Stogieman

Ed.... hope you don't get inspected passing through customs! This one might get you asked a few questions!

Hi Ed, the pictures are fantastic and thanks for making the trip and sharing them with us! Hope some of the (many) questions you have get answered!!

Hi Micha, very nice with the jeweler's outer carton. Hard to find. I'll check and see if I have a ribbon in my stash.

This same guy, and others like him, love to take G?de copy flight badges, stick them in an identical case and shuffle them of to eBay.... it really makes you wonder who bids on this rubbish over and over...

... and the price is rather silly for improperly mounted original parts, IMO. They have not even made an attempt to correctly imitate a period mounting.

Looks very similar to one that ran through eBay Germany not long ago. Beautiful bar Andreas!

... on the correct ribbon and correctly mounted no less....

I Have seen miniature Imperial Pilot Badge & Observer Badges of sizes 9-16mm hung from ribbon bars. I have seen the occassional black ribbon with a Prinzen sized fob hanging down. As with anything aviation, much post-collector alteration has occurred..... It was definately not the norm, or even common. The very, very few I have seen that I would accept as original always seem to be very odd fashion statements.

and one more....

details.....

more....

From what I can see, this Bavarian Pilot Badge is probably real.... unfortunately the engraving is not...

I have a question, if folks can check in please!? We have seen examples of orders in leather(ette) style cases and we have seen the same orders in the later plastic cases. Has anyone seen the pinback (breast badge) awards in a later plastic case? Thanks!!

Sigh, sigh, sigh..... I don't need to say it, do I? sigh, sigh, sigh...

I was wondering who snagged that one!! Congrats!!

Interesting buckle. Welcome to the forum! I have tried to comb through what (thin) photos I have of Cuban personnel but cannot find a picture showing a buckle... any idea as to era. FAR was FAR even before the revolution.

And therein lies the rub for me.... I don't believe the cross (like RR's) even buffed within an inch of its' life..... would look like the questionable one...

Hi Stijn. Very nice... ANY bar with a White Falcon is to be treasured...

In order to have received that Albrecht's Kreuz mit Schwerter, he must have been an NCO, long-serving.... where's his LS award? Also, while not impossible, I find it very difficult to accept the Albrecht's Cross placed behind the Baden cross.... Also, you refer to this as the Albert Medal, it's not... it's the Albrecht's Kreuz. Now, having said this, the construction and ribbons all look historicly accurate to me. BUT, at that point, I wonder if what we have here is the addition of the rarer Kreuz with swords... The precedence would be correct if the Albert Order ribbon had originally been a peace-time award of some type... BUT, that does not obviate the rather glaring absence of a long service medal and/or cross. Interesting, but these are legitimite questions you must consider...

I am sorry, I must disagree. They cannot be the same bar. If you look at the stitching pattern of white dashes on the left edge & right edge of the SWA ribbon they DO NOT match the illustration on the cover of Herr Nimmergutt's Banderkatalogue. Whether a different finish or not will NOT change the appearance of the stitching itself. The right edge is close, but note the clear differences in the WIDTH of the stitched on the right edge of the ribbon! Now, look closely at the SPACING (black) and actual stitches (white) on the left edge of the same ribbon. They DO NOT match. Now, look very closely at the LEFT edge of the miniature 25 Oakleaves. Notice that the leaf edges (again) DO NOT match the illustartion on the cover. Now, look at the pin hanging out on the RIGHT edge of Saschaw's bar.... it is NOT visible on the illustration, is it? These two images are of DIFFERENT ribbon bars!

Well, like I said, it's the color I don't like. Even now, after seeing RR's example again, I'm still not convinced a bronze piece (like RR;s) could be cleaned to look like the first one. Hopefully, I am wrong.

I think your new purchase is a copy. The oaks on the EK2 don't match, point for point. I believe this is new, made with leftover stock. Sorry.

The 24 is almost impossible to find. The color of these images makes me believe it's a new piece and not original.

Well, the (red) cased awards I have seen were all 1940's types. The boxed (cardboard) one he has appears to be much later. The red cases seem pretty consistent with Soviet 1940's ones (like the HS/HSL). Never seen the cardboard box like this before.

Gee whiz, I did Saxony when the DDR was still around. There was nothing cheap about St Henry Orders od Merit Orders back then!! The Albert Order and the lesser decorations were less expensive than today, but not the highest orders!!