Unfinished (?) Iron Cross

[cevensky]

Hello,
I thought I'd post this to hear everyone's comments. I got this today straight from the home of a recently deceased veteran who was basically family. I don't have any doubt as to its authenticity, as both of the people who lived in this house were disabled and had neither the money, time, nor means to have a fake iron cross, but I did think it was odd that it still had a protrusion of metal on the bottom and it had the swastika and "1939" on BOTH sides.
I think perhaps it was pulled from a factory or perhaps incorrectly finished by the Americans. This would have been acquired at THE end of the war.
Thanks for your thoughts.

[Tony T-S]

I think you have an attempt to put two EKIs together there. The flat rear surface of each would be ideal for such an operation. An instant EKI collection with display thingy at the bottom. How interesting.

[cevensky]

How much would this be worth because it was definitely done pre-capture?

[Tony T-S]

I can't see a German doing this unless as a POW, but anything is possible. No idea of the worth. My first reaction is to want to pull them apart again and try and repair them, but that has nothing to do with the thread.

I fear that as they have been damaged to make this they may not be worth much, but we'll wait and see. I have no idea.

[AUSGANG]

I reckon that the flange on the bottom probably fit in to something and it was part of a post-war souvenir. I use the phrase "post-war" to mean directly after the war when souvenir items were made from whatever was handy, not years later. But, as has been said, who knows... all that is for sure is that it's two EK1s put together. Cool piece, file under Oddities...

[cevensky]

Thanks a bunch you guys.
This was found with a small amount of other things and there wasn't a chance to look in the storage space, but I am welcome to do that next time so maybe I'll find more interesting stuff... maybe the rest of this "display"

[cevensky]

Alright!
For those of you who were curious (myself included) I finally did it.
I figured it couldn't hurt, since they can always be returned to the "display" form and look exactly the same.
So they popped apart pretty easy and the spange part came right off too!
One of them is marked L/11 for Wilhelm Deumer and the other is unmarked, but you can see it used to be the screw on type. No serious damage has been done except for the soldering is still there and of course the pin and catch and the screw have been removed.

[Tony T-S]

I'm sure that solder would clean up off the back pretty well too. Are you going to restore them further? I think this treats the medals with a little more dignity than the other set up.

[cevensky]

I think if I can find a cheap soldering iron, I should be able to melt off the solder as it looks like run of the mill, low melting point solder.
Oh, and as the story goes, both were removed from dead solders' tunics. Not sure during which battle though.
I'll keep you updated and post another picture of the backs when I remove the solder.

[Douglas 5]

Interesting setup and both EK1s happen to be from the same maker too .

Douglas

[Gew44]

Very interesting post and crosses.

Both are made by Deumer, the pin hardware marked L/11 the 2nd with a rare screwback hardware, maybe the clammshell type.

The same Factory is visible also for same core & date desing.

IMHO well done, now are come back two decents crosses.

Regards

Gew44/Max

[cevensky]

That is interesting. Thanks everyone for your thoughts and kind words. I wish the backs didn't get quite as scratched in separation but it isn't awful and the fronts are still pristine.
I just wish the catch and screw back were still attached!!!

[cevensky]

Oops. But I can't complain.
They were free and came with a story!

[Tony T-S]

Yes. Someone's bravery being restored. Just watch the solder melting idea, you may melt the solder holding the frames together in the process. Not sure what the best thing to do would be. Actually, as the backs have been filed anyway you could probably safely file the rest of the solder off without too much harm. They could then be smoothed out with very fine sand paper and some polish. Don't polish the fronts though.

[cevensky]

I wouldn't dream of polishing the fronts! I actually happen to have a few different files along with some gun oil and sandpaper from when I built a model mp40.
But if I could get the soldering iron I could try to use just the tip and see how it goes..
We'll have to wait and see!