Graf

Then more thorough research need to be done to track Herr Wedemann Why English will make post card on German POW?! I Any way the topic is for the cross we have to try to stick to the topic.

Is it possible this Weidemann not to be one of the POW on the picture? He then could be just a sender of this card but not one of the POW on the card

It could be , because none of the people on the photo has belt or any other attributes like daggers etc.

Fantasy 4th Class 1st Grade Order 1915??!!

That is the correct early type medal There are many late re-strike of this type with typical after 1951 l 2nd type features but with French text only

An Original Gold G Dimitrov Usually the mark is on the side of the loop on top of the Order All Gold G Dimitrov Orders were made with hollow construction to reduce the amount of Gold used. The wearer copies have solid construction No holes on the back Usually they have the "R" mark and are made of gilded base metal Here are picture of both Gold and wearer copy Both are considered to be original. Still the quality of the wearer is not as 100% as the Gold samples I am not sure how the damage on the frond of the replica has happened I do not think that this is a testing mark

Then sounds that the Seller knew something and got scared when you started asking questions. Personally i never hold unmarked Star. Your experience leads me to believe that those Stars like the solid unmarked Order of Georgi Dimitrov are made from gilded basic material It is believed that for a some period the wearer copies were made without the "R" mark

Nothing new on the Set . just came across of those nice navy uniform

https://www.dorotheum.com/de/ That is the link for the Auction House of Dorotheum in Vienna Very good side. On their Auctions they list originals Austrian Orders and decorations and late productions made by the medal company for the collector's market Usually the originals are listed first and the late "original" productions at the end of the Austrian list. Followed by the list of Foreign Orders and Decorations Good Luck in the minefield of collecting

GO Stars by Heremans Made in different periods

Yes, That is another good source, however it could be expensive, taking into consideration the additional fees

Hi saschaw, You nailed it! Thanks

https://richard-militaria.at/

My advice is to start by buying from a reputable Austrian Dealers. Once you hold originals you will have the feeling. Do not start from not known sellers on eBay, although on eBay.de (Germany) there is a Reputable Austrian Dealer who has a shop. He also has a online shop out of eBay.

Nice collection Congrats!

This is a nice an early Commander by Wolferes The last picture is only as reference the type of the ball and the cross seen on the early 1st type of the medals of the Royal Order of the Lion. The Crowns are from other Belgium Order and not relevant to the topic I had Sets of all medals including their miniatures, however sadly i had to sell them to buy something else That is the fate of the cllectors

Hi Mark McM, The Royal Order of the Lion was established by King Leopold II on 9th of April 1891 and was discontinued on 1st of July 1962. On 18th of October 1908 the Order become part of the Belgium system of Orders. The 1st type with French Text only was awarded till 24th of October 1951 The medal you listed it looks Gold but aged with a loss of the gild Many of those 1st type medals were given from the very beginning and during WW1 and WW2 period mainly till 1951 The medal you posted, in my opinion, is a late "aged' re-strike after 1951 The crown of medals of the early 1st type models had smooth ball on top and the cross was with well defined four arms This cross could be made later for someone who lost their original 1st type medals. Ribbon you can find on eBay.fr (France) or eBay.be (Belgium)

Those marks are only on 1870 Crosses All opinions are regarding the MarcinL post Yes it will be nice if you have pictures of the front of the cross, although the picture of the reverse is convincing enough that this 1870 cross is not good or highly questionable

Hi bbrandon, It look good to me Those small imperfections on the corners are not a problem See a picture of an earlier model You can see similar small imperfections on the back Since no any mint mark can be seen on the back ask the seller to look for such on the side of one of the arms. If there is any mark such 0, 1 and 2 the Star is t latest emission Those numbers are the Bulgarian Mint marks A Seller from Bulgaria has stated that there were original samples made without the mint mark . At the same time i have seen sellers selling unmarked, solid samples of Order of Georgi Dimitrov without the "R" marks as wearer copy. If there is not a mint mark on the Star, in my opinion, you have to do a gold test That is done by jeweler, who will make a small but deep scratch and perform the gold test of the metal under the top gild.

Tie quality of wearer copy as New World stated, is as good as the Original Only the metal is different and they have "R' marked on the reverse Here is a picture of wearer copy

Hi Eric, I used the two crosses picture a reference for other members as well When I list a cross that is mine usually i clarify it Thank you for allowing me to use your picture Regards Graf

nice collection

Welcome!

Hi Erick, As requested -additional pictures 1 to 3 The last picture the EK is with the original lock system I assume the lock system was lost or broken and was replaced at one stage with the "new" one