Help with Iron Cross

[XLIV]

Does anyone recognize the maker "KO" as seen at the bottom of the back? Is this WWI? Thanks for your help as I need correct designation for listing on ebay.

44

[Ischak]

It is WW1 piece. I am not talking about originality since I am aiming for WW2. If there is KO it is very common marker of EKs. (I personally own one EK II class with KO mark)


I am attaching here photos of original KO marked ww1 EK II.class (not my)


http://img301.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=61ekia1.jpg

[streptile]

KO = unknown maker
Probably the most common type of Imperial EK.

[Danny70]

KO = Königliches Münzamt Orden, Berlin.

[XLIV]

Pardon my naivite but is this 1st class or 2nd class?

I dont see a silver content mark, can I assume its 925?

thanks for all the great responses.

44

[streptile]

KO = Königliches Münzamt Orden, Berlin.

Is that known? I thought KO was unknown, and that Königliches Münzamt Orden, Berlin was a guess based on the initials. Did I miss something?



Cross is a first class, and silver content is probably 800 or below.

[Steve Campbell]

This is a first class. This is an awarded item, not a private purchase piece, and will not carry a silver mark like many private purchase pieces had. These silver content marks vary, with the most common being 800. I believe these award pieces also have silver content frames, but how much I'm not sure. It's probably not 925 as this is one of higher content marks and is not seen that much.

[gregM]

It's a 1st class cross and most likely 800 silver.

[Steve Campbell]

Wow, three replies, all at 9:59 pm. What are the odds?

[streptile]

Wow, three replies, all at 9:59 pm. What are the odds?

Al least they all say the same thing.
And, mine was at 8:29... I don't know what time zone you're in

[Steve Campbell]

Al least they all say the same thing.
And, mine was at 8:29... I don't know what time zone you're in

Yours, mine and Gregs say 9:59 on my screen. I guess it depends on what you set your time zone setting to. I'm on Newfoundland Standard Time. Yes, this island has it's own time zone. Crazy eh?

[streptile]

Yours, mine and Gregs say 9:59 on my screen. I guess it depends on what you set your time zone setting to. I'm on Newfoundland Standard Time. Yes, this island has it's own time zone. Crazy eh?

Yeah, wow. I knew we were all posting the same minute, but didn't know you were 30 minutes off the hour. Crazy indeed. Hey, did you see I used your cross here? Hope it's ok.

To keep on topic here...

KO, as far as I know, is an unknown maker that only might be Königliches Münzamt Orden, Berlin.

[Steve Campbell]

Yeah, wow. I knew we were all posting the same minute, but didn't know you were 30 minutes off the hour. Crazy indeed. Hey, did you see I used your cross here? Hope it's ok.

To keep on topic here...

KO, as far as I know, is an unknown maker that only might be Königliches Münzamt Orden, Berlin.

I saw your article, although I have not had a chance to read it fully. I believe I may have a wide frame 1914 EK2 in my collection I am going to have a look at. From what I can see, the acticle is excellent and well done. Congratulations on that, and I will be reading it in full. I of course don't mind you using my pictures for this purpose. In fact I'm glad something from my collection made it into a quality thread like yours.

As far as KO goes, you may be right about the speculation on what the letters stand for, but I'm not sure. Also, I believe KO may not even be a maker in the traditional sense, but some sort of conglomerate. Any one have any more information on this?

[RadarZ]

For future reference XLIV, 1st class in this series of medals, as well as many others, are one sided, with pins.
2nd class are 2 sided, no pin, with a suspension loop used for hanging on a ribbon.
Ribbon is not always present.
Imperial vs Third Reich can be distinguished by the presence of the Swastika in place of the W [for Wilhelm], as well as the date "1939" instead of "1914" - And not, I might add, an item you'd want to try selling on ebay.

As the 1st class is a higher award, and thus fewer were given out, they are, in most circumstances, more valuable than 2nd class.

[saschaw]

Original, awarded EK 1st class, silver frame with iron core. Silver is most likely 800/000. 925/000 is rather unlikely (but not unheard of) in Germany.

KO, as far as I know, is an unknown maker that only might be Königliches Münzamt Orden, Berlin.

No, might not be. It's proven Berlin mint did not make ANY Iron Crosses. Odd, isn't it? Stuttgart mint made, but those are the "K.M.ST." and "K.M." crosses.

"KO" is an unknown maker, still the most common.