Schinkel EK1 with screw plate

[Don D.]

Yet we find one piece Imperial crosses and badges that quite honestly look like cr@p. Look at the Hymann PAB as one example. It is my understanding that the LDO was established to bring some sort of standards to the manufacturers. This tells me that there were substandard awards being issued or sold and that a correction was required.

I think you are also seeing alot of them now because the price is up and they are in demand. Look at RKs. When I joined this forum we had a special section of the estand for "Outstanding Items" like RKs. You were lucky to see one listed for sale in a 6 month period. Now there is one on the estand almost every other week.

[ben bijker]

Hi Tony.

Yes, most likely there were companies that were very proud of their products, and gave it their best.
On the other hand there must have been companies that made medals because they had to make a living.....

The regulations you mention started of as guidelines, with the start of the LDO they became more like a "law".

The specifications are known, but there are ek's with nickle-silver frames, with zinc cores, with brass cores, even KC's constructed from the same materials.
So why no one - piece schinkels?
They might have been a cheap replacemant for the offical award piece.

And I don't think you should "glamourize" the situation too much.
There was a war going on, and as Don already mentioned, there are enough examples of sloppy executed badges, and poor executed crosses as well.
After all, they made a living by manufacturing crosses and badges.
A lot of things happened back then that were not according to the regulations.
Apparently there are even L/.. marked crosses with a brass core, strictly against regulations!

But that is just my opinion, I may be totally off.
But I'm always open to opinions.

Regards,
Ben

[LuckyLuudje]

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