medalworld

Hello Gents, Many thanks for the comments. I do collect German Imperial Orders & medals, but as my other medal interests are so broad, I do not need every esoteric variety of each item. Thus, I've listed this medal at Ebay, should anyone be interested. Link follows: http://www.ebay.com/itm/301729458267?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Yes, I've seen those. Makes perfect sense. Thanks, Frank

Hello All, In Oct. 2005, just short of a decade ago, I acquired a CPM, named with engraved block capitals, as follows..."DET. SGT. MAJ. EDWIN F. KELLY. TRINIDAD POLICE". I bought it from a coin dealer colleague at a Los Angeles area coin show, who himself acquired it from a nearby coin shop in Northern California. I began to research the officer and his citation in early 2007, and for two years I wrote and emailed every governmental agency, department, archive and library (including the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Museum in Port of Spain) that I could find in the nation of Trinidad & Tobago. My correspondents were, for the most part, cordial and, but for one exception, slow and unenthusiastic about helping with my inquiry. After two years of off and on effort, I gave up, having achieved absolutely nothing. One reason I kept writing to T&T officials was a phone conversation I had with the original coin dealer who bought it over his counter in 2005. He told me that the seller, a black man, was the step-son of DSM Kelly, who was purportedly the first black man to attain officer status in the Trinidad Police. I'm loath to mention that this CPM was part of a two piece group along with his Col. Police LSGC. Sometime is 2006, while disposing of some UK medals at Ebay, Kelly's LSGC medal was inadvertently sold. I tried to buy it back from the UK buyer, but he did not respond, so it's out there somewhere. Today, while filing away a newly acquired DFM, I found this interesting medal again and thought I'd ask fellow GMIC members if any have had better luck with research, and perhaps a few tips on how to proceed with this award. Before hitting this send button, I just did a name search and found Kelly's gazette entry in the 1942 King's Birthday Honors list 5 June 1942; CPM to Edwin Fitzosbert Kelly, Trinidad Police Force. Any further comments re: my pal "Fitzosbert" will be appreciated. Many thanks. Frank Draskovic (medalworld)

Hello All, I've just acquired this embossed uniface 1914 1st Class Iron Cross with prong back suspension. Not having seen one of this variety before, I'd welcome comments from fellow collectors and specialists in this decoration. Appears to be silver and is light weight, only 3 grams. 43mm x 43mm, unmarked; shows considerable age. Many thanks, Frank Draskovic (medalworld)

Following up on the subject of reference books on Ecuadorian medals, one to watch for is "The Medals of Ecuador" by Al Almanzar & Dale Seppa, published by Almanzar's in 1972, now long out of print. It is primarily about historical table medals (non-portable), from 1889 to 1969, but does includes a few medals with suspensions that were meant to be (or could be) worn. 154 items are cataloged within its 56 pages, with 51 medals illustrated. At the end the authors include two 18th century colonial period proclamation medals and three rare 1822-23 award medals for Independence. Orders are not mentioned at all unfortunately. The cover of the book is shown below. Some years ago I was tempted to collect the Order of Merit stars as they are so attractive and exist in interesting variations by many makers. I've sold a number of beauties over time and now regret not keeping one or two for myself. Frank Draskovic

As Countess Armfelt's CVO wearing instructions insert shows, the insignia was NOT returnable upon the death of the recipient. RVO insignia may have been returnable in earlier days, but by the time this award was made, likely the latter second half of the 20th century, apparently that requirement was obsolete. Does anyone know when the return rule was changed?

For those who keep records of RVO numbers, from a Danish auction in Nov. 2010, I purchased CVO numbered on the back as "L.82", part of a group of ODMs to Countess Wava Armfelt (1924-2008). From 1955, she was Head Lady-in-Waiting to Priness Margrethe of Denmark, who became Queen in 1972. It is in a CVO box, but the box is wider than the normal man's CVO box, and of course it's on a lady's ribbon. The label on the back of the box says "C/L82 on two lines. I assume the "L" in the number indicates a lady's award. Can someone confirm this please?

It didn't make 100,000 this time. Hammer price was "only" 70,000 Pounds, plus buyer's fee, so maybe somebody got a bargain compared to the six figure prices these have been bringing. The lower than expected price could have been because of the lower standards of the early awards as someone mentioned, or when one guy (Ashcroft) consistly buys every VC that come up for sale, other potential buyers just stop paying attention. Then again, the UK economy might have had more than a little to do with it. If I had had a spare $150,000, I would have bid. Alas, I was only the underbidder on the nice DSC group in the same sale. I should have bid more!

Hello Jovan, I've seen a few of these in British auctions over the years. To date, I've not seen it published anywhere, so we must assume it is what it says on the medal...an award from the London branch of the Serbian Red Cross Society for some kind of war service, including, most likely, financial contributions to the society during and shortly after World War One. If you are selling this or perhaps have a duplicate, I could use one for my Yugoslavia related collections of ODMs. Please let me know. Thank you. Regards, Frank Draskovic in Los Angeles, California

A sad story indeed. At least his medal and related information will be preserved for those of us who care to know and remember it. Changing topics...if any medal collector should find himself in the Los Angeles area on the last Sunday of any month, please join us at a meeting of the Southern Calif. Orders & Medals Society, for a few hours of fun medal chat and always impressive show & tell segments. Contact me at fdraskovic@hotmail.com for further info.

Rarity is often a matter of perspective. For those of us actively involved, the China Incident Commem. Medal can certainly be called Very Scarce, or maybe Rare. To others in the hobby who have never seen one, it's very rare. In the main sector of the numismatic hobby, i.e. coins, in the last century or longer there have been many attempts to establish a rarity scale that would be universally applied...sort of a rarity language that everyone understands. Some tables used a R1 to R5, others R1 to 10, with the lowest numbers for the most common items. I prefer the ten point scale and as we learn more about the actual numbers of items out there, I hope such a rarity table will come to be used by all of us in the ODM hobby. Great buy on the Korean Census Dieter...when at shows, it always pays to turn them over when we see one...could be the Korean variety! Thanks to Mr. JapanX for the photo posting tips. I'll try it now. BTW, Mr. X, I love that Pawlonia Star in your icon. It would look great with my similar badge, especially if I had a sash and case! Should you ever tire of looking at it.... Perhaps someone has an extra sash at least? Anyone near the Dallas area should attend the OMSA convention. The public day is Saturday, August 18th. Check for further details at OMSA.org Has anyone seen any advertising for the convention by OMSA here at GMIC? Best to All, Frank Draskovic

Hi Dick (La T...and Others), Thanks for starting this interesting topic. It's great to know the real story about these rare medals, though so many have been posted, maybe not quite so rare after all. Here's mine, so the census rises by one, making them yet less rare. A nice specimen with splashes of mint red still existing under the 70 year old age tone. But a sad story re: its acquisition 10+ years ago at one of the early re-incarnations of the post-Great Western era militaria shows at Pomona, Calif. I unfortunately had to pay "full retail"...yep, the whole 35 bucks as marked on the price tag! I usually ask for my student discount, but this time, I didn't have the heart. And this from a nationally televised medal and militaria "expert." I foolishly assumed posting a photo here would be as easy as it is on Ebay...but I can't figure how it's done right now, so no pic gents, sorry about that. Changing topics...if any medal collector should find himself in the Los Angeles area on the last Sunday of any month, please join us at a meeting of the Southern Calif. Orders & Medals Society, for a few hours of fun medal chat and always impressive show & tell segments. Contact me at fdraskovic@hotmail.com for further info. See you at OMSA. Frank Draskovic