saschaw

Could you please show me one? Thanks.

Especially in WW1 and early post-WW1 era, we see ribbons for the HOH3X with swords but no crown, so that does not exclude it.

Don't agree in this: I think more, maybe most, of the awards on this bar, are fakes. The big Austrian medals, the Oldenburg cross probably are... the Silesian eagle of course as well. That's just fine. I'm as well keeping all fake bars in a box... :ninja:

Argh... the third ribbon bar is as bad. I could remember the source of the two others, and that's a very bad source, but I didn't remember the third came from the very same guy. I have hardly ever seen one real ribbon bar or medal bar that was offered by this person... Beware of those! :shame:

Poulton, sorry for the bad news. The Austrian medal bar is fake, as yet is said, and the upper and the lower ribbon bars are fakes, to. The Prussian medal bar is great!

Agree. This combination is coming with any class of Zähringer Löwe order, from merit cross (which has another ribbon, so does not fit here) over knight's cross 2nd class without and with oak leves up to knight's 1st class with or withjout oaks... Don't think that this bar had a Zähringer with oaks, leaving two classes possible. Swords not impossible, but very unlikely. Nice bar to a (probably) civilian!

Not me...

Right! I'm not sure, but at least that is what the awards are called: "für Manschaften und Unteroffiziere" - for EMs and NCOs.

The Prussian military long service awards for 9, 12 and 15 years of service were for EMs and NCOs only, while an officer would have to wait 25 years to get his XXV cross. Similar in other German states. Bavarian officers e.g. got a XXIV cross.

Those in post 1 yes, post 2 no.

The ones from eBay are indeed recent fakes!

One could think so - but I think I saw that before.

As it is not made from steel, this is a later, private purchased, replacement medal. I have no idea how long they were made/offered. I think noone knows. Likely it is from so called jubilee era, ca. 1895.

Wow! Never seen before one like this... probably by Meybauer... How about silver content? ;)

Wow, now that is an extremely nice set, one of the nicest I've seen in a while. If you ever want to get rid of it... I totally agree with your analyses, and think that Paul or Daniel may be able to trace him down. You don't know yet his name, do you?

Cheap fake. But he's usually offering them as such. Well, at least as fakes.

Another one that just ended. I liked it as well and placed a bid, but someone else palced a higher one. I think I haven't yet seen a dozend of these overall. But I will get one, some day. :whistle:

I like it, but missed auction's end. I think that was a nice bargain.

Same seller, similar award... I guess there will more be coming up. He once even had a (or: some) over-sized one... as bad as these are. http://cgi.ebay.de/Eiserner-Halbmond-Orden-Gallipoli-Turkei-/270663419014

That's right!

Thanks Demir. And congratulations you got your money back. I think he knows why he does this... That's a difficult and long discussion, we are having it in Germany quite often, and never all agree. It's even more difficult with people from three countries, that speak three different languages, I guess. Don did it sum up well, at least my point of view. There's a big, a huge difference between examples that are of non-official makers, made to be worn by real reciepients, and those that are recently made to fool someone. The main difference between fakes and copies: the maker's (or seller's) intention. A well-know German expert speaks of originals and not-originals. The latter includes anything, that is not the awarded, contemporary, officially made award. While e.g. a Godet made 1920s war medal cannot be an "original" in it's actual meaning, it is not a fake. It's not intended to deceive, and Godet probably did never claim they were of WW1 era Ottoman manufacture - why should they. So it's neither an original, nor a fake. It must be something else: a (contemporary, wearer's) copy. It would be great, if we could agree in this very points. :cool:

mhh... The 1870 medal ribbon looks like a Hindenburg cross' ribbon, this long service award wasn't instituted until 1913, and a 1870 vet should have received a 1897 medal. The group is odd, to say the least.

It's a crowned cypher "F" for grand duke Friedrich II. von Baden. Here are my two:

Wow... Feldwebelleutnant Altstädt from RIR 109 got his Zähringer merit cross on 02.09.15.

I'm not an expert on Ottoman stuff and others might know it better, but from what I know, there is not such an award.