Ulsterman

but sometimes......

same here=some look "newer", but the landwehr combination ain't impossible.

Ah! I figured some sort of NCO-a 40 year old private wasn't uncommon though.

Someone went to a lot of trouble over that item. I note that the real Bernard Sussler died Bastille day 2005. NavyFCO, what do you think of this?

no- implausable unto impossible.

Nice SA/14-15 group! A Sergeant? Is that Scots Greys badge WW1 era?

No offense, but I have noticed that venue matters, especially where fakes are a problem (and where aren't they these days?. However, more common items which languished a few months back are sometimes now being bought, albeit at 20%(+) off the higher end asking prices on eBay. I have not noticed an uptick in Victory medals, but then again I am not looking. I don't think anyone except magazine editors really pays attention to 100 year anniversaries. Things sell if they are interesting and commemorations do create a "buzz", but gone are the days when "buzz" generated a massive boom in militaria buying. Frankly, given the future of the world economy over the next two years, I suspect that many, many people are going to be cautious. I have however, noticed that in some sales auctions, a great many items that I thought would sell have not met their reserve price. The tale is told by typing in the word "medal" on search and then looking at the completed items sales every few days. HOWEVER!!!!!! As a hedge against the on-coming advent of inflation and higher tax rates, which many here have not really experienced in all its socio-political nastiness (has it been almost 30 years?)....higher end medals ARE a good investment. A Waterloo medal with provenance is ALWAYs almost as liquid as cash. Sorry cousin-it's true.

sweet!! I saw that too, but just broke my piggybank on an Ethiopian medal. It is a wonderful bar. It makes you wonder why there's no 1870/71, or if it was worn in 1870 on the green fields of France.

Outstanding collection! Outstanding!

see here: http://cgi.ebay.com/Old-German-Medals-Mili...93%3A1|294%3A50

:jumping: Now to get a ribbon!

I for one, would be VERY interested in finding out what the Hanovarian records had on pvt. Heinrich Muller. The 1st hussars were a premier, elite unit and for this guy to have only three bars suggests a very nasty wound and posting to the veteran's battalion thereafter.

You know, I've always thought we should offer a free "historical advisory" service for Hollywood. If they used us, perhaps we'd even get a free movie ticket or two.

GREAT PIECE TOM!!!!!! :cheers: :cheers: Did you see the 4 bar set on ebay? 4 campaign medals for before 1870-superb. The seller stuck it in coins. "authenti-fi-cate"? By the way folks, that's a quasi-inside joke - regarding another Gottleib who purportedly has made a few German items. The above item is genuine and rare.

Yes. There are two 'double campaign medals' groups to Drs. out there (for the Franco-Prussian war )-one was in the JOMSA and these are substantiated by documents. In these groups the noncom campaign medal was awarded a year + after the combat one (1872/73).

1890? The needle looks very new.

wow! Beau, those are GREAT!!

Oooooh...that last one is superb: treasures!

well, the 1907 is there. A few have dropped off since last I searched, but I note that an SA ranglist for Thuringia (ATTN: RICK!) has popped up in the Frankfurt library. I always suspected there was such a thing.

squint-squint- The Serb medal is a markmans' (expert weapon) medal. The Yugoslavians gave medals for weapons expertise (unlike the US which has a small badge with bars). I do not know his regiment, but I think he's an NCO of some sort.

Do bears love it in the woods! YOU BET!! :jumping: :jumping: :jumping:

It would be fun to watch. Indeed, PLEASE submit this for the WAF's consideration...please!

Given the cess-pool of people who deal in TR, I believe it is highly, generously, fantastically over-optimistic to think that "anyone but the recipient" would have engraved it. Doubting Thomas I may be, but no fool am I with my money. LOTS and LOTS and LOTs of people-VERY BAD people- engrave all sorts of things onto badges, SS rings etc. for PROFIT! This has been going on since the early 1960s and without IRON CLAD provenance, it is AT BEST a BIG and VERY DANGEROUS GAMBLE that this is an original piece-in my opinion. This has the classic template of an antique fake/con job: 1. rare item 2. made even rarer /special by engraving 3. lacks any provenance 4. easily made compared to say, a Rembrandt painting (and those are faked too) 5. Big Bucks if real (profit motive) 6. engraving style is easy to create (block letters) and not uncommon in post war pieces and can be done with a $35 engraving tool. I myself do this for the state for our Gold Star medals once a month. 7. Lack of oxidation/patina on reverse. (cite: the Antiques Roadshow newsletter on silver engraving fakes from @ 2002, see also the Skinner's Guide to silver engraving forgery) I would say it's worth $100, IF that was an original badge and I would not trust that it is without handling it and having at LEAST two others I know and trust look at it. In my opinion, the post-war engraving has ruined the badge as effectively as if someone had run over it with their car. Perhaps you may wish to shop this around for second and third opinions at other more inviting and perhaps knowledgeable TR forums-like the WAF? By the way, just for your own personal information, I am the guy who first started running these badges through NMR machines at MIT 11 years ago. Weights, measures and even a bit of chemical testing are not unusual for ancient coins that sell for FAR less than 1,200 UK pounds (@$2,000).

Whoa! That's new. Is that ceremonial dress only?

Colin: Popitz's medal bar is here: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=1216&st=140