utopis

Well, it doesn't have to be that way. This 2nd type 1cl 3rd grade DD sold last weekend on ebay for $18.000.

Just imagine what all those orders, uniforms, flags etc, all amassed at one square, are worth today - The pictures of the veterans today - one or two real awards + 40 scrap metal medals - Nick, did you attend the parade?

WW2 after 57?

Yes you are absolutely right. This box is for the first class Republic. Also the war banner case is inscribed on top.

Very informative thread! Does anyone know how the motif on the red center piece was manufactured?

That's no fake. It's the real deal.

more pictures from this star

It's real. But it's the 2nd class breast star meaning it belongs to a neck badge and is incomplete. The first picture from that auction isn't the order that's for sale it's in a museum and the case doesn't belong to this order. The case belongs to the order of the warbanner. Note: the seller says "real rubies" This is deceiving: he actually means that the stones aren't glass or enamel but these are synthetic stones and not naturally mined (therefore worthless). There are some pieces of this order with naturally mined rubies - they are extremely rare (no more than 15 made) and more expensive

Gold isn't the main problem. Silver gilt is fine as long as there is good enamel work. Really a shame how the modern ones look. They're the ugly cousins of the Tsarist ones. Though I like the numbering on the the neck badge - that's a nice touch (but the engraving is badly executed) The safety pin looks just ridiculous. It looks like it's going to break off after a little wear.

So who will receive this wonderful award? PS: They probably modeled the obverse after this one

Ah sorry my mistake. He didn't put China directly as item location. It is possible to conceal the real location of the item by choosing a different country (default is your country of origin) But you can't change the place the account was opened at and if you look at his profile it says "member since Oct-18-12 in China".

Yes, first they appeared from Germany but he sold several pieces and at one point it was written that the item location is China. I think it is very plausible that that's where they were produced. Also one or two times he didn't state that they were copies but on most auctions he did. The ones that sold so high were stated as fakes,

As stated before only precious metals. An authentic last type wouldn't go for much more than 2500. But without further images nothing can be said on this one. Though there is one thing: in the last half year or so fake Yugoslav Great Star breast stars from China started to turn up (just as 1 1/2 years ago fake heroes of yugoslava started to turn up from China). Bad quality but with stones in the center. Some of them sold for as much as $2000 on ebay. Poor suckers.

Yeah, right. Bradley the 11th caught the first one

Well, look at that: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Japanese-Enamel-Medal-Order-of-the-Golden-Kite-1st-Class-Breast-Badge-Orig-/191148734985?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c815a3a09 it's the same breast star that was sold last year and posted in this topic: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/58343-1st-class-golden-kite-on-ebay/ Only this time the seller has a rating of 0 ... I'd be careful.

Very impressive collection! My congratulations and thank you for sharing it with us.

The 2nd type 1cl 3rd grade DD sold for $32.150 (incl. bp) The Bacqueville star sold for $10.500 (incl. bp)

What was the selling price?

Yes I think this can be agreed upon by all. 5 torches = silver, smooth reverse 6 rorches= silver, smooth reverse bronze, grainy reverse -- the orange thing beneath the star seems to be excessive enamel

As I stated previously I think that the enamel is low grade because of a production mistake (resulting in several pieces/a small series with similar defects). Here are pictures of another piece which has a dotted white enamel and orange coloured red stars. It's a 2nd type 2nd class too made of silver.

That should be fairly easy to detect. Either with an UV lamp or by doing the "pushing"-test

I see nothing wrong with the enamel. Were is it supposedly replaced? Are you concerned about the dots in the white enamel? That would mean that the complete enamel of this piece must have been replaced. That would only be the case if the piece was devastatingly damaged. Other than the enamel the order seems to be near mint, no? In that case even the central enamel would have to be replaced which is only possible if the coat of arms would've been taken off. That should leave some marks (aka you can't remove rivets without destroying them) - that doesn't seem to be the case, either. And last: for enamel to be flat it has to be cut like a gem - meaning that such a process if done by a common jeweler would most likely leave some marks (for example abrasion of the gilding). The reason for these dots is probably a production mistake. Enamel powder consists of several ingredients and if they're mixed in wrong ratio this is a possible consequence.

It seems like someone has been visiting the treasury Definitely my most favorite museum. Thanks for sharing the images.

Yes the price is $150.000 which is a little overpriced in my opinion, considering that you can buy Imperial Russian and Third Reich Diamond Orders or Republican Soviet ones at that price.

#