Ek2 "55"

[Panzer Rob]

What on earth would even cause the beading to get all wonky in that way???

Sal-

My guess is bad (or more likely worn out) dies, combined with bad craftsmanship. Some of the frames look like they were actually double-stamped...


Rob

[Sal Williams]

Sal-

My guess is bad (or more likely worn out) dies, combined with bad craftsmanship. Some of the frames look like they were actually double-stamped...


Rob

Hi Rob, I can't see how a die would wear out like that, and I think double stamping whould be evident on the entire cross don't you think?

Best, Sal

[Sal Williams]

Les, Good question. I could solve the question right now with the source. But I wont do it

Oh purty please Dion???

[Panzer Rob]

Hi Rob, I can't see how a die would wear out like that, and I think double stamping whould be evident on the entire cross don't you think?

Best, Sal

Well, dies only last for so long, and if there weren't any replacements I'd imagine that the firm would continue to use whatever they had in an effort to fill orders.

The frame on my '55' was definitely not cast, it's stamped.

Do you think all of these '55' crosses are fakes?

[Sal Williams]

No , my feeling is they are real. I just have questions about them. Is there a sequence? 55's that are not messed up and then the die gets worse? A period where the machinery starts to double stamp? Just curios really.

[RICK S]

ek2 mm55

How about the materials used to stamp the frame. Did they change later in the war. The two examples I posted sure look different no where near the same petina, in fact one looks like an alloy without silver. Maybe they had trouble with the materials sticking in the dies when stamping. What do you think? Both of mine had Iron cores and the dimensions were very very close, but the weights were off 1 gram.
regards Rick S

[FW 200]

What about metal shavings getting in the dies? Are any of the members tool and die makers, or better yet, die repairmen among us who could answer?

[Peter Wiking]

Sal and the rest of you. Check out these pages:
http://koinpro.tripod.com/Articles/O...OfDoubling.htm
http://www.coinworld.com/NewCollecto...s/Striking.asp

Here is an example from those pages. Note the "3" and the doubling there.

[FW 200]

Are there any of these crosses on medal bars?

[RICK S]

ek2 mm 55

Peter
Great thought, triple the value. Lol I wish. But you have a valid idea. Just poor mfg techiniques is most likely the reality, but I can't help thinking that a change in material composition as I stated earlier might have had a significant effect on the process if that is the case. I would really like to see if anyone else has seen the difference in the ek2 mm55 frames using different metals. Believe me they look different. One can look at an ek2 and almost tell if its a brass metal and been plated with silver. Nickel is different it does't develop the same bluish patina later on. Its just dull not having a high silver luster. Any opinions?
Regards Rick Schmid

[Sal Williams]

Thanks Peter, the 55 seems to line up in look with what they called die deterioration damage. So has anyone got a 55 before the die deteriorated?

best, Sal

[Sal Williams]

Thanks to everyone who has participated here BTW!

[Panzer Rob]

Thanks Peter, the 55 seems to line up in look with what they called die deterioration damage. So has anyone got a 55 before the die deteriorated?

best, Sal

Sal-

Take a look at mine... the flaws on the frame are nowhere near as bad as some of the others posted here. Dion's and the second '55' posted by Rick come to mind.

"Die Deterioration Damage." Works for me

[münster]

get super cricket and give him a crick e scooby snack,,fuel up the mystery machine and next were off to solve the mystery of the haunted S&L mansion,,sal Iam just kidding,,,good job all

forgot to add,,the one I posted is vet aquired

[Robert P.]

I have a nicely framed '55' EKII that I won't post here as there have been many already posted. I did find on Ebay an EK with the same 'double-stamped' or 'worn die' frame beading. The dates and swasi differ greatly from the '55' but I thought it worthy to throw it in here. The swasi is really different on this Ebay cross, and there are bad die flaws in the swasi also. Take a look... Can anyone attribute this to a known maker of the period?

Robert