribe to that, and therefore i regard these new/current 'new form' crosses as fakes (unless made by St u L ). The earlier made the better. I will post tommorow my MM (an early one) 2nd class 57' EK II which has provenance to a WW2 U-Boat officer.
Here is my 57' maker marked early production Iron Cross 2nd class, made i'd say between 1957-58, marked on the suspension ring with a '4' 'Steinhaur & Luck'. The suspension ring is a wartime left over part hence the 'Prasidialkanzlei Lieferant' number, and the frame was probably stamped from a wartime die. Flange is plated, the frame frosted, core is crisp in detail and magnetic, later produced crosses lost their magnetic cores, frosting and were usually painted after construction and their construction left a lot to be desired !. This cross comes with a ribbon constructed of a synthetic weave, which glows under U/V light and is correct for this period. This particular cross was part of a U boat veterans medal set, a German cross in Gold holder, his set was broken up and sold seperatly (a great shame), he also held the U-boat badge, minesweeper badge, Iron Cross 1st class, and sports badge. He subsequently re joined the Bundeswehr serving upto to early seventies in the Marine, rising to the rank of Fregattenkapitan, a senior grade within the German Navy. I have his Bundeswehr service number. Picture 4 shows the veterans Germany Navy rank badges, dog tags etc, sadly i dont own this set. Also shown is the 57' 2nd class spange on 1914 ribbon.
StuG III, thats a nice piece, looks to be a 60's production, nice crisp detail, early style pin & hinge,thanks for posting...if you obtain any more 57's, please post !
Heres my first proper post with my 2nd class 57 cased Iron Cross, it is unmarked, 3 piece with a magnetic centre. I have a small collection of crosses, WW1, WW2 and this 1957 version, still looking for an early 57 1st class !
Panzereno, welcome aboard !....nice early to mid sixties 57' EK II, at this stage of production makers marks were dropped, and things were going to get worse, sloppy soldering and cores produced in non-magnetic materials !....but this didnt happen until the 70's !
Heres my 57 Knights cross with oakleaves and swords, modern production, made between mid 80's to early 90's, by Steinhauer & Luck, it is 3 piece construction, silver frames, I believe are known as "D" type frames, being re-tooled in the late 1970's, thus having no dieflaws or dent rows, as on early type frames, it is marked '800' underneath suspension ring mount on rear, non magnetic core, type "B" core, redesigned in the late 60's, notice the size of the acorns...much larger than early pieces or type "A" cores. The oakleaves and swords are 1957 design and are unlike wartime versions. I did in 1991 own an early Knights cross, but back then I just didnt think it was collectable and sold it !...what a mistaka to maka !! This type of Knights cross is often scorned by collectors, as nothing more than a christmas bauble, made for the collectors market crap, however I disagree (I would do woudnt I !), it is still a legitimate 1957 Knights cross, I believe this type was last sold to veteran in the early 90's when his son persuaded him to attend a re-union meeting, even when I obtain a good early one this will stay in my collection alongside that cross. IMO it looks great, and its construction is nice,........see if you agree with me.
Hi Chaps, just bought a '57 EK1 & a Verwundetenabzeichen (silber) so I thought I'd add them to the thread. They're in the mail to me now, so these are the only pics I have. They came from the same officer & sadly I missed out on his Allgemeines Sturmabzeichen & EK2 with Winterschlacht Im Osten, Cheers, Richard.
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