Stogieman

I saw this one on Detlev's as well and chuckled a bit. Someone made an attempt to make an easy mount for the piece on a medal bar and soldered on the wrong tip. Made me laugh, so much for quality control!

Hi Don, I think the cheapest option would be to simply buy a loose HHK and replace it. Perhaps the seller will refund part of the price. Alternately, make a claim on the insurance but usually if you do that they will take the damaged piece. Or, you could argue that it's fixable for $50 and take a partial claim on the insurance. I've seen them do that as well.

Sorry Brian, my mistake. Like I said, RK's are outside my scope of knoledge unless they were made before 1919 ;>) Sorry!!

I really don't have any knowledge of these so I cannot interject anything other than observations on this issue. The only real question I have is: Was DN's "Fake of The Week" indicitive of all "rounders" as they are called or was that a fake of that style? Seems to me that several people have put forth period fotos showing what appears to be this hotly contested cross.

For all the doctor's scientific training, I think there needs to be a sample that exceeds a few pieces....

It seems there was an awful lot of this, look at the whole G?ring issue.... I don't know, I don't want to start a "To the victor goes the spoils debate"... I can easily walk on both sides of that fence!

Well worth incurring the wrath of Federal authorities to purchase through a European conglomerate and stash in The Cayman Islands to only be visited on Tuesdays and Thursdays.........

Of course I have no such ability, just a thought......

Quite the contrast between the "fighter's" uniform and the two doctors... speaking strictly with respects to the evident wear & tear.

Hi Christophe, thanks for bringing this forward for us to reference!

Interesting with the 2 Saxon ribbons reversed in precedence on each of these bows. One from each Duchy would be my guess.

Hi Paul, a very nice little grouping!

I agree with Joe. Unfortunately, there's no shortage of sellers out there willing to rip apart medal bars, split up groups, etc. But I do always feel compelled to mention that many, many dealers do try to keep groups together and sell them intact.... but a buyer rarely steps up to the plate. It's because of this that I refrain from buying bigger groups anymore as there's just a limited market for them after the fact. A sad, but true commentary.

Hi Stijn, a slippery slope you have stepped on..... ;>)

C'mon Gals & Guys! Nobody else has these little packets to share??

Gentleman, very nice examples! Anybody else have any? marshall, you out there somewhere?

Agreed Joe, tough to call these sometimes. The more I look at the painted core though, the more I'm thinking post '45. I cannot think of any (positively) pre-45 cross that had that little detail!

(PS: as an aside, heck of a Saxon bar you sent me, will get it up for you later tonight!!)

It's nice to see these Reuss bars. There's not as many mounted examples as one would think floating around out there. Tougher one to find then Prussia, Bavaria or Saxony for sure. In fact, I would venture we see the Hanseatic pieces and Mecklenburg far more than we see Reuss, Lippe or Lippe-Detmold!

Hi Tom, nice Flanders Cross and bars. I was hoping we could coax Mike Dunn to post some of his Vet's stuff. He has a rather extensive collection of badges and such.

Wonderful to see these pieces. This makes only the third cased Imtiaz I have ever seen. This is the first Turkish case, the other 2 were from German makers.

Yep, nothing like a little "cabbage", eh Christophe!?

Well, I'm trying very hard to recall having ever seen the SCG Medal ribbon in a lapel bow and I just can't!

Sad thing about Weideger's group is that the original seller in Germany had these 3 pieces and 2 additional, smaller ribbon bars.... all listed as individual lots. Now 2 of them have gone bye-bye forever and the owner will never know he owns a piece of a General's History....... because the original seller did not ID the items, our own (Truly) Evil Rick Research pulled that off!

Hi David, thanks for all the details and typing!

Hi Paul, interesting family lot and nice with the added bio details!

And from CICentre.com:

John Anthony 'Tony' Colson/Intelligence Analyst

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John Anthony "Tony" Colson, 61, retired senior intelligence analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency, died Nov. 11 at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington after cancer surgery in July.

Mr. Colson, an Alexandria resident, worked at DIA from 1978 to 2004. His areas of expertise included the Middle East and Latin America.

He was born in Los Angeles and raised in Rome and Brighton, Mass. After Army service, he graduated from Boston College, from which he also received a master's degree in Russian and East European history.

He received master's degrees in international relations from Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and in romance languages from the University of Georgia.

He was fluent in Italian, Spanish, French and German, and he occasionally served as an interpreter for foreign delegations.

He was a member of the Orders and Medals Society of America, a nonprofit group dedicated to the collection and preservation of military and civilian decorations.

Survivors include his wife of 31 years, Lorraine Snow Colson of Alexandria; three sisters; and a half brother.

From Boston.com:

Of Alexandria, VA, age 61, formerly a resident of Brighton and Brookline, "Tony" died on Friday, November 11, 2005. He is survived by his wife, Lorraine, and sisters Patricia Ross, Kathleen Godden-Kent and Mary Colson (of Natick). He was born in Los Angeles, grew up in Rome, Italy, and lived in the Boston area from (1962 to 1974) where he graduated from Boston College and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts. He spent the last 27 years in Alexandria, VA where he was an analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency. He retired in January 2004. Services will be held at Ft. Myer Chapel on Thursday, December 29, 2005 at 10:45 a.m. with interment at Arlington National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made in his name to Boston College Night School or to a charity of choice. Arrangements by Everly-Wheatly Funeral Home, ALEXANDRIA, VA.

Published in the Boston Globe on 11/16/2005.