Relic Condition Iron Crosses

[AUSGANG]

If you are collecting crosses in relic condition why would you then want to "repair" the pieces? Wouldn't you be ruining the historical context? Why not just strip off the rust and re-finish the cross? I do not want to sound harsh but you said you admire ground dug items, then you want to alter them. John

I want to try and make the iron core stay within the piece; having the iron core loose bugs me . However, there's bit of a difference between shoring up a piece and refinishing it. But your point is well taken. Still, I think it's okay to try and stabilize a piece. In a sense, the history of these things ends after they get dug up, collected and then put to rest in a nice cabinet ot whatever. So, might as as well tend to it...

Fascinating thread on the Tirpitz score. Thanks a lot for the word on that!

This is the last of the Polish finds I'll post. It's the side with the swastika, believe it or not.

[tinmantis]

just saw these on epier(!) for those interested
real or not?
regards
jon

[keifer kahn]

Ive collected ground dug items for a while and conducted my own digs.
An original item pulled from the ground has its own characteristics.
You cannot age a fake and have it replicate an originals characteristics,ground dug or not.
Period metals react in specific ways,when they have spent 60+ years in the ground.That is also dependent on the soil,moisture,etc.
A repro if faked to appear grounddug,may fool a novice but it certainly shouldnt fool an experienced collector.Even a fake stuck in the ground for months,just isnt the same.They cant be,because they simply wont be made from original period metals.

My advice if you dont know how period metal reacts according to the time frame it was produced,and how it should be when dug up,DONT BUY GROUND DUG ITEMS!


Also,no offence but as for the comparison of a 13th century arrowhead with an iron cross made from 20th century alloy I shake my head in wonderment at how anyone could draw a similarity.They are two totally different animals.

As for the items ive seen on here,i dont see any problems.

As for the last lot shown by Tinamantis,id give them the .Anyone who has any experience with grounddug zinkers should see what i see and its all to do with original zink alloys.

[AUSGANG]

Where relics come from

Here's a good site by a girl who digs around in bunkers and battlefields (my kinda gal!) in Kiev. If you spend some time on her website you'll find something that'll make ya wanna go there too! It's hard to imagine these places if you have never been to Europe and visited any bunkers or battlefields. My Dutch grandfather used to tell me all about the black marketeers that moved into the West Wall defences after the war. I used to play in them when I was a little boy. For some reason the Dutch government blew up some of the bigger ones and carted away the rubble but they left a pretty big complex they call the "Flederbunker" because a colony of bats live in there now. That's the Dutch for ya. I never found anything there except bullets and casings. Any more posts of relic EK2s? The dirtier the better...

http://www.theserpentswall.com/index.html

[redfaced]

If you look at the above picture of the ground dug KVKs, you will see they all look exactly the same. Also, why do they all have broken arms? I don't like the argument that ground-dug items are low-end awards therefore they are unlikely to be faked. Does anyone for certain have a faked ground-dug item(s)?

[tinmantis]

I remember a ground dug RK+OLs on this forum once. I think it was just a fake one dipped in a mix of cement and earth!
regards
jon