Prussian Red Cross Medal 1st Class at Ebay

[JensF.]

I've NEVER seen an original one:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...204167093&rd=1

[Rick Research]

Ayuh, looks like the only one I have ever seen, in a local collection.

[Mike Dunn]

Interesting looking medal. Were these faked a lot?? Mike

[stogieman]

Sorry! But I do not....

... believe this is an original! Original 1.kl. Cross was only made by Godet and hallmarked as such, maker/silver content. Apart from the pin being unlike any Godet one I've seen, pre-1918, with the absence of the marks, I would not touch this with a 10' pole!

[Klaus O.]

Jens,

I have never seen an original, too... It's a very scarce cross. On Nimmergut's catalogue the price is not even listed, just a " * ", symbol given to the kind of decoration, which are so rare that you can't really give a market price.

Therefore, I wouldn't even think about bidding on it without having researched detailled information on this particular medal. I am also sure that this Rote Kreuz-Medaille 1. Klasse (Steckkreuz) have been awarded less than 50 times.... so make your own conclusions.

Just my 0.0002 Euro cents...

Ciao,

Claudio

[Bobby lee]

I have one that I picked up in 1974 with no markings and has a needle type pin on the reverse. It was a cast off from a Thrid Reich collector who picked it up with a group of medals including a nice medal bar with Imperial and Thrid Reich Red Cross awards plus a couple of Imperial orders. Seemed to have a reasonable providence at the time. I'm sure it's not a postwar repro but thats about all I can say.
Bob

[Bobby lee]

Just another thought, Klietmann's "Pour le Merite und Tapferkeitsmedaille" mentions 161 1st class, 8399 2nd cl. and 107,708 3rd cl. for the period 1914-18 and some were awarded until 1920. For what its worth.
Best,
Bob

[Eric Stahlhut]

Nice!

I've seen two versions of this award. One had cut out crowns, the same type of pin assembly, and was (to me at least!) indubitably the real thing. The enameling was also a bit more substantial. Sadly, it was not for sale. The other version was exactly like the one portrayed here. The version portrayed here is extremely well made and has every indication of actually being silver gilt. The thing that gave me pause at the time was the naggling memory of having seen these sold as very high quality repros made in England during the 60's.

In any case, Godet was known for this type of pin assembly. Not only on the Red Cross awards, but on the Johanniter awards as well. Here are a few examples:

[Eric Stahlhut]

Saw one this weekend

I went to a militaria show yesterday, and lo and behold, a dealer had an identical version of the one that was pictured on the eBay auction by Jens. He wanted $200 for it.

[JensF.]

Interesting. Any doubts that one of these is original?

[Eric Stahlhut]

Hi Jens,

personally, I would not want an example like the eBay one or the one I saw last weekend in my collection. While they are very very well made, I prefer to hold out for the miracle of finding one with cut-out crowns and thicker enameling.

I'm pretty sure that the version up for debate on this thread is a
very well made repro from England made during the 60's. Also the fact that I have seen so many of this type in relation tp the relative rarity makes me nervous.