Mike Huxley

And the cased example.

And now the Merit Medal with swords on a bar.

Cover of the case.

Followed by the cased example of the award.

Well Gents,

This small collection of Reuss related awards arrived this week. Some seen before, in fact one bar that was purchased for a certain cigar smoking friend of mine from the USA from over here in the UK. It's now returned after almost 2 years. To go with the bars are the cased awards of the Ruess Merit Medal, with swords and without.

A steady build up of these lovely awards for my collection.

First the NC bar thats been seen here before.

This is mine. It comes in a Godet marked box, it is made from silver, and it is marked "900" on the back pin. I do not really know if the piece is made by Godet, but it is beautiful and I paid German Marks for it (when they were almost half the price of a US $ !) good old days

GMU,

The case is the same type as I posted in my first item. However, I'm not so sure that the TWM that is with it is a "Godet" made piece? A very nice one indeed. Have a look at the enamel pattern on yours and then on the other "Godet" pieces that have been shown on the thread.

I have to admit that I did bite the bullet and bought the cased "Godet" that I asked about. You might all think me mad .... but as Stogie said, not that many of this quality with case about. Not a mark on the enamel.

Here's a close up of the Obverse and Reverse. I just love the quality of that enamel.

As an aside, here's a BB&Co I bought at a local medal fair about a year ago .... It only cost me ?30 so go figure.

Just for giggles...... here's a cased BBB&Co. at 356- Euro and climbing......... the case is rather unique and interesting though.......

Finished at 402 Euro's ..... so how does that compare to 500 including shipping with insurance for a "Godet" example????? I guess you guys with cased pieces should start thinking !!!

Oh and Rick R .... maybe not the high end award ... but as all antique collectors say Quality Counts and a "Godet" made pieces in the original case are Quality items.

Hey Mike, the piece is right. If you like it. Buy it. You'll be counting on your fingers and toes the opportunities that arise for one this nice for a smaller price in Europe. Tell our friend I said hello.

Hey Stogie ..... my thoughts also and I'll be sure to pass on your greetings

Not related to this, but offered to me by the same seller is this medalbar.

The star, unquestionably. The case, I don't know. Never got into boxes myself.

But don't let

What Other Dealers WANT

(and notice their stock is NOT flying off the shelves )

influence such a major financial outlay. I cannot imagine how a pricetag like that will ever be able to get flogged on for either investment or emergency fund raising disasters.

I've never had ANY objection to paying locked ward/straitjacket prices for something I fiercely desired (and COULD afford) when said insane purchase is destined to be grave goods but do not get sucked in on the somebody-will-pay-me-MORE "investment" trap. Almost anything would be a better RETURN on that amount of money.

Rick, Not an investment, that's something I've never been bothered with. What I collect is what I want to keep and not to be passed on for a profit.

But cased "Godet" awards are the one thing that I have seen very few of during my collecting time, hence my interest in this piece. The 500 Euro was the original asking price ... but as a well bought up buyer, I don't accept that as the final price.

Maybe your "Evil Twin" can comment on the case?

But thanks for the thumbs-up on the award itself.

Mike

Well thanks for everbody's imput to my question .... it certainly stired up a lot of comments. However, the main question was .... Is it a correct piece, by Godet and is the case right with the makers mark in the lid?

As for price, I also agree that is over the top, but if compaired to some of the prices being asked for BB&Co uncased awards, then it's not out of the ballpark. Helmut Weitze is asking 240 Euros for a BB&Co uncased Heusken is asking over 300 Euros for a simmular piece.

Rick you are correct in all of your comments and I for one would not disagree with you on them. It is a very low award, but how often do you see it cased and when you compare this to some of the prices that are being asked for just the case to certain awards, then what the hell!!!

Most of all though, I still wish to know if you feel from the pictures supplied, that the item is a genuine "Godet" item, including the case.

All the best, Mike

I agree, There's a well known saying "Two Heads are better then one", perhaps in this case other forum members could chip in and "35 heads are better than one"just for the sake of it, the Godet sticker on the base of my case

regards

That's a fantastic case, with an a+ original Godet label Alex. Your a lucky guy to Own that.

Mike

Alex and Luftmensch,

Thanks for you valued replies on this piece. Cased awards are one of my favorite collecting themes. I have asked the seller to hold this for me. But I would still value other Members thoughts before I confirm the purchase.

Mike

My case as you can see has a specific indentation where the star fits quite snugly, the case you show doesn't. its obviously a Godet case but may have been for a different content.

regards

Have a closer look Alex ... There is an indentation mark for the award and a slot for the clasp that just shows under the award. Unfortunatly, I'm only able to supply the pics provided by the seller.

Mike

Hi Mike, bit difficult for me to give a precise answer as to the price, I bought mine, to be fair with enamel damaged for ?22 in 1983. 500 Euro seems a bit steep to me, but I could be wrong, perhaps others could point you in the right direction, still a very nice and desirable piece in my opinion

regards

Alex

Bloody hell Alex 24 years ago I think we could have all bought some fantastic awards for that price. Unfortunately, I was not collecting then ( I wish I had been )

Steep maybe, but if right, then worth the outlay.

Pic of the top of the case.

slightly different case,?comes?with?a?Godet?sticker?on?the?base

Exactly Alex, hence my question about the case?

Hi Mike a beautiful example, any pictures of the reverse? I have an example by Godet but enamel damaged unfortunately, If the price is reasonable I would buy it, it looks in mint condition

regards

Alex K

Edit, sorry for some strange reason didn't spot the photo of the reverse , it's identical to mine

Thanks Alex, My posts are a little slow in being posted. The price asked for is 500 Euros

closer look at the makers stamp

Reverse.

Another pic of the piece.

I've been offered this cased "Godet" Iron Half Moon and was wondering what you experienced collecters of this award think of it? The award looks good to me, but I'm not so sure on the case. Also what, do you feel is a reasonable price to pay for this cased award? I only have a short time to reply to accepting this piece and would value your thoughts.

Mike

Hi again Mike, I have read all your posts again and notice that JA^s as impressed on the medal rim, you quote his name as Jas, is this his official christian name or an assumption on your part? I have seen a number of victorian medal roles for the Crimea/Baltic conflict and I alway assumed Ja^s was short for James is Jas a shortened name for James? It's just an observation

Best regards

Geoff.

Hi Geoff,

You are right regarding the impression on his "Mutiny" medal is JA^s and on the "Crimea" is just J. His official Christian name is James as shown on the WO 12 papers I have for him. I have also seen this on other medals, all seem to be around the late 1800 times and have often wondered why this would change from just the usuall inital to a shortened version of the full christian name.

Well spotted Geoff

Cheers,

Mike

Leigh, Geoff,

To be honest this is the greatest BUZZ I've ever felt in my collecting time. My main collecting is to Imperial German, even harder to reunite confirmed pieces together. My sub collecting interest is to the 79th and Cameron Highlanders. This is through a family connection. I intend to search back to find out as much as I can about Jas McDonald.

There is more than a possibility that he is a family member.

Again, thank you all for your imput and any further information on him would be gratefully received.

Mike

Thanks to all for your replies. I'm over the moon at being able to bring this pair back to the homeland

Believe me, it was pure fluke that these came together and just goes to show the power of the internet, with me being offered the "Mutiny" from a contact in the USA and me visiting a local medal fair in the UK .... goes to show that it can be done.

As I gather more information I will update you all.

Mike