Grand Cross

[Tom Y]

I'm posting these for Tiger 1. I'll give you the bare bones and he can fill in the details. First, an 1870 Grand Cross probably made in 1914-18 by Wagner marked 13 Löth.

[Tom Y]

Closeup

[Tom Y]

Another 1870 from the same period marke Wagner & Sohn with all the bells & whistles.

[Tom Y]

Down to the nitty gritty

[Tom Y]

From my own collestion, here's then Crown Prince Friedrich of blessed memory sporting his.

[Tom Y]

A 1914, probably made ca. 1940 marked 800

[Tom Y]

The numbers

[Tom Y]

The trio

[Tom Y]

For comparison, here's the 1914 with some standard size EK's

[Tom Y]

The list wouldn't be complete without this Star made by Steinhauer & Luck in the 40's or 50's

[Tom Y]

And the Cross itself

[Gregory Koepp]

man Tiger you did good!! thise are very nice!!!!!!!!
i wish i had one!!!!! man i diden't know they were that big.
can you tell me what one would run? pm if you want. i know they would difer from person to person, but man those are nice..

greg

[George Stimson]

Well, Tiger, I'm really anxious for those details!

[Tiger 1]

Thanks guys!

Glad I could share something we don't see everyday. A big thanks to Tom for posting them. For starters the two 1870 GCs are not mine, yet. I'm working on acquiring one of them for my collection.

George you want the details. Man there's a lot of details.

I'll start with a short preamble . They are flat out and out copies! They are copies of very rare grades of the Iron Cross series that will never be on the market as originals. The next best thing, but not too far removed from the original, would be the best copies one can find. Period copies if possible and by the original or other quality manufacturors.

These are the best that I have found in the years I've been chasing EKs.

Starting with the 1870 GCs. Both are identical in core detail with a slightly different black finish. One is marked with the Wagner trademark while the other is 13 Loth. Having identical cores I assume that they are both by Wagner. three piece construction with magnetic cores. I believe these to be c.1914-1918 era examples.

The 1914 GC is a one piece strike out of 800 silver. the ribbin loop is Third Reich KC style and is also marked 800. An identical example is in the German Oders Museum's book on Iron Crosses. It's very hard to peg a time frame on this one so I figure c. 1940 -?.

The1914 Star to the Grand Cross I found at the SOS this spring. This beautifully made Hindenburgstern is by Steinhauer & Luck. C. 1940 to 50s? The EK on the Star is identical to a S&L 1914 EKI that was made during the Third Reich. This EKI is double marked with both the 4 and L/16 on the pin. This leads me to believe one of two things. Either this Star is truly of Third Reich era manufacture or that it was made after the war out of left over pieces. It's a nice piece of craftsmanship.

I'm a fairly serious purist when it comes to the EK series and originality but the quality of these beauties make them an exception. After all the originals will never be available. And I just plain like them.

The Iron Crosses in one of the pictures are varieties from my collection. There are prinzens as well as standard sized EKs and some other stuff.

I guess that's it for now.

Tony

[Gerd Becker]

Tony,

that are great pieces! I like the first Wagner most. Finally some "copies", that are not that crappy like the other crosses mostly available. Good Luck with your purchase.

best,
Gerd