Help with 1870 II. class Iron Cross Prinzen

[Maria]

Hello all,
I would like to get some help with this Iron Cross 1870 II. class Prinzen size.
I have read several threads here about these ones and by reading them it looks like this one is original but i would like to get some help anyway, from someone that really knows these to tell me if it's a real one or a fake.
Some collectors here in Sweden have seen it and says it is an original, nice looking piece, but i would like to hear more opinions about it.

It is 2.7 cm "big" and unmarked.
It is a 3 piece construction and the craftmanship is very good.

















Thank you for looking

[Don D.]

I think it might be a "stepped core" fake.

[Maria]

I think it might be a "stepped core" fake.

Okay, and can you give any comments on why you think that it's a "stepped core" fake?

When looking at this post in the thread Weighing in on Step-Side Imperial EK Prinzens and it doesn't look like any of those fakes there, looks more like the original piece showed there but well, i can be wrong...

[Don D.]

That thread is still inconclusive as to whether stepped cores would have been used. I'm sure others will chime in anytime now.

[gregM]

I am still not a believer in stepped core prinzens.
IMO a prinzen should be a true 1/2 or 3/4 sized representation of
a fullsized original. I have never seen a REAL fullsized 1870 with a
stepped core.

[streptile]

That thread is still inconclusive as to whether stepped cores would have been used. I'm sure others will chime in anytime now.

I wrote that post, and was later convinced that the stepped-core Prinzens shown there are all fake. The one you show is also fake. Sorry if the thread reads as inconclusive, it was an oversight. If you read the thread through to the end, I hope its clear.

[Roglebk]

Hi Maria, very nice to see you here! Here's the thread about your cross that i posted before: http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=383536

I'm not targeting you as a seller, just the fakes on Tradera, you sell a lot of good crosses and this is a hard one. As wrote in the mail to you, these were considered good not long ago.

There are some other very good "Prinzen experts" on this forum named George Stimson, Marshall (Biro) and Tony (Tiger1). Send them a PM and ask them to take a look. The ones already weighed in here i hold in VERY HIGH ESTEEM, for whatever that is worth coming from a Swede, hehe. All are collectors and not dealers like the ones claiming these are good. Best 25$ spent is for an Association Membership here. Then you can sell your crosses on E-stand instead of crappy Tradera.

[gregM]

Here is a link to a thread in which both Biro and Tiger1 weigh in on
the discussion of the small crown, stepped core Prinzens.--------

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...hlight=prinzen

Follow all the links, you will see a lot of discussion which all seems to
point to the same conclusion.