What exactly does it mean when the centers of Iron Crosses are said to be magnetic? Does it mean they act like magnets? Can you stick them to your fridge? What does vaulted mean? Is this a cross whose arms are almost bent backwards? Also, what is the reproduction situation with 1914 Iron Crosses? Have they been faked much? And lastly what is the meaning of 1914 Iron Crosses from the Third Reich. Were they privately purchased crosses bought after 1933 by someone who had been awarded one in WW1? How can you tell. Any help would be appreciated.
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i can reply re magnectic : the core is magnectic when you put a magnit next to it(proves iron center). on brass cores it wont be eg navel ek's. hope that helps.
on the fakes most are faked these days but other members or a search will show you more detail on that issue -
Thanks for that tip. I just checked my EK2 and a magnet did indeed stick to it. Is that it for authenticity? Or have some fakes also been made this way. I'm not saying the medal I have is a fake but it's nice to know these things.Comment
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"What exactly does it mean when the centers of Iron Crosses are said to be magnetic? Does it mean they act like magnets? Can you stick them to your fridge?"
As Chris already replied, it means that a magnet will stick to the EK, not that the EK is actually magnetic. (The use of the term in such a manner is inaccurate, but it's so widely used that it's just accepted.)
"What does vaulted mean? Is this a cross whose arms are almost bent backwards?"
Yes. The arms are bent back, "vaulting" the cross out at its center.
"Also, what is the reproduction situation with 1914 Iron Crosses? Have they been faked much?"
The First Class version has been faked much more than the Second Class.
"And lastly what is the meaning of 1914 Iron Crosses from the Third Reich. Were they privately purchased crosses bought after 1933 by someone who had been awarded one in WW1? How can you tell. Any help would be appreciated."
Yes, they were replacement or duplicate crosses privately purchased by the awardee. You can tell them because they usually have a different shape, and sometimes they have a Third Reich era maker mark on them.
As for your last question, there are plenty of reproduction EKs with iron ("magnetic") cores.GeorgeComment
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And not to forgett there is EK******180;s that are not magnetic, mostly EK1******180;s but also some EK2******180;s. The core on those ones are zink war metall or brass and also some can be found whit copper cores, but 99,5% are made in the regular 3 pice construktion form. There is some very few early 1939 EK1******180;s that have been made in a one pice form.
MikaelComment
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