Marker mark333

[stdub]

Its all fine ,they remove an item when notified.But what happened to the part when they actually look at an item before offering it for sale.333 fakes arent that good that an experienced assessor would let it through.I get the feeling sometimes dealers offer fakes hoping that people just simply wont notice.

How come its common knowledge(and other forums) on here that 333 are fakes.Why dont weitzes know?
Ive seen too many bogus items eminate from from weitzes sight to ever treat them as a realistic prospect for purchasing.

regards keifer

I absolutly agree with Keifer! These guys are in business for 20 or 30 years and they DO KNOW what they sell. This is not only my opinion, this is a fact.

Here is what a known seller told me a few years ago:

"You can sell everything - you only need a good story!"

Look at the terms of sale from Weitze:

"Bei allen von der Firma Helmut Weitze angebotenen Stücken handelt es sich um einwandfrei zeitgenössische Originale" (Translation: All items Weitze offer are immaculate originals).

AND DAMNED - when they write such things they have to be 100% sure what they offer. I saw many many collections here in Germany from older collectors and they all have some Fakes in their collection, they bought from known professional sellers.

This is one reason why the sellers are able to do this: we shut our eyes to the facts.

I also sell some items, but if I´m not sure about, I always ask my friends here on the forum for help, before I offer them.

Have a nice Sunday!

Joerg

[Oldenburg]

333 crosses

Hello all

I read on this tread that there are some EK known with marks 666 and 999, It could be interesting to see photos of them, for my part, I have never seen ones with these marks.

Here is another thing I would like to know:

My father know this crosses since the lot has been found in 1967, at this date they were sold at the "puce" in Paris at the dealers shop.
The lot is known to come from Strasbourg, all of the crosses came in the same condition of issue except the last ones who were in very poor conditions (bad paint on the crosses).

The man who sold them is still alive but since 5 years, there are no 333 crosses who come from Starsbourg to the french dealear's shops, it was a very good job for him so why does he stoppped to "make" them ?

Since the begenning, a lot of french delears bought them and everyone of them wil tell you that they are original, the price to make copies in the 60's will make the price very expensive (I hope my english is good ).

So I would like to know what are the the problems with this crosses, the size is correct, they are made in three parts, so how can we say that these ones are copy ?

Best regards

Eric

[keifer kahn]

Hi eric,
The origins of these fakes are known.They were maunfactured by a gentleman in the uk(name escapes me),the 333 marking was an admitted joke by him.(it was in fact made up from digits from his birthday).

Also having the makers code of 333,wouldnt you wonder what happened to all the marked makers from 143 to 332.
I think the numbers went up to the 150,s but that still leaves a hug gap of missing numbers for 333 to suddenly pop out.

The crosses,even though a fairly accurate reproductions have inherent problems.For a start the rims turn a golden colour.Indicitive of the wrong metal used in manufacture.They have multitude of die flaws,including holes that go from one side of the frame through to the other.

[olivyaya]

Thanks for this explaination... I have one of these 333 one but none of the defects you stated... see the pics on

http://sites.estvideo.net/cold-war/i...ation/IMG_0105
http://sites.estvideo.net/cold-war/i...ation/IMG_0106
http://sites.estvideo.net/cold-war/i...ation/IMG_0107
http://sites.estvideo.net/cold-war/i...ation/IMG_0108

ths rim is absolutely golden nowhere, nore is the entire medal, has no holes, no flaws... why is that ?

[Vadim K]

Olivyaya, I think what Keifer meant to say was that many of 333 fake crosses display these flaws, but certainly not all. I have seen a fair number of 333 EKs in absolutely perfect condition. The irony is that, were they unmarked, they would probably be deemed original even by advanced collectors (maybe there are unmarked copies out there, who knows... Gotta love this hobby... )

[olivyaya]

Thanks Vadim for your help !! I sincerely appreciate you all taking your time to explain newcomers how it all works out... I really appreciate this welcome ;o)