Rogi

Thanks a mil Auke Super cool, now I have to get the book too hehe

The only thing you have to factor in is "storage space" and that's very little for Order of Glory Its about the same return for watches you purchase at old prices and sell at just under new prices, at least with medals you are already obtaining a used item with history, with watches you could be buying new and then selling used. I guess for medals and rarer awards and orders its more like if you can find something cheaper, then buy it if you can't, then pay the premium :S

Reminds me of the mark up of watches during the past few years

Looks fantastic Radmilo Great find.

That is precisely what I thought as well (maybe if he had been awarded a higher order, I would not have been able to afford it ) It is the best Bravery Medal Citation I've ever seen for the Leningrad front (I haven't seen many so there might be something more epic than this one out there but I really enjoy it ) We could probably factor in one of those Red Stars as a "Long Service" I'll have to do some extra research with Auke to make sure everything about him I'm really glad it came to my home It is great to see you return Mr. Rick Research, I've read many threads and your lists of contributing articles and info. are greatly appreciated to the new collectors like me.

Just throwing this out there, but could the second photo be a Polish Uniform ? I know the Poles adopted the American style Eagle on some outfits. I was thinking maybe a Polish-American association, since the two nations had pretty big ties There seems to be some writing inbetween the Eagle's wings, that I can't make out atm :S Looks like CRE on the end. Anyway I'm stumped too just throwing out suggestions

Many thanks to PJS for this amazing Bravery Medal (I am head over heals for this one ) It will be the "holly grail" in my collection my favorite front, Leningrad, and early war, plus against the Finnish It arrived a couple days ago and I'd like to share it with you guys Here is the citation: Bravery Medal #31,722 : “Comrade Anton Lavrentevich Pashchenko is a forceful, disciplined, and demanding commander, fearless in combat with the enemy. While advancing behind the infantry, Comrade Pashchenko displayed his hatred of the enemy by destroying more than one hundred enemy personnel, two heavy machineguns, and two mortars with his cannon. On 27 August 1941 the enemy attempted to cross the Vuoksi River and attack our units, but due to Comrade Pashchenko’s fearlessness, he wheeled out his 76mm cannon and firing on direct lay, twice disrupted the enemy’s crossings and causing heavy losses. At night when the White Finn submachine gunners tried to attack the platoon in which Comrade Pashchenko’s gun was located, he again displayed his bravery and heroism firing on direct lay, smashing the enemy with canister ammunition. During the capture of Beloostrov, Comrade Pashchenko caused heavy enemy losses with his cannon. Answering Comrade Stalin’s challenge, the crew of this young, fearless commander accomplished new results in destroying thirty six enemy personnel, two heavy machine guns, one light machine gun, and set four buildings on fire in Aleksandrovka. For his combat accomplishments, bravery, courage, and fearlessness, Comrade Pashchenko is deserving of the Bravery Medal.” and here are the copy of archive documents (I still need to translate these if anyone can help a bit it'd be appreciated, I can make out a couple things but not all ) The Medal itself Hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I am now

Thank you In regards to the 3rd and 2nd classes, they had a different design than the first? I've found about 2 1st classes online. If you like I can pm you them ?

Thank you soooo much Kevin I can't find any info. on this Order anywhere so your expertise is greatly appreciated The bio. of Queen Marie is fantastic, thank you

Thank you for the advice, I passed on this one, not enough info. on the orders to make a definate decision

