Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse, KO

[Hesus]

I think i need some help to find out if this is a real EK 1 or a fake one.

I did some digging around on the forum but couldn't really find the information i needed to settle my mind about this piece.

What i do know i think to see is the following.

- core is magnetic and the piece feels heavy when i hold it in my hands
- it seems to be made out of 3 pieces (you can see a line in the cross section)
- it is KO marked
- it is 42 mm

Some help would be greatly appreciated.

[Chopperman]

It is a perfectly good cross.
Yours appears to have a repair to the pin where it attaches to the hinge.
Everyone should have a KO cross in their collection. They are the most
common awarded ww1 crosses to be found. "KO" is thought to be the firm of
Klein of Oberstein which sometime after the war was renamed Klein & Quenzer
which produced some very fine ww2 crosses.

[Hesus]

Ones again thank you very much for your help.
Much appreciated.

Quick question, could you recommend me any books about EK 1 & 2? Which would be for both wars?

[rbminis]

I agree with Greg, it's a good K.O. cross.
It looks like someone has reinforced the pin at the hinge.
Here are my two to compare.
Ralph.

First one.





Second.

[Chopperman]

Ones again thank you very much for your help.
Much appreciated.

Quick question, could you recommend me any books about EK 1 & 2? Which would be for both wars?

This book is highly recommended although it is expensive.
"The iron Cross 1813-1870-1914" by Frank Wernitz.

Like all books, it does have a few mistakes in it but I am told that it is a great reference.
Personally, I like "The Iron Time" by Stephen Thomas Previtera however it is more of a
good pictorial history of the iron cross and not so much a reference of makers and marks.

Dietrich Maerz from B&D Publishing LLC has two really good books on 1939 crosses.

I've found that staying active on a couple of forums such as this one keeps me up
to date with my iron cross collecting.