Engraved EK I 1914 - Opinions please !

[Andy K.]

Hello:

A very good friend of mine received the engraved EK I 1914 marked “S-W” pictured below.

Captain Ernst von Schönfeldt served as a Battalion Commander in the Bavarian 12. Infanterie-Regiment “Prinz Arnulf von Bayern” and fights with his Battalion from 13th of May to 28th of June 1915 in the battle of Arras.

I would be pleased to hear your opinion on the engraved EK I 1914.

Andy

[Andy K.]

Engraved EK I 1914 - Opinions please !

back side with marker mark.

[Andy K.]

Engraved EK I 1914 - Opinions please !

back side with the engraving.

[Borzadow]

It is one-piece, right?
For me it dont looks good, but maybe I am wrong, lets wait for more opinions.

[juoneen]

Interesting engraving. I am assuming the mark that appears to be a 6 below the 16/17 date must denote june, I would assume. I always move with caution with engraved crosses, but this one seems well done, although even I cant verify positively that its a period engraving , I like it personally. Lets see what others say . As time goes by I am noticing more and more of these crosses that are engraved are turning up more frequently now days. I know i never found any in estates in 43 years of collecting,wich isnt significant, but its possible it could be an original period personalization. Lets see what others say.

[DavidM]

Hello

The cross itself appears to be a perfectly good S-W piece. The engraving looks good, but then again a decent engraver could have done this in 1915 or in 2009. That said, this one does look good and has potential.

That said, and this is purely my own personal view, but unless there is a proper provenance/proof that the engraving is contemporary to the person and period, I wouldn't pay a premium for an engraved EK. As Juoneen comments, quite a few engraved EKs are appearing on dealers lists at present, with a correspondingly higher price tag. Maybe I'm just an old cynic, but it does make me wonder.

Regards
David

[Andy K.]

Engraved EK I 1914 - Opinions please !

It is one-piece, right?
For me it dont looks good, but maybe I am wrong, lets wait for more opinions.

The core is iron -- three piece construction with visible seam.

Andy

[Don D.]

I'm liking it from what I've seen so far. Can you shoot a close up of just a couple of letters from the engraving. I'd like to see the patina.

[Johnny R]

He was awarded the Blue Max in 1918. I hope for you it is real but IMO it probably is not. Pretty unuusal to see with all that info on there.

[Mike Kenny]

Hi Andy,

An original S-W cross but imo the core has been repainted black - there appears to be black paint on the inner edges of the beading and there is a "curved" effect to the paint where it meets the cross arms. It also appears to have been cleaned/polished.

Re the engraving, this looks like it's been "chiseled" for the most part - many very straight "strokes". For the most part the letters look nicely done, but the numbers/dates appear comparitively crude.

One thing gives me pause though - there appears to be NO patina in any of the engraved letters, whereas the "S-W" DOES appear to have patina in the lettering.

One way to check if the engraving is period - there are many fine scratches on the back of this example from genuine wear. I would expect many of those scratches to marked the edges of the engraving and/or the insides of the engraving. If there is no evidence of these period wear marks in/on the engraving, then imo it is recently done. The pics are no-where near anywhere good enough to determine this - a hand examination under magnification will, I think, be the only way.

Regards
Mike

[VtwinVince]

I don't like it, the genuine engraved crosses I have handled were all done in cursive, script font, not this "Olde English" typeface, which in my opinion tries to appear too "Germanic". Also, the abbreviation for Kommandeur during this period would be Kdr., not Cdr. The reverse also appears to have been cleaned.

[Andy K.]

Engraved EK I 1914 - Opinions please !

I'm liking it from what I've seen so far. Can you shoot a close up of just a couple of letters from the engraving. I'd like to see the patina.

Here is a close up photo of some letters from the engraving.

Andy

[Andy K.]

Engraved EK I 1914 - Opinions please !

...

One way to check if the engraving is period - there are many fine scratches on the back of this example from genuine wear. I would expect many of those scratches to marked the edges of the engraving and/or the insides of the engraving. If there is no evidence of these period wear marks in/on the engraving, then imo it is recently done. The pics are no-where near anywhere good enough to determine this - a hand examination under magnification will, I think, be the only way.

Regards
Mike

Hello Mike,

My friend took a 16 power magnifying glass and inspected the engraving. Many of the hairline scratches on the edge of the lettering do extend into the engraved letters, especially around the name "Ernst" where there is more wear.

Andy

[Don D.]

Also, the abbreviation for Kommandeur during this period would be Kdr., not Cdr.

Out of everything said so far this is the most telling. One thing to consider is that the "C" and "K" were interchangable at this time in some regions of the Empire. Look at Coblenz vice Koblenz, or Carl Poellath vice Karl Poellath as two examples that have been noted. I do think the tolerance in military terms would have been more rigidly applied but depending upon who engraved it.....

Cursive script vs this Gothic font style could have been a personal preference.

Now, the chance of finding an engraved EK to a PLM winner is a whole nother matter. What are the odds?

[Andy K.]

Engraved EK I 1914 - Opinions please !

In the old German period (1800 to around 1900) the letter “C” is often used for the first letter “K”. You can see this much too often on award certificates from this period.
It is not unusual for me that the old style of writing was still partly used at the beginning of the world war one.

Andy