Wild Card

A good point. Sadly the recent increases in the price of gold have probably had quite an impact on medals like this; but let's not go there, other than to say that it may, in part, provide an answer to your question as to why such groups were once cut up.

Paul R, What a great bar! As you can see from Saschaw’s excellent analysis, it has some terrific, but not particularly difficult or outrageously expensive, restoration possibilities. Please keep us posted on this project. Best wishes, Wild Card

“I saw an article on a royalist website where some "leftist" (their words, not mine) German politicians are already whining about the upcoming wedding.” “Is the government paying any of the costs?” “Certainly not.” Then what’s all the whining about? Have we come to the point where cheap politicians or The State can dictate what citizens can, or can’t wear to their own weddings? I am sure that we have all seen weirder costume choices.

Is the government paying any of the costs?

Gentlemen, I cannot claim any expertise with regard to MVK’s, but I find this (post #10) cross to be intriguing and very much look forward to the expert’s opinions. I would also like take this opportunity to offer a word of caution. While I appreciate the importance of extremely low award figures, they do not automatically preclude the existence of surviving pieces. Regards, Wild Card

Zeroing in and magnifying the two Buchara orders as best as I can, it appears, to me at least, that the two orders are virtually identical except that the center medallion of the one on the left is mounted upside down!

That is the question. The one to the wearer's far left is quite definitely The Order of the Red Star of The Soviet Republic of Buchara. The other one may be the same or, possibly but unlikely, a star to the Order of Noble Buchara. A closer picture might be helpful.

:speechless1: :cheers:

I know nothing about these, but that certainly is a beautiful piece. Congratulations!

Absolutely incredible material! Congratulations and thank you for sharing it with us. :cheers:

Yes indeed, very nice and rare as well. :cheers:

:cheers:

Hello army historian, Right down Highway 101 - TIM ERIKSEN P.O. BOX 890190 TEMECULA, CA 92589 FAX: (951) 699-3623 PHONE: (951) 699-5826 EMAIL: timeriksen@verizon.net Good luck :cheers:

Thank you Pobeda45 :beer:

Tim Eriksen is an excellent source for Imperial German ribbon - Full and miniature sizes.

A bit more precisely, this is a grand cross star to the Hannoverian Order of the Guelphs - more commonly referred to as The Guelphic Order

:speechless1: Incredible! Any chance of an identification?

:jumping: Although I was not there, I had a beautiful day with Thies as well for which, in part, I thank you. Wild Card :cheers:

Thank you Saschaw - very interesting. Live and learn. :cheers:

Certainly a very impressive looking bar; but I am curious as to why the Hohenzollern is mounted before the Red Eagle and Crowns. Is this correct?

Pobeda45, Very interesting and informative. Thank you for sharing this with us. Best wishes, Wild Card

Hello army historian, I am glad to be of help even if we may not have completely answered the questions raised. An important aspect to all of this is that you have rescued a piece of history from otherwise certain doom in that it is now back in a world where it is recognized for what it is and it’s importance. The story of the discovery (and rescue) of your cross reminds me of a Hannoverian lifesaving medal that I got from a Jeff Floyd auction about fifteen years ago. This medal had been discovered at a flea market in Indianapolis. It is named to a Lt. Julius Hermann Mertens who was to later become a general in the Prussian army. Happy Hunting, Wild Card

Hi Dave, I cannot disagree with any of the points that you raise. As a matter of fact, with all due respect to Eric, I think that your suggestion that the Roman style example might be a jeweler’s variation makes a lot of sense. There are a couple of additional points that I would like to pass on. 1. The example that I posted above actually comes from a medal bar of what I would call “the early period”. See below. 2. In volume 2 of the Klingbeil Collection (Theis edition) there is a second class cross with Roman a style cross guard (#1366) along with a similar third class example (#1370). 3. In the only copy of the statutes of this order that I have,, which is undated, all illustrated insignia with swords have the Baroque style cross guards. Nothing definitive but some more pieces to the puzzle. Best wishes, Wild Card

Hello army historian, Below is an example that might be of some use for comparison. I apologize for it’s quality of detail (matt black crosses are tough), but there is a point that I would like to pass on. Notice the cross guards on the swords on both your cross and mine. If you look at various references such as the OEK, you will invariably see a different (floral) cross guard style from ours, which I recall as being referred to as a Roman style. I remember a discussion with Eric Ludvigsen about this and as I recall, he said that ours (Roman) are the original design and the “floral” design was a second/later style. Hopefully some of our Oldenburg experts can fill us in on this. Regards, Wild Card

Nice items. Nice display. :beer: