new Souval EK_1

[all1knew]

Hello all,

I've waited to get a nice EK_1 at a price I could afford for some time now and this one answered the call.

Wartime?

William Kramer

[all1knew]

2

2 - goes nice with the others:

http://wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/s...d.php?t=145830

[Darrell]

Hello all,

Wartime?

William Kramer

You don't know?

[all1knew]

Darrell,

With Souval you can never be too sure!

William Kramer

[Darrell]

Darrell,

With Souval you can never be too sure!

William Kramer

She be 101.9% original William

[all1knew]

She be 101.9% original William

Damn, I was shooting for 102% original.

I have read the forum thread about Souval's but is there any real way to tell the difference between post-war and period Souval EK_1's?

William Kramer

[Stu W]

Looks good to me...

Hello William,

I look for 6 characteristics on the obverse and appropriate hardware on the reverse to authenticate Souval EK. As yours has them all I feel it's a pre-May 45 Souval frame and Souval core EKI. Nice addition to your collection in my opinion.

Regards,
Stu

[baldy1939]

Hi stu , what are the six characteristics that you look for in a souval ? Mark

[Stu W]

6 Characteristics

Hi Mark,

I look for three frame and three core characteristics on Souval EKI.

Frame:
Extended centre bead at all 8 corner points on the fours arms.
Rounded inner beading on the intersection points of the four arms.
Die flaw between the 2-3-4 (strongest between beads 3-4) beads as you count from the left on the horizontal portion of the 12 o'clock arm.

Core:
Fat swas.
Dipping (sometimes called Dropped) 3. It sits lower than the 19_9.
Low profile date.

Screwback: If you come across a screwback EKI it will have all of the above and if maker marked the L58 will be on the disc not the cross and is without the "/" mark.

The Souval EKII will have the frame characteristics of the EKI but not those of the core.

If you come across a Souval frame EKI with thin swas and lacking the Dipping 3 type core it may still be good as other makers used Souval frames, notably Orth.

There are several variations on the hardware and they are depicted in Peter Wikings article pinned to the top of this forum.

As with any other type of cross I also check for wear and patina that appear to have developed evenly and appropriately for the shape of the cross. A couple simple examples of what I mean are as follows. Does the EK have a heavily worn core but a pristine swas.? If so that may indicate a repaint. Whereas patina not evenly spread and of significantly different densities might signal a chemical enhancement.

Hope some of this helps.

Regards,
Stu

[Darrell]

Here's a textbook screwback Souval.