Claudius

It looks an early commemorative pin to me. Not from 1917, but commemorative of the 1917 revolution.

Great group Claudio. Could you show us the back of the medalbar and his two EK1s please? Thank you for show the group with some great pictures of the medals and the documents!

I understand what you are saying saschaw. You're right. The Hess used this medal for many kinds of merit, including war merit, (just changing the embossed letters on the back). It is my understanding that in order to be eligible to receive it you had to be from Hessen, or served in a Hess unit. I have had this discussion before; the medal itself gets a dark tarnish. Does anyone know if this is due to the silver content? What is the silver content?

Hallo Andi; It's nice to meet you. That is quite an introduction you have with that bar. Very, very nice. A Waldeck gem, but also a great display of a mounted White Falcon Order. At your leisure could you please show us the back and any interesting details/maker-marks. BTW: Like Christophe said, please show more of your collection. Thank you,

I had not considered before that the ribbon could be the Soviet Order of Glory. That is a match. As you know, many times these St. George Crosses for sale don't even have a ribbon at all. Over a decade ago when I bought this one, I was happy that it had a ribbon and hanger. I will have get some better photos of the cross itself. It is very dark, and the number stamp on the back is very deep. Again, why put a second bow on top of the first one? I would like to learn more about the variations in St. George Crosses. My reference books don't mention it, and don't have different photos. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Well...at least the ribbons appear to match the medals. Otherwise I think it's bad. I wish all the fakes were put together this poorly -it would make spotting them easier.

and I don't like the thread color used to tie down the Centennial, Flanderncross or Hindenburg....

That's outstanding. Knight's 2nd Class WITH SWORDS! Very nice as a mini on a chain. At one time, I was looking for a medal bar with with a Hessen Order with swords. Never found one....

An officer Bavarian, then EM Hess, EM Baden... and that style of mounting.

An impressive display of avarice.

For informational purposes...How much was the seller asking?

(Sorry for the late response....this one slipped by me) Hello kustik12; To answer your statement; the picture may be a little dark, but that is because the cross is dark. I don't believe the ribbon is new. I hit it with a black light and there was no glow. However, it was remiss of me not to mention earlier the odd thing about the ribbon, specifically the bow. There are TWO bows. One sewn on top of another. The one on top is "newer" and has a slightly different St. George color. The bow beneath is larger and is the same color/age/wear as the ribbon on the hanger. I don't have a hypothesis why they did this. Has anyone ever seen this before? "Someone erased the original number and put new ones Why would that occur? Under what circumstances can that occur? Again, has anyone seen this before? Thank you for looking. Claudius

Dan, It could have been worse... you could have bought a DDR tunic Wachregiment "Fredrick Engels" with all the trimmings, a complete set DDR camo fatigues right down to the boots, DDR cufftitles, hats, medals and a full set of DDR qualification badges...like I did! Now I can use them for either Halloween costumes or if I want to infiltrate a DDR veterans reunion.

Nice group. That box to the Philipps order is fabulous! The photo and urkunden really tie it altogether. From what I can see of the ordensspange below, it looks really nice too. Is that a Philipps order on it?

Outstanding bar. Congratulations. I don't have a problem with adding the EK1. From his other awards, of course he would have earned that. I noticed it's a convex one too. very appropriate. I like how the medal bar, ribbon bar, minis mirror each other. The box is great for this group. Just one thing <<<groan>>>, sorry...the medals are all overlapping from right to left. From the EK2 usually everybody has to snug in underneath. The exceptions are when a particular (usually a cross) is sown down, or certain awards that are big and dominate. Like the Bulg MMO or Turkish Medjidie Orders come to mind. Thank you for showing it. I don't believe it is impossible to ID; it will just be very hard. It would be more of a process of discounting possibilities. That LS cross should be helpful when you consider that there is no Centennial medal or overseas decoration (China, DSWA, etc.) I seem to RICall a Kind and great RESEARCHer who once said that it was important to look at what is not there, as well as what medals that are.

