K&Q RK for opinions

[mloppkit]

Fact is that the flaw is a sign of a genuine late war K&Q and that is a good thing. IMHO there is no difference in originality between one with or one without flaw. - Dietrich Maerz

Very few -if any- have done more to advance the knowledge we now have about Knights Crosses than Dietrich Maerz, be it from his years of tireless research, viewing endless amounts of documentary evidence, interviews, micro-photography and metalurgy to name but a few. I am not alone in being grateful to the work he has carried out and consider him to be one of the most eminent experts we have in this field.

Many flawed late K&Q RK's have been found not mint -but well worn and battle scarred from the last and some of the most intense months of the war.

-My opinion anyway,
Best Regards, Michael

[Andreas Klein]

I can't speak directly for or about the knight cross sector. I can only ad some things about the common awards which were under control of the PKZ:

1.
I/we have not found any hint that there could be a third production line for "display" awards. This doesn't make sense to me. I share the opinion that every display or replacement award came out of the official PKZ or the private LDO production.

2.
Speaking for the wound badge i can say that there were in fact two different production lines with different pricing and quality of the badges.

But i have some doubts that we could identify it anymore.

[Andreas Klein]

T I'd imagine that once the assembly would be finished, and Crosses were cased, the delivery department of those manufacturers would just ship them off without having to check the Crosses whether they were marked or not for the delivery to the intended channel, be it the LDO, PKZ, private sale or display.

We must stop to believe that makers could produce whatever they want. It wasn't the maker who produced 10.000 crosses and asked the PKZ if they would like to buy them.

It was the other way. The PKZ wanted 10.000 crosses and ordered them directly by the maker --- or better said: official production was always an on demand prosduction started by the buyer.

So for the maker it was clear that they had now to mark his production with the PKZ number.

[Leroy]

And this one, Andreas?

[Andreas Klein]

Hi Gentry,

due to it's former owner (which i know in person) this cross was a private purchased one in a sales shop before the LDO was formed, production was controlled and the private sales of the knight cross was forbidden.

Please have a look on the more orange than red ribbon of it ... this is the the ribbon design and colering before the LDO was formed and a master designer for the ribbons was installed.

So everything on it points to very early war.

My post above was only to explain that - when it comes to official orders - that makers knew how to mark the stuff - because the buyer started the order.

I can't tell you how it happend for the private market.

[Leroy]

Thank you, Andreas, for that confirmation! I just wanted everyone to see an example of what was legitimately in existence (zink core, silvered frame). I personally believe other uses were found for these after the LDO/PKZ "shut out", but that's just me, based on what I have heard and seen.

[Leroy]

...and I hope other documentation will eventually surface.