Trooper_D

What a wonderful find, Norstrum. I know nothing about German cigarette cards so can you tell me what size they are? Are all the images photographic? Are you lucky enough to have a complete collection? Actually, I must be careful, asking all these question as there is a danger that I might get the bug - and I have enough problems explaining to my wife the size of my postcard collection ;)

Many thanks, Sal.

Shame on you! Go and stand in the corner!! [confession: good one, Paul, but it did take me a moment or two to 'get it' ]

Sal What a cracking bar! I'm green with envy. Is it possible to post a photo of the reverse, please?

What a wonderfully evocative image! Looking at it, one senses that one has an insight into each of their characters. Thank you for posting it, Deruelle.

Timo I will be very happy to be proved wrong. I would also concede that, if the numbers are as 30-50, the odds are a lot greater that I am wrong In any event, good luck with your search.

Jani This looks to me to be a sweetheart's badge of the British 16th Lancers. A quick google suggests that the Polish 16 Lancers had a completely different badge (see below, from an eBay sale, I believe). What makes you think that it is Polish? Of course, when you see the hallmarks all will be revealed Nice badge, whatever its provenance!

On the basis of comparing the left ear of one with the right ear of the other and finding them to be different shapes, my judgement is that they are not the same man. A shame.

baby_iwana I collect postcards from the Austro-Hungarian period but only with a military theme (no nudes!). I advise you to look at www.delcampe.net, which is a website on which people sell postcards, either by auction or for a fixed price. They have a category for vintage nudes - or so I am told - and you will quickly get an understanding of the value of yours. Unfortunately, I think that you will find they are of more value to your family, for sentimental reasons, than to collectors. A quick look at the delcampe site suggests that 10-15 euros would be what you could expect but I encourage you to search the site to find one similar to yours to get a better idea. Good luck.

Am I seeing the shadow of a crown? And, perhaps, something underneath it? I am not sure what the significance of that, in Imperial German terms, is, though.

Interesting thread on a period and conflict I was unfamiliar with until I visited Lwow three years ago. Just for the heck of it, I have taken the liberty of using Leclerc's photos to create a similar comparison image to his. I have highlighted what I believe to be the same 'flaws' in each. This leads me to come to the following possibilities: a) they were both 'originals', both cast from the same master (Leclerc's suggestion), b) Leclerc's medal is a 'copy' cast from the auction house 'original', or c) they are both forgeries produced by the same faker A range of other possibilities may well exist, of course.

Ostprussenmann What a fascinating story - thank you (belatedly) for bringing it to us. It is always interesting to read of these forgotten human remnants of Empire - they crop up in the most surprising of places. Am I alone in thinking that, bearing in mind the precarious existence of Christians in Iraq, it might be best if his name continues to be 'forgotten', at least as far as the Internet is concerned? Unless, of course, it is published elsewhere, in which case any potential damage is already done.

Hans Let me first state that I am not an expert and, furthermore, you will be better able to judge the quality of what you have in your hands than I can merely looking at photos. That all having been said, it looks 'right' from other examples that I have seen on the Internet. On the assumption that you have satisfied yourself that the pages are not photocopied or laser printed, depending on what you paid for it, it seems to me that the cost and trouble in producing a fake 'from scratch' (which would include gaining access to Imperial seals) would outweigh the expected financial reward. That to me is the sanity test that suggests it to be genuine. I would be interested in hearing what others think, though. As to its rarity, there were as many produced as men ennobled. This was not an unusual occurrence in 19th century Austria. However, the man who received this example was not a 'nobody', so I would imagine that that would push up its value. Of course a search of the European auction house sites for comparable examples will reveal more - they usually have an English language option to help us monoglots, in my experience. I suspect that you have come up with many of these thoughts yourself but I hope that I have helped somewhat. I hope you will let is know if the putative relative/descendant comes back to you with anything interesting.

Rattrapante Congratulations! What a wonderful find - I admit to feeling extremely envious From what I can see, you appear to have summed it up pretty well. You have probably Googled him already but in case you haven't, Wikipedia reveals that he was the Austrian Foreign Minister from 1879 to 1881 and has a portrait of him, http://en.wikipedia....rl_von_Haymerle Perhaps you might outline what other information you were hoping for, so that we can get on the case?

