MM26 BH. Mayer ek1 "Russian hoard" cross.

I recently aquired this BH Mayer maker marked 26 Russian hoard cross.
I could not believe the amount of frosting still intact after 65 years or so.
The story goes that someone found a box of these crosses in a warehouse somewhere in Russia that had been the supply depot for a German infantry division.
They all got sold up a few years ago, and are now quite hard to get a hold of.
There is a small spot of rust which is just visible in the photos with some bubbling underneath the smooth core paint, which is a trait of these crosses.
I hope you like it.
regards John

 

superb condition, john..

 

Jaysus John, stay away a little while and you come back with some very nice goodies ;-)) That thing is absolutely gorgeous. The best I have is a near mint one with slight discolorization of the silver on the back side-but still isnt as nice as this one is.

 

John I hate you with all your gorgeous goodies! This boxed cross must be quite rare, thanks for sharing this with us

 

Hi Skip, hows it been?
Thanks for the comments on this one, when I saw it sitting there, it spoke to me!
It said softly in my ear "take me home, take me home"
then I realised it was my better half bored watching me ogling the militaria. Ha ha!!
The cross's frosting is amazing, I have never seen one like this before.

regards John

 

:lol::lol: At least it didnt whisper Sweet Nothings, in your ear :lol:

 

Awesome example John, congrats on getting this one. I really like the 26 crosses, one of my favorites. Here is my example.

Best Regards, fischer

 

PS...forgot to mention mine is an unmarked 26 and is also a Russian Hoarde cross.

 

Hi Fischer, nice to hear from you. Thats another sweet example you have there. I love the thick ribbing and frosting on these crosses,
really makes them stand out, dont you think?
I heard these crosses were found a few years ago, 2003? How long have you had your example?

regards John

 

Now you guys are making me want one of those "Russian Horded" crosses myself ;-))

 

Quite right too Carl, get looking for a nice 26 ek1 set.

 

Heh heh, at this rate, ill never have a new computer ;-)) However, if I do sell my Imperial stuff off? that'll give me plenty to have on hand for one of those crosses ;-))

 

I would be leary of the "warehouse" stories and the "mint condition" items that are supposed to come from these "warehouse" finds,

back in 1984/85 I came across a guy that used that same "warehouse" story and he had a lot of mint condition items in their boxes and packets, His story was they came from a "warehouse" in Eastern Poland and he had great mint condition frosted medals, boxed medals, medals in envelopes and they were all in super mint condition

well I bought a number of these assault badges and Iron Crosses from him and thank god back in 1985 they were a lot cheaper, but they were all in super mint condition and expertly made, frosted assault badges, iron crosses, frosted iron cross spangs, beautiful spin back Iron cross first class, etc.

However none of them had any Patina at all and looked like jewelers quality, mint condition pieces, I took them to my uncle who is a huge collector and had been since around 1965 and he had big doubts about them. After I told him the "warehouse" story he really got suspicious

Later on he took me with him to go visit the Militaria book writer and collector (ret Lt. Col) John Angolia and John and my uncle both said that they were not original period items, they said they looked like they may have been made from original dies or very well made dies but they were repros.

The assault badges and Iron Crosses I got from this guy look a lot like the ones you have here. Even if the items had been sitting in a "warehouse" for the past 60 years or so they would have a ton of Patina on them, the Silver on the iron crosses would be almost black with Patina, so if you are not cleaning them in any way I would wonder why they are so clean and mint looking

that was my first experience about "believe the item, not the story" saying. I had been telling everyone that I had found a guy who had connections to a "warehouse in Eastern Poland" find and ulitmately the items, although very near perfect in every way, were repros

I hope yours are not repros and I am certainly not saying they are not real, but the lack of age and patina and the warehouse story brings back bad memories for me,

 

How unfortunate you have bad memories of your "hoard finds". Fortunately for Fischer and myself, this is one story that is true and very well documented by considerable amount of collectors and dealers etc. As for patina, it really depends how they are stored. I have about 6 mint examples with no patina whatsoever. As for believe the item and not the story, yes you are totally correct, however if you are not going to believe at least some stories, then you might as well forget ever listening to veterans, and by that, I mean the vets who fought and won these wonderful awards. How many times have you held a piece in your hands and thought, "if only you could speak?", well some do, its just watching what and when you believe. Havent you ever heard of the Deschler hoard find? I would also say, that after reading your post, it was unfortunate that this seller sold you the yarn about his award badges of all descriptions, when in fact the majority of "genuine" hoard finds, usually are restricted to the same pieces. eg Russian Hoard = Iron cross 1st class in case of issue with the same boxes, mms etc. The deschler hoard find was medals, ek2s kvk2s with and without kvk 1st class with and without and Ost medals, all stamped with their mm 1. There has also been the JFS , IAB Find with all the pieces being infantry assault badges and the latest boxes of 50 Panzerkampfabzeichen by the maker Hermann Aurich all individually wrapped, as were the Deschlers. You didnt mention if your awards, from this sellers "hoard" were individually wrapped, and packeted. These examples shown are recognised as war time originals. Also, as time has gone by, it has also come to light that certain older authors whether knowingly or unwittingly, included some repros in their books. Have you still got these awards, it might be an idea, if you do, to post them up for scrutiny and further research and future catalouging of repros/ fakes? Now, there are some fantastic well addressed and researched books out there. Like the EK1 by Maerz and Stimson, where you can find on page 207, these types of cross.
Hope thats helpful. R John

 

I sold my entire collection back in the late 1980s to help pay for college,

thanks for enlightening me on the Hoard details, I just saw "the warehouse find" on your post and thought I would relate the story of my experience with a warehouse find.

It is great that you were able to some of these pieces and it must make you pretty happy to have them.

Now you have me thinking that my uncle and J. Angolia may or may not have been correct in thinking my items may not be original. Back in the early 80s there were not a lot of reference materials available and of course there was not internet then and information and experiences with collectors was not as widely known. The items I bought were perfect in every way and maker marked, My uncle and Angolia just did not believe the warehouse story as they had not heard of that before

well who knows since those items that I had are long gone but they did help me pay for my education. Over the past two decades I have considered collection medals again but the cost now and the influx of quality repros has deterred me. Now I only have a collection of Luftwaffe and U-Boat Knights Cross wearers autographed photos and my collection is well over 300 signed photos.

I have posted quite a few of them on the photos and documents comment board

thanks for the details on your items and I must say that now "I am intensely jealous"