Claudio

Hi Paul, thanks for your info... do you know the market value of such medals? ciao, Claudio

I looks very much like this coin, of Ahmad Shah Qajar, the last king of the dynasty, reigned for about 16 years. He reigned with regent from 1909 to 1914. The one I show is wearable. Ciao, Claudio

Dear Forumites, I saw this medal - it looks to be Persian (Iranian, see the lion) - and was interested to know for what reason has been bestowed and if it could be in real Gold. Thank you very much in advance for your most interesting and appreciated comments.

From the two bars I would choose the second one; it has more character and the IC is far better quality. Just my opinion. ciao, Claudio

It couble be that the Tapferkeitsmedaille is a bronze piece (rarer), but I am not sure since it should have a more "chocolate"-like colour tone, and this one has almost a "Kupfer-Bronze" look... According the book "Ehrenzeicheb des Herzogtums Sachsen-Altenburg, Dekorationen des Herzoglich Sachsen Ernestinischen Hausordens, 1814-1918", ISBN 3-9806235-5-8. Claudio

From the book of Gert Efler "Dier Orden und Ehrenzeichen des Fürstentums Waldeck und Pyrmont"

Back...

Trapezoidal ribbon bar of Hptm Walter Caspari Too bad that the swords are missing... but I hope one day to complete it! :whistle:

Well I saw the Finnish liberty cross 2nd class on various medal bars, but you are right; it's rare! If you browse this very forum you will see other examples (like the medal bar of Jantzen )... Maybe even more rare to find on German bars are beautiful Golden Swedish orders, because of a Neutral state like Sweden not allied to Germany. Personally I was very disappointed not to have won this bar (see below) at an auction a couple of years ago... Ciao, Claudio

Picture of Boelcke with two ribbons worn at the buttonhole of his tunic (HHOX and very likely Saxon Albert Order).

Of course there was a very strong inflatonary phase after the introduction of the Euro in 2001, but this could only explain partly the prices increase. Furthermore we speak about collectibles and not essential goods (like food, clothes, etc.); the prices increased because also we collectors are ready to pay more and more. But of course also like Ulsterman says internet also has contributed to make such collectibles easily available all over the world. I was also very shocked to see how few people are partecipating to such shows like Gunzenhausen. I remember earlier (like Stuttgart), sometimes how ridiculous it was to get to a vendor's table... so many people and you had to cue up in order to get to the table... now it's almost boring... Why that? Why should people spend extra money for flights, fuel for car, hotel, eating in restaurants, when most of the dealers there in the shows offers the same products on their websites at the same prices? The only reason I still go it's because I can meet fellow collectors who share the same interests and we can share our knowledge or expand our network within this interesting field of collecting. Just my 2 cents (euro cents of course!) C

Hi Sascha! I promptly reported it also to Ebay since he was trying to sell medal bars which are corrently in my collection. Ciao, Claudio

A picture of Sperrle I found on the net with his original medal bar worn in WW2. C

@ Chris; yes, and there's also a picture of Oblt R. Falke ... Ciao, Claudio

Yes, Valter you are totally correct... I just divided by 2 the price in DM, but the official course was 1 Euro for 1,95583 DM (see Wikipedia English German Mark ) Claudio

Another example... Deutsches Reich 1871-1918, Waffenabzeichen der Fliegertruppe, Abzeichen für Flieger-Beobachter, 1914 OEK 3287 (Silber) S Value in 1995, DM 570.- (ca. Eur 275.-) in 2008 Eur 580.-: increase of 110.91% In this case you can obsverve that the price hasn't increased so much in the last 10 years, according to the OEK's catalogue, but I would think to find such a well marked piece (Meybauer) for less Eur 800./900.- today.

Another example... Reuss, Ältere und jüngere Linie gemeinsam, Kriegsverdienstkreuz „1914“, 1915-1918, Steckkreuz Bemerkungen: Verleihungen: 366 (Lt. Auskunft der Fürstlich Reussischen Vermögensverwaltung Gera, 7.7.41) OEK 2023 Value in 1995, DM 950.- (ca. Eur 475.-) in 2008 Eur 900.-: increase of 89.47%

Dear forumites, I was updating some files of my collection and was quite surprised how prices have gone up, especially after the introduction of the Euro in 2001. This values are taken from Nimmerguts' OEK, which of course show only indicatively an average market price, often undervalued. Nevertheless it's quite an useful reference when purchasing... at least for me, still! Example price development of a Herzog Ernst Medaille in Silber, 1906-1909 (Bildnis Herzog Ernst I) OEK 2584 From 1995 to 2008 (13 years) an value increase of 136,84 % !!!!

Not a great picture... but nevertheless interesting...

Was offered later in another auction (Thies), but this time without the Ehrenkreuz für Kriegsteilnehmer

Wallis & Wallis auction house, 28.04.1987, more...

Wallis & Wallis auction house, 28.04.1987, descriptions...

Wallis & Wallis auction house, 28.04.1987, continued...

Wallis & Wallis auction house, 28.04.1987

... and later sold by Thies to me.... I am still looking for the name of the original owner of this medal bar.