laurentius

The yellow on the fourth ribbon is too bright to be a St. Henry, not to mention the colour is discoloured green, not discoloured blue This is the ribbon of the St. Henry and the BZL respectively. If we forget for a moment that a Saxon St. Henry wouldn't have swords there would still be the case of the yellow/orange which is way to bright and the shade of the green that has been discoloured by time. Although the ribbonbar is not original, I wouldn't throw it out yet, as it is made up of genuine parts.

Your pictures are actually better than those of Helmut. The second ribbon is a RAO, but my thought was correct, the fourth decoration is a BZL and not a Saxon st. Henry. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this bar is not genuine. The frontside gave us some doubts which were sadly confirmed by pictures of the backside. This style of ribbonbar was common during the third reich, consisting of a metal backplate onto which pieces of ribbon were fixed by small clips, which you can see at an interval on the backside of your ribbonbar. Given the fact that all of these seem to have different

But we haven't yet looked at the other option, what if this RAO isn't an RAO at all but rather a HT? I think the white is more like a discoloured blue. This would however not explain the position of the RAOx/KOx and the lack of swords on the Hindenburgcross. Once we have better pictures it will be easier to cast judgement.

That would be most appreciated Luke, welcome to the forum

I don't think this ribbonbar was owned by Phillip at all, if we identify the awards correctly we might be able to find the owner though, the combination (atleast to me) seems unique enough. The problem however is the decorations and the grades, is the third ribbon a KOx or a RAOx? Are the BZL and the WF second or first class? Those are the questions we need to answer before we can even start looking throught the rolls.

I think the ribbon which is said to be a St. Henry is actually a BZL

This is a likely scenario, however, it is also possible that he was travelling through the US and had a picture taken along the way. Given his appearance (shaved, well-maintained moustache, nice tie, good suit) he might be a travelling salesman or business associate. This picture was presumably taken thirty years after he served so it wouldn't surprise me if he had gone up the corporate ladder. Kind regards, Laurentius

That clears it up, thank you Bayern

Hmm, I can't really distinguish a dark green piping. What would that rank entail? Kind regards and thanks in advance, Laurentius

So I suppose he wouldn't be a major, do you know what his rank would be? Kind regards and thanks in advance, Laurentius

Dear Gordon, I don't think so, it has a classic pin and catch system which we often see with decorations That's a bingo, thanks for your help

Dear fellow collectors, I got this grouping recently, with the somewhat rare Kriegerverdienstmedaille. It's a bit worn, but nice nonetheless.

Thank you Bayern, great info. That also explains the lack of an EK2.

Dear fellow collectors, I recently purchased this lovely painting of a Major with a Prussian Crownorder and a LDA. The picture was painted around 1916 (I believe) and shows the Major with his decorations and swords, sitting in an armchair. It is painted on cardboard and I believe it might have been bigger in the past, given the fact that we can see from the back that the cardboard has been cut somewhat irregularly. This is also supported by the fact that there is a small piece of paper glued to the backside with information about the painting, which misses the first words of each sentence

Dear fellow collectors, I recently received this badge with a small Oldenburg grouping I bought. It was described as an 'Imperial German SWV merchant navy badge'. I wonder if it is indeed imperial, given the lack of a crown on the badge. Would anyone have any information about this badge or the organisation it belonged to? The badge is in good condition, and has some lovely enamelwork. All help would be appreciated. Kind regards and thanks in advance, Laurentius