Stogieman

Thanks Gordon, I knew you'd have way more background than me on these. Thanks BH as well. I had not considered a "modern" commemorative as an option. But even if it is, I would not (IMO) assign much value to it other than as a curiosity.

The reverse:

Here's a nice "textbook" RK GAB-25

C'mon guys & gals! How about some more Schnalles??

Thanks Andy! Thanks Glen! I owe you each a cigar! A sad conclusion to what was a promising military career, but he is "nameless" no more!!

As always Christophe.... a fabulous addition to the discussion!

ya have to love this........ you really do. Awesome conclusion to an older story!!

....... and the beat goes on. I would expect to continue to see debate. i expect everyone who owns "crown-marked" badges to continue to poo-poo unmarked ones. Good. Less competition for the real McCoy.........

Hi Chris, that's easily resolved by picking up one of Paul's CD's! ;>)

Huh, never would have taken that for being German...... go figure!

So, you think the little "X" in the lower left corner means he's dead?

I have always felt that the law for these marks was interpreted differently, company by company... Juncker DID use a crown mark, but only on its' larger pieces, nothing small like medals, badges, broaches.... but it shows up on helmets of all things!!

Hey!!! I just noticed, this guy in germany has stolen my backdrop for fotos!

Anybody sitting on a 1895-1898 Saxon Rangliste, Bitte? Here's the full foto:

Yep, that's a Bavarian with three (3) Finnish awards ca. 1935....

So then, you guys should be able to ID this fellow right???

What, no challenged people out there?????? Anybody recognize this guy?

The usual Hamburg connections have had a few black ones lately. Sad thing is there's so many fakes of these kicking around in the US and Europe that prices are depressed IMO......

Some kid having a good time would be my guess. That "conversion" piece is too crude compared to ones i've seen that were 100% period efforts......

I think there's a 1917/18 saxon Rangliste out there, but I don't remember what (if any) awards it would have listed. probably not anything war-time....... Funny too, it actually belonged to Immelmann's Commanding officer. There was only one and he had neatly signed the cover of the book!

An excellent question Christian..... I think not so much made special for someone, lapel chains & buttoniers, barettes, etc. date back to the Napoleonic eras..... but it sure would be interesting if there was anyway to delineate exactly what era this piece was from!

I would agree with Andreas on this. It seems curious that a lot of the newer reference books seem to simp;y cite/perpetuate the errors of their predecessors....... There seems to be very little "new" research going on except amongst a small circle of guys & gals. Exceptions of course abound, notably Mssrs. Pandis, Previterra, L?ndtrom. etc. are constantly searching for new details and information. I know there are many more, but few of them get published which is just a darn shame.

Hi Daniel, PETN, C4, SEMTEX.......... what's a little explosives between friends & cousins??? How do I remember this old story??? The same way I remember all the medals, ribbons and especially the badges....... it's a curse, it truly is. I think some people call it "photographic memory"...... I don't know what it's called, but trust me, it's a curse.........

Love the IR14 Nazi-era "tinnie"... have not seen very many of those around!

Hi Chris, you should probably print those lists out and save them... then you can comb through them too!