Claudius

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.

A court mounted Exemplary Work Service Medal -NICE!

great piece! Any hallmarks on any of the medals?

yup...that's bad.

Hello Mark McM; I've looked at your photos of this medal though digital magnification. I have to say that I don't like it. This medal is known to be faked and some are from over 15 years ago (when I almost bought a bad one from e6ay). To be specific, here are SOME of the features that lend to my conclusion. On the reverse, there is that frequently seen squashed ose mint pressing. But this one is irregular and looks spalded. Where the ose and medal meet, there is the area where the coin edging is washed down to form the ose. On period medals the transition area is smooth and defined. This one is rough and hammered. Again on the reverse, the crossed sword and rifle; the sword edges look uneven and crude.

IMO, I don't like the badge. I think the sloppy catch and pin soldering is done to deceive the collector into believing it was a "home" repair by the original recipient. But I also don't like the badge itself. It doesn't have any period construction hallmarks I would expect. But there are others who handle a lot of these badges and have the experience to object my assessment.

nice little group!

Really great battle bars. It's not common to have three! And I really like the time periods represented by the various medals.

Nice little group.

It is the photographer's comments. I was concerned that it might be something like that. I recall what a another collector and researcher once said to me; "They didn't put their names on their photos because they know who they are. They didn't to have a name on the back to tell them." Even if you could access the back of the photo, there is no guarantee that his name is back there. It really gets back to tracking down the family that had it.

I can't make it out. See if you can adjust the color and light settings to get a high contrast between the background and the writing. Then, maybe someone fluent in Spanish might be able to make out the name. Is there any writing on the back of the photo?

Hello Bucky01; Do these Orders and Medals belong to the man in the photo? Outstanding! He must of had an interesting life being involved in the Cuban campaign of 1895-98. Apparently, as a Cuban volunteer. He was well decorated by Spain for his service. Are they rare? Individually, not so much. But they are REALLY rare all together as a group belonging to a Cuban man's service to Spain before and during(?) the Spanish-American War.

Hello Kekoa Dettloff; This is amazing stuff on his life. It could be it's own thread. It should be it's own thread on Captain Heinrich Berger. I would collect this guy in a heartbeat! Thank you for sharing.

Hello Kekoa Dettloff; Welcome to GMIC. To answer your question, No it's not too late to add to this thread, or any other thread here. Thank you for posting this unusual medal bar! You mentioned you are researching Captain Henry Berger. Is there a reason for your research? A relative or you collected some of his possessions? Just curious. What can you tell us about him. There may be some on this forum that have more information on him.