Thank you for your thoughts, Iver. I could, perhaps, have found a counterargument for the other observations in your posts but the above comment was the "bayonet between the ribs". My Internet searches appear to confirm your understanding of the Öst. Kameradschaftsbund (ÖKB) medal. From what I can gather from googling, the ÖKB was founded (or, if one accepts that they are a continuation of the original veteran organisations, refounded) in the early 1950s. This medal appears to date from that period, at the earliest, so it is difficult to believe that it could authentically belong with the other medals. Your overall conclusion, therefore, appears to be correct I don't believe that this group was an intentional fraud as the ÖKB medal would be a strange one to include if it were. The fact that it appears to have 'age' (yes, I know that can be faked) leads me to the conclusion that this group must have been put together in the 1950s, perhaps, by a member of the ÖKB (who had been awarded the ÖKB medal) as an homage to his father and/or grandfather. My consolation is that the breakup value of this group seems to be rather more than I paid for it (not that I intend to break it up). Rest assured that I will make sure that the 'problems' are signposted if I decide to sell them together. Lastly, let me apologise if this diversion has caused a distraction from your highly desirable medaille + etui combination.

Iver Thanks for your reply, which, I confess, has made me a bit uneasy about this group. It gives the indications of being that of an active officer (e.g. Signum Laudis with crossed swords and wartime ribbon as well as jubilee medals with military ribbons) - exactly to whom you say the Signum Laboris XXXX wouldn't be awarded (unless I have misunderstood) You can see the obverse and reverse of this group in the image below. Apologies for the lack of focus for some of the medals; my scanner doesn't really like scanning objects. Despite that, to my, admittedly inexperienced, eye the ribbons and the backing hessian appear to have some age and don't obviously look to have bee 'thrown together'. However, that doesn't stop a dealer imaginatively replacing, on the same ribbon in the same position, existing medals with something more interesting, does it I know nothing about the last medal in the group other than it seems, from my googling, to be an award from some kind of regional social association with no military connotations. Perhaps I will start another thread asking about it, rather than divert this one from the Signum Laboris XXXX.

Iver This is a wonderful combination. It's particularly nice to have the dates that it applies to. In the light of Elmer's comment that it isn't particularly common, I wonder if this narrows down the possible candidates - to the nearest thousand, at any rate Not wishing to hijack your thread, Iver, but I wonder if you or any of the other sages on this forum can enlighten me as to what the qualifications for this medal were? I have tried googling it and there seems to be very little information, at least in English, on the Internet. As an example of the lack of definitive information available, there seems to be some dispute as to the correct ribbon that it should be found on. Needless to say I have a specific interest in this question - I have just bought a group with one on it and want to decide whether it is 'right' or not ;)

Uwe Thanks for this additional information, which has nicely complimented what the others have written. Thank you also for the pdf file, which I have downloaded. This is particularly useful information for me and, I would expect, other newbies like me. This is a particular problem with miniatures, of course, where there is a wider philosophical issue as to how long after an award is made can a miniature be acquired by the awardee and still be considered an 'original'.

Andy and Andreas Thank you for your answers, which give the information that I was hoping for. I rather suspected that the reason was something along these lines. I intend to collect only Imperial ODMs, so in theory this should not affect me. However, I have noted that, in some cases, where a medal chain include both imperial and 57ers, the imperials seem as new as the 57ers This is obviously something to be aware of, for newer collectors like me! Thank you, again.

Please forgive a newbie question but, when I am visiting web sites in search of information or images of miniaturkettchen, I am seeing many references to 1957 with respect to miniatures which appear to date from WW 1. For example, here, http://www.militaria...ausfuhrung.html Can anyone enlighten me as to the significance of the year 1957? Did the regulations for wearing such miniature chains change in that year? As may be obvious already, I don't speak or read German so I am largely relying on Google Translate in my research endeavours I am thus very grateful for any help German speakers may be able to give me.

With the very small consolation, however, that it is documented in its complete condition here. Otherwise, I agree with all the bad things everyone else wishes upon this vandal - even if it is Lent :)

Michael This is proving to be a fascinating thread. I particularly liked the pen portraits of the officers. It was noticeable that some took a drop in rank to be part of what must have seemed like the start of a great adventure. Thank you for taking the trouble to make these posts. I, for one, am greatly looking forward to the subsequent ones.