EK's, awarded vs . private purchase????

[VonLuger]

Sound off, knowledge is power any and all information on EK's differneces in awarded vs. private purchased, makers? or who could purchase,could a rich HJ go into a store and buy a EK1 for play? time frame or any thing else that would help increase my knowledge and history of this award-in the words of Von Luger-"Cooler"

[don]

For one thing it was against the law to try and get an award that you were not eligible for
You could go to jail
don

[Infanteer]

Exactly, as far as I understand you had to present your copy of the award document to the dealer in order to be allowed to purchase any award. Further to that, you could be stopped on the street by the military police and if you were wearing an award for which you did not have documentation in your soldbuch, well, you would be up the creek....

Steve

[Dez H]

Or up the chimney..........




Dez

[Mike H.]

The private purchase pieces and the award pieces were identical, save for the maker mark. The private purchase pieces had a maker mark prefaced by an "L/" (i.e.: L/50), whereas the award piece had only a number (i.e.: 21). The design, materials and craftsmanship were otherwise identical. The Government mandated the design and materials of the award, and the LDO maintained quality oversight.

[Seppl]

My friend who was an ex-Infantry Leutnant and survived Stalingrad, told me when one purchased LDO or duplicate awards, sale was very strict!
No only did you have to present your award certificate but also your Soldbuch as ID and extra confirmation of one's eligibility for the award! I used to collect LDO awards as usually they were all cased or in packets and seemed to be more attarctive.However, now I only have award pieces in cases and packets and the quality is just as superb!

[VonLuger]

Thanks Mike

Thats the tidbit that helps thanks Mike..Im trying to find out how to identify the differnce between awarded and Private Purchase...Ok the screwback those were strictly private purchase and ended in 1941? also no maker marks where those awarded prior to 1941? the use of brass or copper no maker mark could those also have been awarded pre 1941? also would all IC's after 1941 have some sort of maker mark on them? please address these, also and any books that might help in the manufacturing side of the IC and all the differences! Thanks in advance

[Mike H.]

Iron Crosses are kind of like the English language, "I before E except after C unless..." There are rules and there are variations, and just as many exceptions to each.

The current bible for Iron Crosses is Steven Previtera's The Iron Time. It is a history of the Iron Cross (Eisernes Kreuz, or EK) from its inception in 1813 through the 1957 re-issue. There are MANY quality photos of original EKs, well researched commentary, and anecdotes from some of the men who earned them. All in all, buying this book is the single most important step you could take if purchasing EKs is something you want to pursue.

There are many fakes out there - some obvious, some insideous. There are many unscrupulous dealers, as well. Knowledge is your only weapon, gird yourself well.

[Mike H.]

To address your specific questions:

Screwbacks were private purchase (known as LDO) pieces. I don't know if/when their manufacture was banned.

Most pieces issued before 1941 (known as Pre-LDO) were unmarked, but not all EKs after this date were marked. War shortages, selling of material/parts to other companies, apathy to the law, all contributed to non-marked pieces being sold. Also, each piece had hand-finishing somewhere in its manufacture, so the individual might have not marked it for whatever reason.

Brass or zinc centers might have been used prior to the LDO. Most brass or zinc centered EKs were private purchase items worn by Kriegsmarine personnel, due to their non-corrosive properties in a salt water/air environment. However, there were some awarded EKs with brass or zinc centers.

[Bruce Simcox]

VonLuger

.....Vaulted EK1 fall into the category of private purchase.

--------------------

Bruce

[Gordon Williamson]

The Screwback EK1 was never prohibited, they were available right through the war. Initially, at the beginning of the war, whilst not prohibited, neither were they specifically permitted, but this was later done so basically they were available from 1939-45.

The "Kriegsmarine" link to brass and/or zinc centred EKs is pretty much known now to be an "urban myth". I'm sure some KM personnel did have them with brass centres and this is probably where the idea came from, after all it makes logical sense. I accepted this one myself for some time. However, Luftwaffe and Army guys had them too, that much is 100% certain, and so far no one has ever been able to come up with any form of period documentation to support the theory.
These are, at the end of the day, just manufacturer variants, and variants which were actually prohibited so the idea of some firms making them specifically for KM purchasers isn't really valid.

Gordon