Wild Card

Reverse.

Along with the war merit cross there was the military merit cross which was established on 18 August 1914. Although it has been determined that 25 were produced in October of 1914, there does not seem to be any evidence of actual awards.

Reverse.

Gentlemen, We have seen a number of 1kl. war merit (Ernst August) crosses but none of the screwback variations.

Hello Igor Starikow, I would like to suggest that you post your request in the above forum - “Germany: The Orders, Decorations and Medals of The Imperial German States”. The folks that follow that forum are more oriented to orders and decorations. Regards, Wild Card

Claudio, This is not good and I am sorry about your loss. I would like to suggest that you post your information on this in “The Lounge” . For all we know, the same thing could have happened to collectors in other areas of interest - a pattern might emerge. Also it would alert many others to be on watch; again, this kind of thing does not happen to Imperial German collectors only. Good luck my friend, Wild Card

larsb001, Your minis in posts #281 and #282 are not only of outstanding quality, but have to be extremely rare as well. Congratulations! While I am here, I thought that I would offer this.

Hello Mike Constandy, I am not terribly learned on the subject, but since no one else has said anything... It appears to me that the fourth ribbon from the left is to the Bavarian St. Michael Order. Considering other decorations on the bar, is this in the right place? Still learning, Wild Card

Wow! How very interesting. Thank you for this additional information. I think that the confusion stems, in part, from the fact that there clearly is a period (.) after the RAU on the medal. Again, many thanks - the learning process never ceases. Wild Card

Thank you Naxos. Yes indeed there is - L. Rau. This medal was awarded on 8 January 1871 to Gefreiter Ludwig Rauch of the 3rd Infantry Regiment (in) acknowledgment of outstanding bravery on 18 December 1870 in the battle at Nuits.

Really nice bars there CRBeery, and your ribbon bar, identified no less, is super! Here is my other one -

I have posted this bar before, but for the benefit of those members who may not have seen it -

With regard to the 1914 bar, I would assume that this differentiates WWI awards from earlier awards made after the founding of this award on 5 March 1901. An interesting aspect to this is the 1870/71 bar. It is like the better known EK Wiederholungsspange, only in this case, the spange is worn on the ribbon of the 1914 cross. Another reason for the 1914 spange? Lastly, there is also a special crown device that goes on the ribbon of the 1914 award. Hopefully some of our resident Bavarian experts can provide an image and more information on it. Regards, Wild Card

and 4. the reverses are noticeably different

Gentlemen, A few points have been raised here that I would like to elaborate on. First, “this medal was also awarded during the franco-prussian war, and it had an 1870 on the lower arm of the cross”, but - 1. I am not sure about the 1870 on the lower arm of the cross 2. Whereas the 1914 cross has a crown on the upper arm, the 1870 cross does not 3. The two were awarded on different ribbons

Nothing special? Maybe not, but I would say that this is a rare, even very rare, combination and very nice. Congratulations! :cheers:

1866 Oldenburg campaign medal bar.

Reverse.

Gentlemen, The newest member of our family.

Notes on reverse of happy recipient's picture.

A happy recipient and friends.

Reverse.

Gentlemen, Most of you have likely seen this, or one of these, before; but I thought that it might be interesting to post it for comparative purposes anyway. There are three things that immediately come to my attention. 1. JBFloyd’s badge has a bronze finish whereas mine is silver. 2. The areas which are filled with white enamel on JBFloyd’s badge are hollowed out on mine. 3. At first glance JBFloyd’s badge appears to have a solid back while mine is hollow. Closer inspection though, leads me to think that JBFloyd’s badge has a separate solid plate attached to the reverse for the inscription. With regard to the first two points, is it possible that we are looking at two different classes, or perhaps army and navy examples?

That’s nothing when compared to the royal family of Reuss where all male members were Heinrich (with a number) - “Hey twenty-five, could you please pass the potatoes to thirty-one and twenty-three.” or, “Hey Bubba, could you please pass the potatoes to Lefty and Stinky.”

What is the medal? Excuse me, what are the medals?