Stogieman

Here's one from Bavaria for the Ludwig Cross

I've always been fascinated with issue packets, boxes, cases and such. Some of the rarest Imperial items are the little paper packets medals arrived at the front in. I would venture that 99% of these were instantly tossed! Here's one from Baden for the General Bravery decoration on the Farl-Friedrich Ribbon for Bravery.

Here's a close-up of the maker's stamp! :excl:

The cross was neatly packaged in this little envelope with the maker's name stamped on it! We never knew who made these until this one arrived! The boxes never had a maker mark! There was also this neat little safety pin!

I was pretty surprised when this one showed up. Just like it was the day it left the Jeweler! Inside were 3 pieces of ribbon. Full-sized, Miniature for Lapel Bow and 15mm. for the ribbon bar!

Boxes for The Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg came in 2 sizes. here's the 'shorty' one.

My absolute favorite is still the double St. Henry Medal ribbon bar..... think extreme bravery.......

Hi Paul! Welcome Aboard!!

These Veteran's Crosses from the "Anything Goes" 1920's were all banned when the Honor Cross was instituted in 1934/35. There are few exceptions notably the Baltic Cross & Silesian Eagle. These types of awards are quite desirable, hard to find in decent condition and sought after heavily by the niche of collectors who like them!! The awrd documents and ribbon bars are pretty nice looking as well! Here's some mounted on a ribbon bar:

Hi Mike, welcome aboard! Good to have you with us!!

I will start a list of common abreviations that we take for granted when talking about many of these pieces. I'm sure "The Evil One" will add to it! Common Terms RK = Ritterkreuz (Knight's Cross) mK = mit Krone (with crown) anglicized as wC, wK mS = mit Schwerter (with Swords) Often anglicized to wX X = Schwerter (Swords) XaR = Swords on Ring (some Orders had this appendage) 1.Kl. = First Class 2.Kl. = Second Class Both of these will often be stated as RK1, RK2, etc. mKD = mit Kriegsdekoration (Austro-Hungarian on many awards) Prussia HOH = Prussian version Hohenzollern House Order (3 class usually, with X or not) EK = Eisernes Kreuz (Iron Cross) sub-abbreviations: EK1, EK2 EK2w = Iron Cross on the "white-black" noncombatant ribbon (P)KO = Preussen Kronen Orden (Prussian Crown Order) (P)RAO = Preussen Roter Adler Orden (Prussian Red Eagle Order) KDM = Kriegs Denkmünze (War Medal-- must specific which one) DA = Dienstauszeichnungen (Long Service award, class specified by number which varied for years over time as in 1= 21/15, 2 = 15/12, 3 = always 9 years. Could be medals or brooches and so specified) LD = Landwehrdienstauszeichnung (1 for XX years 2 for the broocch/medal. Prussian/Reichs is normally assumed, preceded by B for Bavarian, S for Saxon, or W for Württemberg versions: SLD2, WLD1 etc) ® = Lifesaving Medal on Ribbon (identical glyph used in Rank Lists) VK/PrKHDK = Prussian War Effort Cross (take your pick!!) GMVK = Gold Military Merit Cross MEZ = Military Decoration: 1 (silver cross) 2 (silver medal) on both version EK ribbon PrAEz = General Decoration (usually the silver medal on RAO ribbon) Baden BV = Militär Karl Friedrich Verdienst Order (with class number-- 3 = Knight) BZ = Zähringen Lion Order (number and letter for class-- 3a = Knight 1st, 3b = Knight 2nd Class, 4 = Merit Cross etc) BsV = Merit Medal in silver often with designation for on the MKFVO ribbon BKV = War Merit Cross BK = Cross for Voluntary War Aid Bavaria BMMJO = Military Max Josef Order (3 = Knight Class) BMV = Militär Verdienst Order (Classes 4, 3, O, 2 up etc) BMVK = Militär Verdienst Kreuz (Classes 1, 2, 3 with or without Crowns and Xs) BL = Ludwig Cross BDA = as Prussia, above BLD = as Prussia, above with relevant number for class, viz. BMV4X, BMVK3XmKr Saxony SH = Militär Saint Heinrich Order (3 = Knight Class) SA = Albert Order (Classes as SA3aXmKr, SA3bX etc) SV = Verdienst Order (SV3aX etc) SFAM = Friedrich August Medaille (S = Silber, B = Bronze so SFAM-S etc) SKz = Sachsen Ehren Kreuz (Saxon Honor Cross) SK = War Merit Cross Württemberg WM = their Militär Verdienst Orden (3 = Knight) WF = Friedrichs Orden as in WF3aX = Knight 1st Class with swords as in WF3b = Knight 2nd Class (peacetime) WK = Wüttemberg Krone Orden WKrz = Wilhelmskreuz (with X or without) WgM/WsM = Bravery/formerly "military Merit" Medals in gold /silver WR/®= LifesavingMedal: NON-Wtbg Lists/Wtbg Lists (wherein the Prussian was PRM not ® ) Hanseatic Cities BH = Bremen Hanseatic Cross HH = Hamburg Hanseatic Cross LüH = Lübeck Hanseatic Cross Hessen-Darmstadt HP = House Order with class numbers HT = Hessian Bravery Medal aka General Decoration "for...." (multiple purpose reverses specify: bravery, long service, lifesaving) HS = Hessian Military Medical Cross HK = the untranslatable pinback 1917+ "Warrior Decoration in Iron" Hohenzollern HE = Princely Honor Cross (house order) all grades with class designations with ot without Xs Mecklenburg-Schwerin MG = Griffin Order with class numbers MMV = Friedrich Franz Cross (1 = 1st Class, 2 = 2nd Class) Mecklenburg-Strelitz MStK = Cross for Distinction in War (1= rare 1st class, 2= usual 2nd class) Oldenburg OV = House Order with class numbers OK = Friedrich August Cross (1 or 2 Class, 2a = with "vor dem Feinde Spange) sometimes, God forgive us, we use "OFAK" which was the NAVY abbreviation for this, while the ARMY used "OK." Brunswick BrH = House Order with class numbers BrK = Ernst August crosses (1 class, 2a 2nd with "horse" device, 2 class) Anhalt AB = House Order of Albert the Bear with class number AK = WW1 Friedrich Cross Lippe-Detmold LH = -Detmold version of the House Order with class numbers LKr = WW1 War Merit Cross Schaumburg-Lippe SLH = Schaumburg- version of the House Order with class numbers SLK = Cross for Loyal Service (their "EK" despite the "long service" sounding name) Saxe-Weimar GSF = White Falcon Order with class numbers, Xs etc though "SWF" also used and I prefer that GSWA = General Decoration: 1 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze with and without Xs (NOT "SWAfrica Medal"!!!!!) Thüringian "Ernestine" Duchies EH = Saxe-Ernestine House Order, common to the hyphenated Saxe-Duchies of -Altenburg, -Coburg, and -Meiningen. The actual GERMAN abbreviation was "HSEH" but even we must Draw The Too Obscure Line someplace!!! SMK = WW1 Saxe-Meiningen War Merit Cross (for officers, the "crowned B" medal ) SMM = WW1 Saxe-Meiningen War Merit Medal (for enlisted men) AT = WW1 Altenburg Bravery Medal Reuss RE/RäE = House Order with distinction in older (RäE) and younger (RjE) lines, class numbers with or w/o Xs RgM/RsM = medals of above (no "line" distinction) with or w/o Xs Schwarzburg SEK = House Order (the "Honor Cross") with class numbers and w or w/o Xs SKM = Silver War Merit Medal Waldeck WV = House Order (the "Honor Cross") with class numbers and with or without Xs WgVM/WsVM = gold and silver medals to above, dittos Austria-Hungary ÖM3K = Military Merit Cross 3rd Class with War Decoration ÖT = Bravery Medals, with g old, s ilver (1 and 2 classes), b ronze class designated like "ÖbT" Ö VK = Merit Crosses with class designations, with and without crowns as in ÖgVK, ÖsVKmKr etc Bulgaria BT = Bravery Order/Cross with class designations BA = St. Alexander Order with class designations BO = Military Merit Order (peace or war had Xs) Turkey TH = Turkish War Medal star aka Gallipoli Star aka Iron Half Moon TL = Liakat Medals (1 = Gold, 2 = silver) TI = Imtiaz Medals (1 & 2 as above) TM = Medjidie Order (number for class) TO = Osmanie Order (number for class) TR = Lifesaving Medal

