Claudius

that's quite the farrago of items there. Imperial German shoulder boards, Japanese Imperial Visit medal, leather ammunition belt, b&w photos, US ribbon bar, and I can't see it very well, but an American Civil War 4-color print mounted with a postage stamp?

Hello Derekcccp; If you decide to post your techniques and procedures, Before and After photos of bullion restoration, may I recommend that you open a separate, dedicated thread on this "Preservation & Restoration of Military Artifacts" page.

take a personal check?

Stranger and stranger...."former Bavarian Flying troops". And now, presumably, operating armored cars. A couple of months before the Putsch...does anyone have the units that participated?

Res ipsa loquitor? -it is what I asked for, HOW and WHAT. But perhaps you might feel that Habeas corpus is more appropriate because you feel you are unjustly judged before you had a chance to present your methods for inspection. As for "hoofed off this forum" I'm flattered that you think I have any such influence when in fact I have none, and have even less desire to inflict any.

a thousand quid?!!, can I earn it through some other means, like services to the Order founder? Like catching rats on the premise or dispensing fragrance for the Grand Master?

Hello Derekcccp; Perhaps you are right. I am rejecting your cleaning technique before you have even told us HOW and with WHAT you clean your bullion thread. Maybe you have developed some kind of Reverse-Induction-Osmosis-Titrate that removes all tarnish without disturbing the piece. But you did say yourself, that you have 25 years of experience and need to use judgment when deciding to clean or not. An amateur to this field will hear about the benefits of cleaning and before they can say "soaked through" the patch is turned into a ball of thread with shiny metallic bits embedded in it.

Unless the uniform is being worn by an active service soldier and your drill sergeant is yelling at you for your dirty kit, it is generally a bad idea to clean the antique uniform of honest tarnish and wear.

This piece doesn't resemble in style, quality or overall design to any state award to any country that I've seen before. If another GMIC member can show me another legitimate example like it, I would gladly admit to being educated to their existence. However, I am interested in the breast star you inadvertently displayed in the last photo. What is that?

Hello Veljko; It looks like it is a handcrafted piece of jewelry. The center motif and the four profile heads are taken from source but the large open arms with the filigree appears to be all hand done.

Nice group with medals and documents, and portrait photo! Is the frame and mount how the family displayed his medals? Are you going to store it in the same manner? If you can get it out neatly, that tiny photo might look good duplicated and blown up to 3x3 to display next to the docs.

The second signature is a bit difficult for me, but I tried looking up the first. It should have been relatively easy, but I'm not coming up with a match. I'm not convinced that first one (or the second) is a pilot or an observer. This box has the signatures of PLM winners to flieger AND U-boat. However, after looking at aces for a match I did look up some obvious U-boat commanders and I didn't find a match.

I can't read it very well, even the date is obscure. But I think it is, what it appears to be. A watch fob owned by a veteran of the 1866 Austro-Prussian War.

Wow! Parade Schabracke. That's not something you see everyday. (At least not for me. I don't know what imperial stables you guys are hanging out at. )

Hello JohnSm; Welcome to GMIC. Regarding your Great-Grandfather's pin. I can't match this piece to any Romanian medal or order I know of. Maybe it's societal pin to a group, fraternity, club membership or tradesman association. Note, that he is wearing it on his lapel. If it was a Kingdom of Romanian decoration I would thought that he would have it on his left breast pocket. There may be a chance that others on this site may be immediately familiar with this pin and will be able to identity it in a second. I have to imagine that the rest of the photo offers no clues to who your Great-Grandfather was and what he did? It's a small hope, but it appears you "digitally" zoom the photo of the badge/pin. With the original photo, use a REALLY powerful magnifying glass and "optically" zoom the area and photo that area. ....yes, it does take some skill to line up the magnifying glass AND the camera to take the picture.

Hello Uli; I don't have anything to add that you don't probably know yourself. It is obviously a medal from the short-lived organization, Aero Club of America (1904-23) before it was transformed into the National Aeronautical Organization. It is engraved to Paul Prouvost in appreciation of his services to US pilots (as trainer?). Interesting that it is dated from "1914 -1918" and not just from when the US entered the war in 1917. I think this piece would be of interest to three types of collectors; 1) Collectors of everything "Aero Club of America", 2) Engraved to individuals medallion collectors or 3) Between the wars US aviation collectors. I couldn't find Paul Prouvost on a simple internet search. If ANYTHING more could be learned about Mr. Prouvost, it would add greatly to the interest and enjoyment of this personalized piece. There might be more through the historical records kept by the National Aeronautical Organization. Good Hunting!!

Hello Fred; They all appear to be non-military lapel pins. They are colorful and visually appealing. I don't know what their value is, but someone who collects Hungarian communist militaria may be interested in adding them to their overall collection.

Wow! Good work! You really did a nice job putting that together.

These are not great photos, but to me it appears that #2 and #3 were added long after something else was removed. In #2, I would venture it was the same award, a HOH was removed and a HOH was later attached. In #3 something similar happened. I would like to see under those ribbons in #2 and #3. I suspect you will find some late needlework. However, I find the whole bar suspicious until a reasonable storyline could be pieced together as to how the bar started out, then stripped, and then repaired again. That is if I also believe the tired label on a mint-ish felt.

sorry, don't recognize this one...

Lars; Your piece is a remarkable little gem!

It is a great little group! The Altenburg medal document is particularly nice in the company of the rest of the awards he earned.

No, it doesn't look like a good one. It is trying to look like a Danzig Police Faithful Service medal -3rd class. Established June 20th, 1938 by the President of the Senate.

Wonderful medal bar Claudio! -Post 265 (the Joseph Wirth is a great bar too) Hmmmm, what do you think you have here? A Frack mount, so EKII on the right, but the Saxon Officer Class Albert Order in the back is interesting. As well as the Centennial Medal, 2nd Class LS medal and a Weimar era WWI commemorative. If I had to speculate, a non-Saxon gentleman (Probably a Prussian or Kaiserreich), but was also respected by Saxony before WWI. In the military, but long after the FP war, but before the turn of century. Pre-war Red Eagle, and "new-style" LS award is recognized service. Served as a combatant during WWI and earned three wartime 2nd class merit awards, but not with a Saxon unit. Paid handsomely to have the whole thing mounted in the 20's for civilian wear.