EK1, vaulted, screwback one piece..opinions?

[John T]

Hello fellows:

I know in general one piece EKs are bogus but what is the consensus on this one? It appears to be solid silver, and is vaulted and is not like the fakes I am used to seeing pop up all over the place.

Thanks,

John

[John T]

reverse shot...

[John T]

side view:

[John T]

detail

[Tim Tezer]

I'm usually somewhat forgiving of private-purchase 1914 Eks because there are so many varieties that it would be easy to brand half of the private purchase copies out there as fakes. However, I don't care much for this one. The fine scratches across the back, which appear to have been made as part of the manufacturing process, are all very new looking, and the way the threaded post is soldered on is rather sloppy. Also, the pebbled background on the front of the cross - while not unheard of - is not typically something you see on German made examples. (There were Spanish made 1939 pieces that often had a cross-hatched surface on the black areas, but that's another story.) Although it could be an inexpensively produced private purchase item from the 1930's, I think it is more likely a post-war repro. In any case, it certainly wouldn't be worth the $200 + that screwbacks often fetch on the market these days.

That's just my opinion. Anybody else?

Tim

[Eric Stahlhut]

Is there a disc present that we can view?

The fact that it is a one-piece doesn't bother me; neither does the stippling of the core.

The relative freshness and flakiness of the paintedfinish on the core section does--as well as the remnants of the solder on the threaded post and the lack of finishing as Tim mentions.

Any idea what the base metal consists of? I doubt it is silver (wouldn't have those solder remnants) and the oxidation pattern on the reverse seems to be chemically induced. It doesn't seem to be a period piece, but that may be due to the flash used in the pictures.

[John T]

HI Tim and Eric:

Thank you guys for the info. The base metal may be silver or nickel or something similiar as it makes a ringing noise when dropped. I agree it does have a new shiney look to it...I compared it to unquesionable period EK1s and they all had a darker patina...this piece has a shiney patina. I do not have the backing plate as this is how it came. The picker I got this from swore he got it out of a house, but that does not mean anything as everybody has a story. One thing I notice is that the paint is done very sloppily...you can see this by the beading especially, so it would make me think that either the piece was refinished or is just a sloppily done repro...in fact the "9" looks like it never had any paint at all.

John