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    What have you in the drawer that's rare?


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    An order without swords made before 1916 and still unawarded would be Gold, would it not? Since this is a silver gilt piece, this would appear to be just another way of attaching the swords. The rivets appear to be bronze, perhaps this was a later war way to speed up production when so many of these were being awarded. Was Godet an official supplier of the HHO to the Order Chancellery? If not this could even be post war. Still a Godet and a nice piece for the collection.

    Dan Murphy

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    An order without swords made before 1916 and still unawarded would be Gold, would it not? Since this is a silver gilt piece, this would appear to be just another way of attaching the swords. The rivets appear to be bronze, perhaps this was a later war way to speed up production when so many of these were being awarded. Was Godet an official supplier of the HHO to the Order Chancellery? If not this could even be post war. Still a Godet and a nice piece for the collection.

    Dan Murphy

    With over 7000 House Orders awarded, even Godet was official supplier.

    My experience shows silver gilt rivets.

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    ach ja, Hohenzollern...

    BTW here is a silver-gilt Godet Hohenzollern knight without swords.

    Awarded ca. 24 times in WW1- this was awarded to Ernst Vollbehr; the war painter of the Army Group Crown Prince.

    Best regards

    Daniel

    That is a truly great piece!

    May I ask whether there is a roll of the Hohenzollern without swords out there? Are these 24 (or at least some of them) known?

    Thanks

    Chris

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    Hi,

    I think I can add something to this great thread.

    1870 EK2s are not that uncommon and 1870 EK1s aren't quite rare but I can count on one hand the number of this type of period conversion I have seen.

    Regards

    Mike K

    Obverse...

    Edited by Mike K
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    Hi,

    How about something dated just after WW1 but definitely WW1 related? "Heimkehrdienst" literally translates as Home Coming Service. Never seen another one like it. Although made in Berlin, Verkulien thought it may be Austrian related.

    Regards

    Mike K

    PS: it came in a ?snake/crocodile skin covered AWS marked (ie matching) case (no insert as such though, just a "felt paper" base) - also a bit of a rarity.

    Obverse...

    Edited by Mike K
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    Gentlemen,

    Thank you, Bob, for your kind comment. I waited twenty years for these two pieces to become available. The civil merit medal (post #181)is the only one of this issue that I have ever seen on the market. I had seen two previous Ernst August Order commander's stars prior to getting this (post #189) one; but they were both, at best, exile pieces whereas this one is pre-exile and marked by Carl B?sch.

    Mike K, that is a wonderful cross. I have seen this type of arrangement in the past; but only on the Mecklenburg Schwerin 1866, 1870 and 1914 crosses. For me, this is a first - very, very nice.

    And Joe, I was immediately taken by your midwife?s badge. Aside from the obvious rarity, the workmanship appears to be truly outstanding.

    I would certainly welcome the opportunity to see both of these pieces firsthand someday.

    Best wishes to you all,

    Wild Card

    Edited by Wild Card
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    Guest Rick Research

    "although not widely sought after - exceedingly rare!"

    Here's another example of THAT:

    [attachmentid=15045]

    The non-exciting jewel here is in last place-- the Austro-Hungarian 1908 Jubilee Medal for FOREIGN regiments whose honorary "Chief" Emperor Franz Joseph was, here in the bronze for enlisted and NCO ranks. (Yes, that IS exactly the same ribbon later used for the 1912-13 Mobilization Cross.) For some reason the silver ones to OFFICERS are almost "common" by comparison, since most, if NOT all, of said regiments' officers got the medal, but only a very FEW select noncommissioned personnel in each unit did.

    The only two PRUSSIAN regiments eligible were the 2nd Guard Grenadiers and the 16th Dragoons. Now I don't know total numbers for all the regiments from England to Russia that were eligible, but for the PRUSSIAN army, the only exact figures I have are from the earlier 1898 version--

    in the 2nd Guard Grenadiers then, 80 silver and 23 bronze 1898 medals were awarded.

    So chances are, for the PRUSSIAN army, this bronze medal for the 1908 jubilee was awarded roughly 50 times. Remove the F?hnriche who got bronzes because they weren't commissioned yet from that and maybe 45 possible NCOs, tops. (The recipients in GGR2 1898 were the Band Master--another type whose bars these could NOT be-- deduct two more "possibles!"--the regimental clerk, 4 selected retirees, and 13 Sergeants. If this guy was a pre-1908 retiree, he was already a pre-1897 (no Centenary Medal) retiree, making him an ANCIENT WW1 combat veteran in 1935!)

    What makes this MORE special to me is that I was able to REUNITE the group, busted by a German dealer who split off the WW1-1934 THREE medal bar which had had this man's awards unhooked for being sewn into the FOUR bar (there are clip hooks inside the 3 medal bar-- EK2 there for display to show "all still intact" with this removable style.) The four bar and matching ribbon bar were obtained in the U.S.-- the earlier bar by a friend in Germany who had seen the complete group and knew where to get the remnant for me.

    And SOMEWHERE out there are the award documents. (From the origin, Dragoner Regiment 16.) :speechless:

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    • 4 months later...

    Since prussian orders enjoy here always large popularity, I would like to show you my comture star with swords from the royal prussian houseorder of Hohenzollern.

    IPB Image

    Avers, with some damages in enamel. The two lower swordparts are lost.

    IPB Image

    Revers, silver and gold, needel silver gilded, 67 gr., 77,5 x 68 mm

    The star is compound from three segments. The rear of the cross is continuous white enamelled.

    IPB Image

    Star in side view

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    IPB Image

    Opened hinge of the needle with a mark.

    Due to the few awards it is one of the rarest medals of Prussia and the rarest in my Collection.

    Wagner manufactured this order from 1883 to 1918. Since the cross and the swords were manufactured in gold, production is to be excluded after 1916.

    Greetings

    Red

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