Opinions on Spanish cross in silver and gold

[Rik]

I'm looking at these two crosses at a dealers site and I'm curious what you think of them.
First the silver one:

[Rik]

And the gold one (or is it bronze?)

[Ludwig]

They both look OK to me.

[AndyC]

They both look OK to me.

I,ll agree both looks good



Andy

[Gew44]

Yes both are originals and Silver & Bronze grade.

[Rik]

Yes both are originals and Silver & Bronze grade.

You think this is a bronze one?
There seems to be some gold toning on this one but I'm not really sure what to make out of it.

[RKC]

'Gold' & 'Silver' Spanish Crosses

Rik:

Both are good & I tend to vote towards "Gold" on that second cross. A 'bronze' award tends to "darken" with age not get lighter & brighter. Yours shows the 'bright yellow-gold' in spots on the reverse as well as on the front but, more so on the reverse.

The dark area on the front I think is an 'age' stain in the plating & possibly some chemical at one time got on the surface & stained or killed the brightness of the plating. One thing you got going on both these crosses is that they both have "sweeping" tails on the eagles & not "drooped" tails!

I'd buy them if I were looking for Spanish Crosses!

Ron

[Gew44]

The seller told:
"Spanienkreuz in gold mit Schwertern, unberührtes Stück" him had the item on hands and probably saw better than me from pictures.
For € 1.200 I would like sure of 100%.
But only with natural light is possible understanding better the real color, for me gold is like this photo.

Ciao

[Ludwig]

I would say it´s a golden one.

[Rik]

Thanks for the input!

[Steinar]

those are really good looking

[90th Light]

The Spanish Crosses which started this thread are originals, a nice "silver" grade and a slightly tarnished "bronze" grade.

The bronze one may look a like gold in places because it is still retaining its original baked on factory lacquer in those positions. The areas which have turned a darker bronze color is where the factory lacquer has worn off and the metal has been exposed to the elements. One often sees the same bright factory bronze finish on DRL badges and SA sports badges from the pre-war and early war period.

Later in the war when the Germans ran short of certain types of finish, they would sometimes use the bright bronze finish as a substitue for gold on a zinc badge such as a flight clasp but not early in the war when they had good access to the materials needed.

What "Gew44" shows in post number 8 is an impressive example of a gold finish (hard to get maker also ). This is what one should look for esp. given the price that a Gold Spanish Cross sells for these days,

Chris

[Rik]

Thanks Chris , usefull input.

Anybody else: bronze or gold?