How important is a maker mark?

[Marc Garlasco]

As a new collector I would like to understand how important it is for crosses to have a maker mark. Does one seriously increase the quality and price of a piece? What else can it tell me?
Thanks!
Marc

[Gerd Becker]

As a new collector I would like to understand how important it is for crosses to have a maker mark. Does one seriously increase the quality and price of a piece? What else can it tell me?
Thanks!
Marc

Marc,

maker marked pieces are generally a bit more valuable, maybe because there are a lot of collectors out there, who collect one award from different makers. I would say, maker marked medals are 10-20 % more expensive than non marked medals.

best,
Gerd

[tom hansen]

An additional feature to maker marked pieces is ease of identification. With a particular maker mark, it is easy to focus on known characteristics of the pieces to determine if they are consistent with known standards. Thus, fake detection becomes a little easier. As Gerd said, there is a premium for a maker mark as some collectors who are attempting to achieve a "complete" collection of a particular medal will seek out certain maker marks, increasing their price relative to unmarked pieces.

[Tim B.]

Marc,

I don't think the pieces that are "maker marked" per se are necessarily better quality or more valuable just because they carry a maker's stamp, though most dealers will certainly try and charge a premium for this.

As Gerd stated, there are collectors out there that simply must have one of each maker and that becomes a problem when some are harder to find than others. The old supply vs demand and the cost goes up the harder it is to find something. Additionally, having a maker's stamp on a piece generally gives the collector a set of die characteristics to look for and verify that what they are looking at conforms to known originals by that manufacturer. That can be a big help weeding out fakes, especially to someone just starting out.

Personally, I find there are many beautiful unmarked EK's out there that are early high quality pieces and are often overlooked by collectors in general, but that's okay, it leaves more for me to choose from!
Tim

[Tim B.]

Too funny Tom,

We must have been thinking along the same lines and typing at the same time!
Tim

[Marc Garlasco]

Gents,
All the comments are great! Keep them coming. I had seen some gorgeous unmarked examples and was wondering if they were considered "lesser quality" since they had no maker mark. Now I know this was incorrect.

So, why do some not have a maker mark?

[tom hansen]

Too funny Tom,

We must have been thinking along the same lines and typing at the same time!
Tim

yep- looks like the same note .

[tom hansen]

Gents,
All the comments are great! Keep them coming. I had seen some gorgeous unmarked examples and was wondering if they were considered "lesser quality" since they had no maker mark. Now I know this was incorrect.

So, why do some not have a maker mark?

According to Gordon's book, all manufacturers submitting awards after 1944 were required to have a manufacturer stamp, or "lieferant" code. Those intended for private pruchase use were to have an "L" prefix as of late 1940, although manufacturerers were allowed to use up existing supplies of unmarked awards, which were presumably created for private pruchase. After May 1941, all retail sales peices were required to have "L" markings. Prior to that time, some awards intended for private purchase were not stamped with the manufacturer codes. Gordon further points out that this was made more confusing, in that some manufacturers did not mark all their pieces with their stamp, even when intended as award pieces. Further, all retail sales of higher awards, particulary the RK, were forbidden after 1941 and the existing intended retail pieces were handed over to the Prasidialkanzlei to be used as award pieces. Therefore, as Pieter has pointed out on this forum, an L/12 junckers RK was more likely to have been an actual award piece than a lazy 2 marked piece, despite the latter being marked with the lieferant stamp and the former marked with a commercial retail stamp.

Confused? Read it about three times in Gordon's book. The upshot of it is that an unmarked piece may very well be an awarded piece, while a marked piece may have never made it out of the shop and was never awarded. Among RKs, a "L" marked piece may have in fact been awarded, while a proper lieferant marked piece may or may not have been awarded.

[Marc Garlasco]

Tom,
Thanks. I just ordered Gordon's book - can't wait until it comes. Read The Iron Time last week. Still have many questions!
Marc