laurentius

3 hours ago, 1812 Overture said:

Dear Mr. Laurentius, are you not buying German medals and orders anymore?

I still do, but sometimes the beauty of these non-German decorations pull me away from Germany. It was a permissible addition to my collection, given the many Germans who received this order between it's founding and the end of the Italian monarchy. In the end we collectors are like magpies, we are distracted by everything shiny.

Kind regards, Laurentius

10 minutes ago, 922F said:

Probably gold badge if relatively light weight

It is very light, almost like holding a feather. I compared it's weight to other decorations of similar size which weight much heavier. Thank you kindly for your response.

Kind regards, Laurentius

11 minutes ago, laurentius said:

I compared it's weight to other decorations of similar size which weight much heavier.

My (rather unprecise) kitchenscale gives 9 grams as the weight for my Order of the Italian Crown, whereas my Order of St. Gregory the Great (of roughly the same size, marked 'A' for silver) weighs 23 grams.

Dear fellow collectors,

I received this lovely Order of the Italian Crown today. It comes with a box, a miniature and a buttonhole-decoration. On the lid is a small metal plaque with the name of the recipient and the date of the award. His name was Emilio Sabelli and an Italian friend of mine told me he was civil engineer who worked in a shipyard. He was awarded the order in february of 1932 in the tenth year (A.X.) of Fascist Italy. Is there any more info on Emilio Sabelli? Did he receive more decorations during his career? I would also like to know from what kind of material the medal is made, since it isn't marked.

Kind regards and thanks in advance, Laurentius

Dear fellow collectors,

In the pinned House Order of Hohenzollern thread @Mattyboy was able to give another name to add to the list, being Lt Karl Plauth. Wikipedia credits him with 17 confirmed aerial victories. It also says he preferred his opponents to get out alive. I was wondering what his awards were, apart from the HoHx and the EK? Here is the link to the discussion in question:

Kind regards and thanks in advance, Laurentius

55 minutes ago, Jim.L said:

Is there a way to verify the name of the soldier?

If genuine the number will correspond to a soldier in the lists, so yes, that might be possible.

I own a portrait of major Leber who had the same combination untill he received his DA.

Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear Claudius,

perhaps 1915 serves as the date of award and 1918 as the date of bestowel? I've never seen anyone in pictures or on medalbars with two of them.

Kind regards, Laurentius

17 minutes ago, Chris Boonzaier said:

this Leutnant der Reserve first got a MVK 2nd class... then a MVO4th with swords... then MVO 4th with swords and crown...

How do you know this? I only see one decoration in the picture. Do you have a militärpaß or perhaps some other info? That might help with answering your question.

Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear Langers,

It's a badge from the Infantrie-Leib-Regiment ''Großherzogin'' (3. Großherzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 117.

Member @rujab owns a grouping of medalbars, steckkreuzen, shoulderboards and miniatures from the regimental commander if I'm not mistaken.

Kind regards, Laurentius

15 hours ago, Herman said:

silver mark (a sword)

I have checked and there is no mark. The ribbon can't be removed (it's sown together with a small pin). The text on the back reads 'zy' and not 'zij' which was changed 1973 (if I'm not mistaken).

Kind regards, Laurentius

21 minutes ago, JohanH said:

I don't know if it is of any help to you but the Oranje-Nassau order was awarded on May 27th 1963 according to it's document. 

Very nice, sadly (for me, not for you) yours is an Officer's cross whilst mine is a knight's cross. Yours also has a somewhat different lion and your wreath is a bit bushier. I appreciate the help.

Kind regards, Laurentius

I received this beauty yesterday, it's the model from before the '70s. I was wondering if we could perhaps attribute it a maker and a more precise date of manufacture? I was thinking maybe made between the thirties and the fifties? It's a fine piece and the lion is almost as elaborately made as the lion on the Bavarian MVO4x I own.

Kind regards, Laurentius

Quite a famous photo of Wilhelm. We often forget that the people next to him where just as interesting, if not more

7 minutes ago, 922F said:

Examine hallmark on reverse suspension lug

I do not have the piece in my possession, I did suspect a French connection, given the wreath which is double-sided and different from my piece made in Rome. Not to mention the ball-formed ringholder. Thank you very much for your response. Could we put a date on this decoration?

Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear fellow collectors,

I came across this most peculiar Order of St. Gregory the Great today and it spiked my interest. My knowledge of Papal orders is still developing but several charasteristics of this cross give me a weird feeling. First there is the text on the medaillon which looks badly made (cast) to me, some letters are attached to the ring with residue still around their bases ( R, I, U in Gregorius) whereas the O of Gregorius is somewhat floating in the air? Not to mention the backside of the medaillon, where the text has a wholely different font and the centre seems to be painted, rather than enamel. The enamel on the cross in general and the details of the bust in the centre are also unrecognizable to me. Lastly the box seems generic, not really meant for this Papal decoration. What is your opinion?

Kind regards, Laurentius

17 minutes ago, Utgardloki said:

while there are pictures of Ferdinand, where he's wearing so many collars, one could hardly see his uniform under it.

Bulletproof clothing avant-la-lettre ?

54 minutes ago, P.F. said:

It looks like the Austrian Order of Leopold, Grand Cross.

It is, if you zoom in you can even see the wreath for war merit on the miniature, true worksmanship.

Kind regards, Laurentius

1 hour ago, Deutschritter said:

What also put me off are the many foreign decorations, even the neck order. I somehow thought I didn't even see one German decoration. Thanks again!

When you look at his medalbar you'll see plenty of German decorations, you are right though, since all other decorations seem to be foreign (with exception of some of the breaststars).

Before 1914 there was almost an 'economy' of orders where each country had a number of jewellers who made decorations for their country. There are plenty of examples of officers (and sometimes soldiers and non-commissioned officers) who had more foreign than German awards. This tradition was aggravated by monarchs who themselves also had a nick for shiny orders and uniforms (just look at Wilhelm II or Czar Ferdinand of Bulgaria). This custom of cross-country decorating (which somewhat continues to this day) is one of the reasons I believe collectors should have a general knowledge of orders and decorations, apart from their own specialized niche.

Kind regards, Laurentius

5 hours ago, Deutschritter said:

I'm an amateur, but this uniform does not look German?!?

It's a Garde uniform, they had six different collar tabs based on your regiment if I'm not mistaken

Kind regards, Laurentius

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/56780-bavarian-bars-show-yours/

Here you go

Very nice bars, and if my memory serves me right the first one is already mentioned in the Bavarian medalbar thread ?

Kind regards, Laurentius

7 hours ago, Deutschritter said:

später die Krone zur IV. Klasse erhalten

I think this part belongs to the RAO and not the KO.

Kind regards, Laurentius

14 hours ago, 922F said:

Examination may reveal whether underlying metal is silver gilt or gold.

I looked at it and compared it to other gold pieces I have which have brought me to the conclusion that it is indeed silver-gilt.

Kind regards, Laurentius

Thank you very much 922F, your answer helped me greatly. I'll check the damage on the reverse medaillon in the morning.

Thanks again, Laurentius

Dear fellow collectors,

I went out of my normal collecting niche to buy this lovely Order of St. Gregory the Great. The piece was made by Tanfani and Bertarelli whose shop was located at the Piazza della Minerva in Rome. They produced decorations for the Papal See between 1905 and 1966. Would there be any collectors who could help me to get a more precise dating on the piece? Another thing I noticed is the coat of arms seem to differ from other cases I've seen on the internet. Would anyone have an explanation for that? It does show the Papal crown and the crossed keys of St. Peter, within the coat of arms we see a church, some farmland and half an eagle.

The piece is of great quality, when I inspected it it occured to me that the four arms seem to have been made seperately, later being attached to the medaillon, forming the cross.

Kind regards and thanks in advance, Laurentius

There seems to have been some technical difficulty, would the moderator be so kind as to remove one of the two threads?

My sincere apologies for the problem, Laurentius

Dear fellow collectors,

I went out of my normal collecting niche to buy this lovely Order of St. Gregory the Great. The piece was made by Tanfani and Bertarelli whose shop was located at the Piazza della Minerva in Rome. They produced decorations for the Papal See between 1905 and 1966. Would there be any collectors who could help me to get a more precise dating on the piece? Another thing I noticed is the coat of arms seem to differ from other cases I've seen on the internet. Would anyone have an explanation for that? It does show the Papal crown and the crossed keys of St. Peter, within the coat of arms we see a church, some farmland and half an eagle.

The piece is of great quality, when I inspected it it occured to me that the four arms seem to have been made seperately, later being attached to the medaillon, forming the cross.

Kind regards and thanks in advance, Laurentius