Claudius

Thank you for bringing this to this forum's attention. I want to take some time to really look through this.

The shine on the medals is really high and it's hard to get good look at them in this photo. However this photo appears to have been taken at about the same time period as the first photo in this thread. Thanks to Dave's list of awards, we can extrapolate their identity in this photo (with just a slight difference in the ordering). In my opinion, that last medal is the Braunschweig Order of the Lion -2nd Klass

Yes indeed. Great photo! I wish we could the spange on the ribbon because it will have his unit. In the same way, it would be nice to read the three spange on the DSWA ribbon. One is almost common. Finding two is nice, but three is a real treat.

Magnificent bar Roman!

Capital work!

no idea. It doesn't look official. I almost want to believe it is some kind of commemorative to the Marartha/Indian war and I keep staring at the letters on the scroll to say "Assaye"; but I only see "ESSAYXZ"

Thank you Andreas. Kind Regards, Claudius

Is "L.R.G.V." a veteran's group?

Great! Post it again when you do. Front and back. I have seen the White Elephant on other medal bars and I think they are a really cool-looking award. They are a delight to see on the end of a medal bar.

Great job Komtur! What a nice mini set. The medal bar must be a really stunning one to look at as well. I have always wondered what these officers did to receive the Siam award. Is this mini set yours pep? Let me know if you find it's big brother medal bar (or ribbon bar). I have space in my case for this one!

Hello Martin; I am glad you can join us on this forum. In my opinion, if you are interested in buying MVKs, I would recommend a well-established dealer. Their websites make it clear that they guarantee the authenticity, and will buying back something if it is shown to be a fake. I look forward to your future posts.

Outstanding! It is a bit of a collecting outlier for me, but I really like these attributed u-boot medal bars and groups with the research for details.

Hello Morar; This is indeed an ambitious endeavor but you seem to have some of the qualities necessary to bring it to fruition. Namely, you knowledge of history, the countries, the players and their "tech" (machines of war). And lastly you have the desire and determination to do this. There may be dozens of us on this forum with the similar knowledge of WWI history and the weapons, but if you have the will and fortitude to push this project; that will make all the difference. In my opinion, you have an outline of the components of the game, the campaigns, the (Conquest) modes. It appears that you need a team of gamer programmers, software architects, and CGI artists to envision an end product and then to map out a way to get to that vision. There must be gamer programmers and software designers that would love to hear your idea. I don't know where to find them, but maybe there are forums and websites that openly solicit these talents and ideas. Good luck and don't forget about us if you are looking for awards to feature in your game. I'm sure we can give you LOTS of ideas there! -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.