Why?

[Marc Garlasco]

Gents,
Just got thsi cross from Herr Niemann. Why would the wearer have put the 1813 on the obverse???
Marc

[Dave Kane]

Just a guess but judging by the 'bend' in the pins someone put the thing together or at one time someone else took it apart and put it back this way.


These things have been 'floating' around for years and years and anything could have happened in the period

That's why it's so important to look at the OVERALL piece and the PATINA etc. and stand back and say....could it be?

DN is great at what he does but anything can slip through....and with that in mind any number of original items may not be text book in nature.

This one however, given the view of the pins leaves me a little suspicious.

Dave

[Frank Heukemes]

The cross with spange wasn´t worn this way anyway, so somebody put these together at some point in time. Just ribbon and spange were worn. A medal bar would be the exception but this is not taken from a medal bar.

[George Stimson]

Both pieces look good in any case. The Spange looks like a Meybauer.

[Marc Garlasco]

Thanks gents. Yeah, I guess these have been around a while and folks do the darndest things. Would you recommend I separate the pieces or is there a point?
Marc

[George Stimson]

I would leave it just the way it is.

[Don D.]

I wouldn't take a chance because if you break a prong on the spange you will not be a happy camper.
Don

[Mark S.]

you could probably squirm the ribbon out from the prongs, but you might have to relax the tension on the prongs a bit to do so.

[Vadim K]

Marc, another thing. Speaking from the Imperial side of the fence, it is not uncommon to see 1914 EKs mounted on medal bars in reverse. The exact reason for this is unknown but one theory is that it was done as a gesture of defiance by non-Prussians (as this is almost always seen on non-Prussian medal bars).

[paddywhack]

iv taken the ribbion off of my spange to look and see if it was ok and it was the most nerve racking 5 minets of my life(well that and when during a mountain bike race i found my brakes wernt works as i was shooting down the arse end of mountain and heading into a forest!!) BUT if you do it succfuly its great to see the back (i crashed in the raced but the pins didnt break so it was grand in the end!! )