Das erste

[paddy0302]

Thanks all. I did not pay much for it and the gentlemen I purchased from is a good and well respected man; if the cross is not period, he would have been as surprised as I. I am still a bit surprised as in hand, it looks right, as far as wear and in comparison with other mm25s I've looked at here. My plan is to get another 25 to compare. Will keep an eye out for one. Thanks again

[Danny70]

Have a look at this - another '25' marked stuttgart fake. This cross is the 'humpless' version, but otherwise identical (if you disregard the small matter of the chemical ageing and the fresh bullet hole)!

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=572982

[streptile]

fake cross with original ring

I agree.

[paddy0302]

Danny, Slainte. From looking at that one and some of other 25s, biggest difference I see is on the 3 oclock low arm where the beading stops and the border around the beading wider on mine. Are those the giveaways? Ring, however, looks right. Same as the other good examples, which is odd.

[streptile]

The newest trend in faking is to mix authentic components with faked ones.

I've seen (among other things):

• Fake EK2 Round-3 cores in authentic EK1 frames by other makers.
• Fake Deumer Schinkel cores in authentic Deumer Schinkel frames. Scary.
• Fake EK2s with authentic numbered rings from other makers.
• Fake Schinkel cores in authentic 1914 EK2 and EK1 frames.
• Authentic R3 EK2 cores in fake frames with authentic hardware.

I think the point is not so much to make a quick buck, but to confuse collectors down the road, who tend to look only at one thing (e.g., the pin, or the core, or the number stamp) to authenticate a cross.

For example, the second entry above is intended to legitimize the fake Schinkel core. Then later fakers can use this core in their own frames, and collectors might now suspect the core itself is good, so the cross is good.