Crosses of Independence without and with swords made by Zygadlewicz and National Mint - how to distinguish them ?Article with advices.
My task here is to tell our members in few sentences how to distinguish these 2 makers . It’s my latest discovery how to spot which crosses were made by Zygadlewicz but I wouldnt be able to do that without great amount of help that came from Tony Zawadzki our moderator and great person that’s helping everyone in this forum actually for free . I really apprecieate his help in spotting this and in sending me photos from his collection to do the comparision ( all photos are from Tony’s collection except Krzyż Niepodległości z Mieczami made by Zygadlewicz that’s actually from my collection ). Hope this advices will help you spot Zygadlewicz crosses in your collection ( Tony actually did ; > ) .
Ok so as far as we known till this day persons awarded Cross of Independence or Cross of Independence with swords were able to order them from Committee of Cross and Medal of Independence or from Stefan Zygadlewicz . You can also see the prices of both : ) .
Most vieable differences when you want to spot theese two makers are :
1. Letters Ł and Ś in "Niepodległości writing " . They’re different in Zygadlewicz and Mennica pieces . Especially "Ś" in Zygadlewicz crosses looks like "S" letter2.Shape of arms . Zygadlewicz crosses are fatter as you can see on the photo
3. Type of the ring . These were made manually in Zygadlewicz crosses and bent . In mennica crosses they’re perfectly round probably made by machine .
4.Enamel quality . As we look at both carefully you can see that enamel in Mennica pieces are better quality one . But it’s not as easy to spot as first 3 points.
That’s all . I hope that I was able to help someone with this article .It’s great thing to me that we’re able to spot both types right now .Without this knowledge you could take Zygadlewicz cross for repaired one coss the ring looks differently and now no one will decline their originality and that’s great I guess. I also think that it’s important to remember that theese pre war stuff means something more than makers and financial value . Think about people who lost their lifes while fighting for free Poland . For example lists of persons awarded Cross of Independence with swords were used as executions list by nazis and communists after 1939 . Not many of them survived they war … Remember about this when getting another pre war award .. It’s not another toy or piece of metal ..It’s part of great person’s life..
Na koniec chciałbym jeszcze raz złożyć moje serdeczne wyrazy podziękowania na ręce Pana Antoniego Zawadzkiego za udostępnienie fotografii Krzyża Niepodległości ( szt.2 ) i Krzyża Niepodległości z Mieczami ( szt.1 ) oraz zdjęć przedstawiających ofertę Zygadlewicza i Komitetu Medalu i Krzyża Niepodległości . Zdjęcie Krzyża Niepodległości z Mieczami produkcji Stefana Zygadlewicza pochodzi z mojej kolekcji , a sam krzyż jest moją własnością .
In the end I would like to thank again Mr . Antoni Zawadzki for letting me to publish photos of his Crossess of Independence , his Cross of Independence with Swords ( made by National Mint) and photos of Zygadlewicz and Committee offer of ordering crosses .Photos of Cross of Independence with Swords made by Zygadlewicz is mine and cross itself is part of mine collection.
Chwała Bohaterom !
Niech Żyje Wolna i Niepodległa Polska !
