Cased Mayer EK1 Spange

Product Description: This cased Mayer EK1 Spange is a choice example of a scarce cased award. The Spange is a very attractive, top quality piece, made of nickel silver. It’s unmarked, but this variant is attributed to the firm of B. H. Mayer.  The Spange still retains some of its silver frosting, and most of the plating, with a light age patina throughout. It retains great detail, and shows only slight wear. The case is a nice one, with only very slight wear to the black artificial leather covering on the exterior. The lid is adorned with an embossed silver representation of the Spange inside. The case features a typical rectangular push button seen on the B. H. Mayer cases. The hinge and push button are both intact and functional, and there is a small tear to the black leatherette near the hinge. Inside, the Spange rests on a black velvet covered insert, which retains original color and also shows a bit of old dust. The white silk lining inside the lid has some slight staining. This cased Mayer EK1 Spange displays great, and is in excellent condition.

Historical Description: When Adolf Hitler reinstituted the historical Iron Cross was decoration on September 1, 1939, he also instituted a special new award, the “Wiederholungsspange,” to recognize people who had earned the 1914 Iron Cross during WWI and whose actions in this new war merited being awarded the Iron Cross again. There were two different patterns of this Spange, for the First and Second Classes of the Iron Cross. Both of them took the form of a German national eagle and swastika emblem, with outstretched wings, over a bar with the date “1939.” The First-Class award had a pin attachment or screw back, to enable it to be worn on the uniform pocket over the 1914 Iron Cross. Some combo-type awards are also known, with the Spange fastened to the top arm of the 1914 cross. The Second Class Spange had two or four prongs on the reverse and was affixed to a length of 1914 pattern Iron Cross ribbon. Most of the Spange awards were made of a brass alloy (Buntmetall) with a silver finish, while late war examples were produced from zinc. As with most German combat awards, there were many variations of the Spange produced, including miniature awards for the ribbon bar.

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