The photo makes that 1870-71 medal look gilded. Is it a private purchase, or just really shiny?

Hello Rich; I wish you every success in your project. While I don't collect Japanese medals (directly) I find them interesting and beautiful. They fall into my center of interest when they happen to be for someone who was at Tsingtau 1914 or if they are an award on an Imperial German medal bar. (I had purchased a medal bar with a Rising Sun 3rd or 4th class award, but a dealer employee mistake sold the bar to another person. That really hurt...but I digress). In general, I would be interested in what the official criteria the Japanese used to award their gallantry, merit, campaign or tribute medals. Specifically, my question that is two-fold is; 1) Are there any surviving lists of foreigners that received Japanese awards? 2) When the Japanese awarded medals to foreigners, what criteria did they use -if any? For instance, I have seen examples of Germans receiving the Rising Sun award or the Sacred Treasure. Any official records? Is there a body of evidence that may show when one is used over the other? PS: I don't mind "shameful plugs" for upcoming books. Sometimes its the only way I learn what new information sources are out there. Thank you for letting me know and good luck on this venture!

This photo haunted me. I thought of it last week when I was visiting the old state capital in Springfield, Illinois, USA. The building was used by the state government in the 1800's until the new/larger one was built. Inside, in one of the rooms where the State's representatives meet, there is an enormous painting behind the chairman's desk of the 1st US President -George Washington. A figure that would have been well known to everyone. And I do mean EVERYONE, from every citizen and every child and certainly every Representative preceding there. I moved closer to read the small caption at the bottom. Would it be the date, the dedication, or the artist? It simple said “George Washington". No kidding I thought. They bothered to put a brass name tag on the most ubiquitous figure in the nation’s history (certainly up to that point) but the photographer of the above staff didn't even bother to put the unit number down on the back. [sorry for the tirade]

Somewhere in Afrika is right. I don't see anything that limits it to the DSWA. It could be DOA, Kamerun, etc. I believe those outback, wide-brimed hats with the right-side up were used in DSWA and DOA, if not all over Afrika. Looks like a pre-wwi publicity photo/postcard IMO. But Chris, a question...if you could look at your original. On the central medical officer taking the pulse of the stretcher-bound solder. Is that a ribbon coming out from the fourth button? or is that just a crease of the tunic?

You're right Heiko. And a noticeably missing LS cross doesn't suggest a long-time serving officer either. I was just dazzled by that enameled PFL with crown and I jumped to that conclusion. I should have said that he was a "gentleman". Because if he wasn't a military officer, he certainly was some kind of goverment official or minor royalty.

Shouldn't be too hard to find a replacement mini Prussian War Aid Cross. I would think it easier than if you were missing the Oldenburg one. AND, if you were missing the order, you wouldn't have known it was PFL w/ CROWN. Very nice little set to an (Oldenburg?) officer who was in the 1870-71 war, was still in the army in 1897 and provided service in wwi.

The one on the far right (all gold, wreath around a column w/crown on top) is a Barrister/Minister of Justice insignia.

Close up on the bar would help. Even a blurry one. But, from this distance, the second to last one looks like a Hanseatic Cross -Bremen and the last one, Braunschweig Order or Hannover Guelphic-Order, but all of this is REALLY guessing. the shoulder dressing. He sure put on his old-world finery for this photo.

Thank you for posting them all here at one time. They are wonderful to look at. I thoroughly understand how having them in your hands provides a greater degree of knowledge. Weight, color, and details are revealed to the first-person observer like nothing else can. It would have been nice to hold each one in turn and view it with my own eyes (even if I was wearing my thin cotton gloves). At your last point, you invite posts for questions. I would have like to have seen some oblique angle photos. Barring that, what would be the first-person observers’ comments on the thicknesses of the PLMs? Is there a seam, or file marks? Do the cross corners get polished or buffed from wear, or are they as clean as the rest of the piece? Not asking for a precise weight, but what is the "heft" of these pieces? In terms of weight/density, what other award do they compare to? -in your opinion.