Hi Bob, welcome to the Gentleman's Military Club! Ralph, be careful what you ask for.........

Yes, the disc is from a W?rttemburg belt buckle. very nice!

Outstanding! What a beautiful private-purchase case!!

Sometimes, you'll find Scharffenberg labeled cases with both a Kunath label (for the ribbon) and a third label for the case maker!! Nice little "prize"!

OK Ralph, Here's the assignment! You need to get the highest Bravery decoration from each state! Bavarian RK Max Josef. Saxon RK Military Order of Saint Henry etc. etc.

Hi John. the stamped issue badge in decent condition could go anywhere from $900-$1200 USD. The silver one, think 2-3K. Difficult to judge, there's only been one auctioned off in Germany in the last 6 years.... it went over 2K Euro, plus premium! :speechless-smiley-004:

And the reverses of same:

Now, just to compare, here's a stamped pair.. Prussian Pilot & Gunner. Fronts:

And the reverse of our second example looks like this. This HD scan is an excellent one to compare rivets with note these; then pop back up to the "suspect badge"....... see la differance?

Here's a second authentic issue badge. This one had the cross atop the crown neatly filed off. The "Story du jour" I always heard was this was a sign of protest to the abdication of Wilhelm. No idea if that is true or not. Could just be "Urban Legend"....

Reverse of the gunner badges. Good set to study, these are real. The P/P in silber is the only one I ever found. On eBay germany of all places and at about 10 cents on the dollar...... I have had a total of 3 of the issue ones though. I cannot imagine that happening again in about a zillion years!

Here's a photo of my pair of my Imperial Prussian Gunner Badges. Private Purchase in Silber on the left, Issue (stamped) Badge on the right. An interesting point is that of all the Imperial Flight Badges issued (as opposed to P/P); this is the only one that ever bore a maker mark.

Here's a photo of a real one. Compare the details to the initial pix... can you spot all the differences? (Photo cortesy of Niemann?, Hamburg. But I own this badge now.)

hey Fran?ois, How difficult is it to find these small unit pins? I have not ever seen more than a dozen, excluding the thousands of fakes floating around.