landsknechte

Has anyone seen this particular veteran's decoration before? --Chris

For the benefit of anyone staring at a "mystery ribbon" on one of their ribbon bars... --Chris

No idea who the maker might be - any ideas? --Chris

If I'm not mistaken:

Thanks!

I picked up this rather "salty" Crown Order this weekend at a local show. I couldn't muster a legible photo of the maker's mark, but it's stamped ZEHN. Being a neophyte medal collector, I've got a couple of questions... ...what would you expect the "fair market value" of this medal in this condition to be? ...what was the underlying metal that the gilding was applied to on this decoration? Thanks, --Chris

My lone HHOX contribution:

...and this medal:

...one intriguing find is the similarity between this different version of the Prince Alphons badge:

I've posted this one in a few different places, and as of yet, nobody has been able to determine what the blue and white ribbon to the right of the Luitpold Jubilee is. From two different sources, I've managed to acquire two absolutely identical ribbon bars. My desparate hope is that the medal bar will eventually surface, allowing for a positive ID of that ribbon. There seem to be a number of foreign decorations that have similar ribbons, but none of them that I've come across really make much sense in context. Given that the blue on the Long Service ribbon is precisely the same shade, it's probably something Bavarian. The closest that I've been able to find within Bavaria is this decoration: Only problem, is that there's no evidence of anything that could potentially have been worn from a medal / ribbon bar existing on this ribbon.

(The kicker is that the damn seller is rather obviously splitting a group here. flame )

Also found these listed on eBay - the first time I've seen documents associated with these medals:

...and here is another example from an auction that's currently up on eBay:

Drat! Foiled again! My evil plans to buy up the world's supply of MVK1XmKr ribbon bars one by one have been set back.

With the "upgrade", I was thinking more in terms of how someone in general might have been so awarded. Repeat awards being one possibility, of course. That sort of thing. Frankly, after the letter that I got back when I inquired to them about Friedrich Freiherr von Berchem (basically - We have a whole bunch of cool stuff, including some of his photo albums. However we're really busy so kiss off.), I'm not going to hold my breath. I'll probably go ahead and give it a shot on the off chance that I catch someone on a less anti-social day, but unfortunately, a trip to Europe is nowhere nearby on the horizon. (Dammit.) Thanks, --Chris

It's certianly one heck of a start! :food-smiley-004: The sheer rarity of the MVK1XmKr would seem to go a long way towards narrowing it down. I can't imagine that there couldn't be all that many of them with the AFK. (As it's the first one I've seen in a Bavarian group, a second one among the +/- 175 would be a surprise.) Any thoughts as to how he might have pulled off the MVK "above his station"? Thanks, --Chris

I found the thread on the Aerodrome forum where you asked about this bar, and I must admit to still being a tad confused... Just to make sure that I'm following this correctly, it's definately narrowed down to a Bavarian named Bauer - but the question is which Bauer? Thanks, --Chris

Nothing especially fancy, but certainly possessing of that proverbial "been there" look. --Chris

Heaven knows it might be a wee bit late at this point anyhow. Seriously though, it was a brilliant period of artistic development, but complete and utter chaos wracked with violence and hyperinflation. --Chris

Heck of a good start you've got there. I think that's the only ribbon bar that I've seen with a spange on the Treue dem Regiment ribbon! --Chris

Actually, the red and black ribbon on this bar is the correct ribbon for that decoration: --Chris

I have a ribbon bar with that decoration, but the swords threw me. I never knew it came with them. Thanks, --Chris

Granted, not anywhere near as impressive as Rick's bars, but I thought I'd share my one example that falls within the topic: --Chris

...and the not so small ones...