Claudius

Het!

yes.

Hello KDVR; These St. George medals and crosses really need to be examined in person. The fakes work very hard to convince with markings designed to fool. In hand, it's easier to be measure, weigh and listen to the subject awards to check for veracity. Yes, I said "listen". The legit medals/crosses have a distinct sound. However, there are some members here who might venture a judgment on these awards without having them in their hands.

Hello Cheston; Welcome to GMIC! Thanks for showing your clasp. You correctly linked the "Afrika" clasp with the Sächsische Herzogtümer medal. This medal also had a sword clasp for "China" service. According to DOE (Deutsche Orden und Ehrenzeichen 1800-1945 by Nimmergut) both of these clasps came with swords. There was no known "no sword" clasp version. I have my doubts about your clasp, not just because there are no swords, but because the kerning is different from known examples.

Hello Dan; It appears like you have something there that looks like the Turkish Order of Medjidie -5th class. I say, "looks like" because I don't like this one. However, there are others on this forum with a LOT more experience than me with these orders, and they may disagree. There are better quality Medjidies that can be purchased for $300 -$500. In the last two years there has been some downward price pressure on these awards.

Hello Jean; Peter is quite correct. There were many little veteran's organizations that sprang up after the doughboys returned home. These ex-service members that all served together in the same unit would have their meetings and reunions and issue little badges and medals to commemorate these gatherings. Understandably, since they were all from a single unit, they all served under the same branch of the armed services. Your medal is more generalized because it doesn't indicate any one unit/service and instead displays each of them. From the 11 o'clock position and moving clockwise it looks like; Signal Corp, Marine, Infantry, Calvary, Artillery, Navy, Engineers, ???. The American Emblem Company of Utica, NY made a variety of medals, buttons, and related paraphernalia for organizations on the east coast. I think your medal was designed to for wider circulation than just a single veteran's group or combat service man. This medal could have been worn by anyone that provided service to the 1917-18 war effort. Even if they didn't serve overseas.

King Haakon VII Coronation Medal !!!! Great identification skills!

beautiful.

Hello Vince; When examining Imperial German medals and badges there are a few "tells" that all collectors like to use to distinguish the fakes from the genuine. Still some items fall outside this scrutiny and are able to fool the experts. Imperial Russian items seems to have taken this to another level. There are so many medals that have been copied over the years and their production techniques have improved to adjust for these past "tells". No one tell alone is sufficient to judge and now a battery of tests have to be considered when considering a piece. Any public disclosure of these small discrepancies will only continue to educate these Fakers and they will make improvements. My best suggestion is to closely, closely examine these medals under magnification and compare them with other, known genuine medals...and medal bars. I think you will see the differences in finish, details and wear patterns

Hello Vince; I can't speak for anyone, but this bar seems to be a bit problematic; ribbons, hanger, rings, medals. IMO

These are still nice ribbon bars. Can you show us the reverse please. Have you taken a black light to the top bar? Thanks for showing them.

Hello ErwinZ; Welcome to GMIC. Thanks for posting your colourized photos. They really show the humanity behind these B&W photos. I find them engrossing.

.......and that's why I asked if you liked document groups. (remember post #2) If you don't like documents...that's ok. Not everyone does. Or swords, or insignia, photos, signatures, hats or kewpie dolls. If your not interested, just say so. have a good MAX show.

That's why their called document groups.

I have some really nice, complex document groups, but here is straight forward one that I would part with.

how do you feel about groups of medal documents attributed to one person?

@Claudio Fantastic!

Hello; Certainly the ribbon matches and it is a good fit for the time period and ribbon bar style. If that is the medal for this bar, that should narrow down this gentleman's Saxon unit. (see Order of Battle for 1866 and 1870-71).

What a great Saxon bar! 1) Saxon Civil Merit w/swords 2) EK2 w/EK device 4) Franco-Prussian War What is #3? It appears to be too yellow to be the Saxon Commemorative Cross for Medical Service, but maybe it is? Can we see the reverse of the bar?

Solomon; I looked at the medal under magnification. It's a wonderful strike! The "silber" mark on the ring is really nice. And unusual. As a category of medals, I really like these Lifesaving medals.

Hello 03fahnen; I can see why you love this ribbon bar, but I don't think your ribbon bar is simple. I think it speaks volumes! Obviously a veteran of the northern Western Front and proud of all his engagements he was involved in. The bar was made shortly after the war's end and he quickly acquired all of the available veteran's medals he could find (and the battle bars). He was old fashion or thrifty, or both. He liked the look of a old-type wider bar that would have adequate room for his battle bars. The clips so that he could have the medals dangle below or off depending on the social occasion. I think he wore the bar many times without them, and he wore it often. He either didn't want to change his bar after 1934, or he had an entirely new bar made with the Hindenburg Cross on it. thank you for showing it!

OMG....Are you kidding me?!?!? "Pour le Merite 17.12.1917" Outstanding!

Hello Laurentius; Don't be too disappointed in yourself. It has been a long process -over the last 30 years. We all had to "learn" what to look for after the fakes started to appear in the marketplace.

1)The above reference books show the features found with genuine badges. 2)The badge for sale by JP -militaria does not have the features found in the reference books above. 3)The JP -militaria badge is not a genuine badge. Q.E.D.