Maker of this 1914 EK1??

[David Wheatley]

Comments are welcome on this piece that I have just gotten in. There is no apparent maker markings....any ideas? It is slightly vaulted, by the way.

[David Wheatley]

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[David Wheatley]

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[David Wheatley]

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[David Wheatley]

last

[Rich G]

David

I'm afraid that this is a fake. The hinge is the give-away.

Rich

[Chris Wainwrigh]

I think these one piece crosses are made in Poland Regards Chris

[David Wheatley]

Richard,
What aspect of the hinge gives it away as a fake?

[Chris Wainwrigh]

This style of fake all use the same style of pin, hinge, and catch setups. It is also found 1939 EK1's. Regards Chris

[Mike Kenny]

David,

These things have been flooding the market of late. When they first started appearing a few years ago, "honest" sellers were openly selling them as repros (sammlerfertingung - sp).

Regards
Mike K

[David Wheatley]

Just to follow up...I contacted the seller Tuesday. After inspecting the badge & looking at a couple of books he agreed it was fake & he should have never sold it. He promptly refunded my money, no questions asked! He also broke the pin off (in front of me) and threw what was left of the badge into his "junk" box.

[DasEiserneKreuz]

Why would the guy break the pin off.....unless he is thinking of perhaps selling it later as an original without a pin.

[David Wheatley]

I think it was symbolic more than anything else......may have also prevented him from being tempted to put it back into his case.

[George Stimson]

That's where my example of this fake (given to me) resides -- in my junk box. (Actually, it's the "Tackle Box of Shame." )

[Tony & Kaiser]

(Actually, it's the "Tackle Box of Shame." )

I still cannot laugh at fakes. I came back from Germany in 1984 with a "collection" of nazi badges and you guessed it, all the high-end ones were fake. I lost about $5K which was a ton of money to a 24 year old soldier. I was so bitter I stamped each one with a big "F" with a punch and sold them all as a lot for $20 each.