Here are the pictures of her I love this "fire" enamel Hope everyone enjoys it

Really cool OPW 2 here, it shows its' age well , was it in battle, damaged, or did it end up hitting the kitchen floor one afternoon, we will never know but it sure looks great and has excellent character BIG Thanks goes out to Norm here for this one, such a beautiful award and excellent citation I've always wanted this serial number range (from all the ones I've seen they have the most "orange" enamel, and I love that orange-red enamel, looks like fire to me ) . Still trying to poke through and find out all the locations hes been too (Warten, is that Germany, or Netherlands, or somewhere else, all the locals seem to be East Prussia, and I've never heard of the USSR liberting the Netherlands?) Heres the citation: Award sheet All fields to be filled out fully Award sheet 1. Last name, first name and patronymic: Gilbakhiane, Shalva Grigoryevich 2. Rank: Guards Senior Sergeant 3. Position and unit: Gun commander in a 76-mm cannon battery of the 99th Guards Rifle Regiment, 31st Guards Vitebsk Order of Lenin Red Banner Order of Suvorov Rifle Division Nominated for: Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd Class 4. Year of birth: 1918 5. Nationality: Georgian 6. Party affiliation: Member of the Communist Party since May 1944 7. Participation in the Civil War, the subsequent combat actions to defend the USSR, and the Patriotic War (where and when): In the Patriotic War from March 10, 1943 up to the present time 8. Wounds and contusions received during the Patriotic War: No 9. Since when in the Red Army: From August 13, 1941 up to the present time 10. Drafted by which military commissariat: Military Commissariat of the Kirov Raion, city of Leningrad 11. Awards received previously (for which merits): None 12. Permanent home address of the prospective awardee and the address of his family: ______________ Short, concrete description of his combat feat or merits: Throughout the combat operations in East Prussia comrade Gilbakhiane’s gun was located among the combat formations of the infantry. Despite artillery and mortar shelling the crew under his command fired at the enemy. On January 22, 1945 he destroyed 1 mortar and 1 machine-gun position near Groß Franzdorf. On January 23, 1945 he destroyed 3 machine-gun positions and 3 trucks and killed 10 soldiers near Klapnur. On February 3, 1945, while repelling 4 enemy counterattacks near Warten, he destroyed 2 machine-gun positions and killed 15 soldiers. For his capable leadership and the bravery he displayed he deserves to be awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd Class. Commander of the 99th Guards Rifle Regiment Guards Colonel [signed] /Sidorenko/ February 10, 1945 　 　 He deserves to be awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd Class. Commander of the 31st Guards Rifle Division Guards Major General [signed] /Burmakov/ February …, 1945 　 　 Awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd Class. Assistant chief of the Personnel Section of the 16th Guards Rifle Corps Guards Captain [signed] /Gaisinsky/ February 28, 1945

I had a huge dilema this past week, I purchased a Queen Marie Cross (order, medal?) 1st class for my friend along with some things for me , when it arrived he didn't like it as much as when he saw it online. So I could either return it, or keep it, so I decided to keep it, here are some pictures, I love Orange, and when I saw the ribbon I couldn't send it back at least it'll be loved here at my home! It came with the case of issue any help on year/material/ any information about it is appreciated since I have 0 knowledge on Romanian awards. It appears to be silver gilt, I've seen some IInd and IIIrd class ones in bronze.

Looks like a great collectiion, thank you for sharing it with us

Hello, I need some information related to the Greek Order of Benevolence (also known as Order of Beneficience, Order of Welfare) It is a ladies only award and comes in various classes. I am particularly interested in the Gold Cross grade. Are there two versions of this order? As I have come across one that has ribbon more peach to beige in color and Petals of the flower are not navy blue, it is showing a lighter blue; also clothes of baby Christ are in white (very faint light blule). I have found other more recently made orders with a yellowish orange ribbon, dark blue petals of the flower and blue clothes for baby christ. Could the peach ribbon either be a older version of the order, or faded color (faded by time) ? Here is an example similar to the one I am interested in, I took the image of one that recently sold on ebay: Thank you for your help With Regards, Igor

I've read about this in a book I purchased when I was younger (very small article), I'll try to dig it out of my attic and send you a copy of the page Norm. Just double check to make sure, but depending on the citation and merits for the action I don't see why bread production wouldn't be the case for an OPW, I mean when you look at the situation on some fronts, bread is more valuable than guns.

Wow, thats a great write up, thanks for sharing it with us Norm

That award is awesome and Auke is to the rescue again very cool pick up Paul

Radmilo has got it they are Definatley Bertrand. If you can provide the interior shot, there should be some writing on the interior lid of the cushion.

Really awesome stuff Paul I can't really add anything more awesome than has already said. Aukinator stikes again! but "he will be bachk" hehehehe (arnold references)

Just for quick clarification, the one I have is type 1 (is that the 1st issue of the medal?) a 1895 or so year issue? and the second edition is 1908? After Radmilo brought it up, could it be that they used the same die for the "Medal of Heroism" for the medal of Zeal? with small alterations in the wiriting on the reverse?

I just took the back photo today, does it still look really good any more info,. about the medal is welcome

I have no idea either on types I was just guessing because it doesn't have a round ring to attach it to the ribbon, so I thought initially it was type 2 after the example. I'll try to search some more on the order but not a lot is poping up on the internet. It is very interesting to see that the medal itself has survived this long but the box too, its in bad shape but it looks much better than some other more recent boxes Thank you all for the tips and suggestions

Thank you Iver,I think its a Type 2, it doesn't have a circular suspension, I'll post some updated pictures a bit later

Thank you so much Tifes I've sent you a pm with the links, not sure if I am allowed to post them in the forum, but the dogs or fox head definatley looks to be either 14k or 18k gold I forgot to post one of the hallmarks on the needle: Looks like an H on it and a N?