Prussian Crown Order 4th Class

[ww1czechlegion]

Here's a Prussian Crown Order I aquired about a year ago from an old collector friend who was downsizing.

It is "F" maker marked. ?Friedlander? maker?

Best Regards,

Alan Schaefer

[ww1czechlegion]

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[streptile]

Hi Alan,

A very nice looking award. I'm not au fait with maker marks for these, so I'll let someone else answer, but Friedlander would be my guess, too.

I've always wanted one of these, enameled 3rd Class with swords. I think it is among the finest of the Prussian awards.

[Wild Card]

Hi Alan,

I've always wanted one of these, enameled 3rd Class with swords. I think it is among the finest of the Prussian awards.

And until a few years ago, it was one of the most underrated.

[CSForrester]

A very nice crown order, but it is still unknown who stands behind the maker F.
The cross was made between 1865 and 1930, so we have a very wide range of manufacturers with the initial F.
Design of obverse- and reverse-medaillon is equal to pieces from Sy&Wagner from pre-1900 years.
I would guess it is Friedeberg or Friedländer and with only one letter it could be the first of both who started into buisiness. Friedeberg finaly used the mark S.F.S. and Friedländer FR to make a difference, so this F could be from the period before they were concurrents. Could, may be ...... at least noone knows.
Regards
CSForrester

[CSForrester]

@Alan : just one question.
Is the F only an F or F. with dot, and is it engraved (cut) or strucked into the cross ?

Thanks
Markus

[ww1czechlegion]

I'll look at the piece tonite to see if it is a cut "F", or a stamped "F". I don't believe that there is a "." after the "F", but again, I will look at it tonite and see.

Best Regards,

Alan Schaefer

[ww1czechlegion]

Hi Marcus,

I looked at the piece last night w/a lighted 20x loop. My eyes are getting bad, obviously, and I noticed something I'd never noticed before:

The "F" has a lighter "." or dot after the "F" marking. So it is an "F." marking

And the two horizontal bars of the "F" seem to be pointed at the right end of the bars. Something similar in appearance to a longer wedge shaped point or tapered point on the right end of these two horizantal bars of the letter "F". Because of that, I am going to say the "F" is engraved, and not stamped, but I am honestly not sure, as the "F" is very crisp in appearance. Does that make any sense in my analogy? The "F" mark is not shallow, but appears to be similarly deep as with a stamped hallmark.

What does this mean, between the "F", and "F." marks, and stamped versus engraved. I'm eager to learn.

Many Thanks!

Alan Schaefer

[CSForrester]

Hello all,

at first let me express, that we can not compare makers marks of prussian orders in the same way some guys compare the marks on the Iron Cross 1914.
In case of the prussian crown order we have a range of 60 yeras of production, not only 4 years.
The mark F, F. and S.F.S. can only be found until today on crown orders with the typical avers medaillon as shown by Alan above. It is a design you can find very often on crown orders with the red cross, awarded 1872, and so it must be the company of Samuel Friedeberg & Sons who made these decorations.

I dont know the reason why they used different marks, but in 30 years such changes are not uncommon. May be the F was not significant enough when Friedländer came up on the market in the 1880s.

Regards
Markus