English IC 1st Class?

[Bobby lee]

Hi Eric, the scrached marks are 'AR' other than that, beats me, maybe King of Saxony presentation?

[Daniel Murphy]

Tony,
The marking is "VICTORIA D.R.G.M." I have one that is two piece hollow nickel silver with the same screwplate. I have only ever seen three of these (now) and all have the same screwback. I recently saw one on ebay and saved the pics.
Dan

[Brian S]

Perhaps someone could comment on the non-Prussian crown and "rebounding forehead" on the number "4" in the date? Both seem more than a little queer to me, but I'm no IC expert.

Your comments are absolutely right. This is not a Prussian crown. I have no faith in this cross unless someone can show me this weird style crown on a another good cross.

[Daniel Murphy]

Brian S,
Here is mine (hollow all nickel construction), it has been heavily used and my markings are even more worn than Bobby Lee's. Therefore nothing is to be gained from showing them. No funky crown for me, however I believe his is original, just made by a not-so-great quality maker.
Dan

[Tiger 1]

Compare the crown on this EK with the crown on the Meck-Schwerin MVKI that Mike K has for sale on e-stand. They look to be very similar. Check it out.

Tony

[Brian S]

And Tony you know a Meck-Schwerin crown would by its design of course be different... Perhaps this company was located in Meck-Schwerin?

[Tiger 1]

Brian,

I really don't know for sure. I was just struck by the similarity of the crowns. Maybe both of these pieces are from the 20s-30s era as implied by Mike about his MVKI. You may have a point about the company being located there. Why design and cut another crown for a run of 1914 EKIs when you already have a perfectly good crown stamp to use in making a die at hand. Makes sense to me. Especially if these where indeed made during the Depression years.

As a related thought, by that time frame the monarchy was gone for more than a few years and maybe the small details that we hold as correct in regards to the crown were not a big thing anymore. Kind of like an iron cross or cross patee being described as a swastika by the uninformed today.

Tony

[gregM]

I also have one with the Victoria DRGM mark. The mark is so worn that you have to look at it at just the right angle to see it. But it is there.-- The cross itself is very thin and light weight. 14.1 gm INCLUDING the backing plate.
Here is the crown.

[Mike Kenny]

Hi,

I've been following this with interest. I certainly agree with VerKuilen's observation that the crown on Bobby Lee's example does not look Prussian in design but the cross itself looks OK to me. The same with the other two that have been presented - they all certainly look authentic, although probably not wartime?

One question for Daniel, you describe your example as "hollow all nickel construction" and "two piece hollow nickel silver". Do you mean a backplate which has been joined to an obverse for which the "core" and beading/frame have been struck as one? I'm just trying to understand this.

I've had a look at the crowns and although Tony makes an interesting observation I don't think it's a match to the "20s/30s" Meck-Schwerin. I've also checked my other Meck-Schwerins, Oldenburg and Braunschweig (and all my Prussian) crosses but again no match. The idea is certainly worth following up though.

I've put together a crown comparison (maybe Bobby Lee and Daniel could provide better images of their crowns for better comparison?). One thing that jumps out at me is that for the three examples images imo there appear to be THREE DIFFERENT crowns! What are the chances of that, let alone the reasons behind it? Another Imperial EK head scratcher

Regards
Mike K

Image edited with improved crown scans shown below;

[Bobby lee]

Hello Mike, Here are a couple of scans of the crown per your request. Having a bit of trouble with glare but they are a bit better than the original post. Hope they are of some use.

Best regards,

Bobby lee

[Bobby lee]

Next scan. Holding the cross it sure looks like a standard Prussian crown to me, detail is very good, wish I could clear it up more for the post.

[Bobby lee]

I can't figure out why the pics look overly painted and lack of detail, any suggestions?

[Daniel Murphy]

Mike K,
On my piece the entire obverse has been stamped from one sheet of nickel silver. That is then mated to a flat sheet of nickel silver ( solder seam visible on edges)for the reverse, to which has been soldered a threaded post. Then the screwback is also stamped from a sheet of nickel silver with a small round threaded nut inserted in the center cavity. The entire piece is very lightweight and I am quite sure it is post 1918 manufacture. Underside of backplate pic.

[Daniel Murphy]

Here is the bottom edge seam. See what I mean about not so great quality.
Dan

[Daniel Murphy]

Here is where my markings were. I did not realize it was marked until I saw the piece on ebay and recognised I had one. The loupe came out and here we are.