Wild Card

Example with four pins on the reverse

Example with one pin on the obverse.

I?m back to report, thanks to George, success! Yes, hinges... well sort of. At least that is what they look like and what we always called them; but, honestly, I could never figure out how they functioned as such; and since you got me going on this, I am convinced that they didn?t. I see it this way. Because of the complexities of curvature of the ribbon (or enamel band), fitting it on to the badge or star would present numerous opportunities for bending, scraping and breaking. So the band would be made in one piece, cut into several and then reassembled using pins inserted through little collars with the end result look like hinges. That?s my story and I?m sticking with it. Now, on the first example, below, we see a single hinge on the obverse at 6:oo o?clock. On the second, we see the more common arrangement of four ar 1:30, 4:30, 7:30 and 10:30. I hope that this clarifies my terminology and is of some help. Best wishes, Wild Card

Hi Stogieman, Absolutely, hinges. Several examples (some questionable) can be seen in Nimmergut?s magnum opus. Short of that, I know that I?ve seen pictures of other examples elsewhere; but can?t recall where at the moment. I will let you know if I find them. Best wishes, Wild Card

Hi Stogieman, I have bought items similar to what you are looking for from www.artsuppliesonline.com with very good results. When you get to their home page, do a search for pina zangaro. I don?t know how competitive their prices are; but they had what I wanted and their service has been good. Best wishes, Wild Card

Hi Rick, Thank you for putting the personality with the bar - they?ve been apart too long. I do have a proper (1870) St. Henry and long service cross that I have thought of putting back on the bar; but something has always held me back. Somehow, I feel that leaving it ?as is? is more proper as this is probably how the family themselves changed it - just a matter of, perhaps misguided, respect. Any thoughts? Thank you again. Best wishes, Wild Card

Hi Rick, Mqny thanks for the info. I can not answer as to whether George had a print out of that Schaumberg-Lippe award or not for sure as I?ve not sorted it all out yet. If I do find it, I will let you know though. Wild Card

Hi Rick, It?s the 25th. Also, I did not mention it before, but it almost appears that the ?8?s? in the serial number are upside down. See below. Best wishes, Wild Card

Alfred, Although never fortunate enough to have owned one of these badges, I have always admired them very much. Thank you for an excellent presentation. Best wishes, Wild Card

Don?t forget the little guys!

Gentlemen, Having had an opportunity to bring a couple of pieces home for pictures, I thought I would share the results before they go back to where they reside. Another visitor is posted on the Saxon thread. Best wishes, Wild Card

Freiherr Hermann Ludwig Adolph von Wangenheim.

Gentlemen, Having had an opportunity to bring a couple of pieces home for pictures, I thought I would share the results before they go back to where they reside. Another visitor is posted on the W?rttemberg thread. Following is a medal bar named to Freiherr Hermann Ludwig Adolph von Wangenheim, a Hannoverian who later served in the Saxon (during the 1870 war) and probably Prussian armies. His St. Henry knight badge was probably returned upon death; but why what was probably a Saxon long service decoration was replaced by a W?rttemberg war merit medal is a mystery. Best wishes, Wild Card

Award book.

Col. Osetsky's badge.

Gentlemen, Following is the Excellent Railway Worker badge, #28228 awarded to Engineer Col. Ivan Sergeevic Osetsky along with it?s award book. Among other positions, Engineer Col. Osetsky served as commander 1st Railroad Maintenance Unit of the Front, Stalingrad Front, Asst. HQ commander in charge of railroad troops combat readiness, 1st Ukrainian Front and finished the war as HQ commander , 45th Railroad Bde. Best wishes, Wild Card

Brian, You reflect my initial reaction. As George Seymour would often say, ?It looks awfully fresh.? At the same time, Daniel? s points may hold something that explains this. The oakleaves indicate ?alive in ?95?; but no Centenary medal (deceased in, or by ?97?). If such is the case, which I think is a possibility, this could explain the lack of wear. Just an observation. Best wishes, Wild Card

Rick, very, very curious - post 4. There has to be a real story there. Stogieman, I?m sorry but this piece really bothers me. I can?t speak to the cross (most likely good), the swords (probably), swords on ring (well...), the Red Eagle band; now here is where I really have a problem. The few such bands that I have seen, that were good for sure, were all constructed with hinges. This is not to say that this one is not good because, as far as I know, there are no exact descriptions regarding this; but, as I said... Best wishes, Wild Card

Gentlemen, I must admit that I bought one of my first Imperial German pieces, a Hamburg Hansa cross from Major Snyder over twenty-five years ago; but it was through him that I made other contacts, mainly OMSA, that led me to the path of collecting Imperial German. I guess that what I?m saying, in essence, is ?... and I?m still here to tell about it.? Please don?t misunderstand, as evidenced by my opening post (#2), I do not question or disagree with any of the above. With regard to the other above mentioned dealer, I sold a rather unassuming patriotic item to him some years back; and was absolutely shocked to find, when it hit his web page that it had surely come from a family of nobility, if not an important industrialist!! Gee, how could I have missed that? I can understand someone unknowingly buying a fake EKI or Red Eagle 4th for a couple of hundred dollars, but when it gets into the thousands... one has to wonder, where do these guys find their customers? Actually, there was a well known collection of fake Imperial German orders that came on the market a couple of years ago , all very high and exotic pieces - swords, swords on ring, Red Eagle and Garter bands - which was sold as reproductions. Where are they now? This was a case where a very wealthy American collector (he collected several things) came under the influence of the top German forger/faker who was feeding him these items as fast as he could produce them. Surely six figures, were involved. Finally, consider this. Is it possible that a well known dealer, when on his buying trips, is himself a well known target of bad items and good items with bad stories? You bet it is. Regards, Wild Card

Hi Daniel, With reference to your post #137, would you know if your man was the son of GenMaj Julius Herman von Mertens? Best wishes, Wild Card

Thank you Stogieman and Daniel for the compliments. As you indicated Daniel, I have always felt that there was more to this group than what we have here. Unfortunately, we will never know. Best wishes, Wild Card

Hi Rick, Comparing my badge with your scan, I do see some subtle differences - we?ll have to do a ?side by side? when we manage to get together. I do think, however, for two reasons that you were very wise to have held on to yours though. First, as you know, these excellence badges went through many changes over the years; so many, that I gave up long ago trying to keep them all sorted out. The second reason is that you obviously got yours before The Wall came down. Now really, was there enough of a demand for these things in the pre ?wall down? days to justify the production of fakes? Lenins and Red Banners, sure, Red Stars, probably, but Excellent Baker? I would honestly like to hear a case for it (anyone?). Incidentally, thanks for the business and the plug. Best wishes, Wild Card

Hi Ralph, I don?t know if you have one or not; so I checked the 1865 Hannoverian House and State handbook for a Barenscheer but did not find anything. Of course all that this pretty much indicates is that he probably was not a native Hannoverian; and, as you probably know, many of these Langansalza medals were awarded to non-natives. It?s always worth a look, you never know. Sorry that we didn?t hit something. Best wishes, Wild Card

I'm certainly not an expert, but - OH GOD, he's at it again. Wild Card

Claudio, You bring up a good point. This is why the bulk of my collection, and certainly the most valuable pieces, are kept in places other than my home. Nevertheless, that does not completely solve the problem in that the thieves very likely do not know in advance exactly what?s where; and, ultimately the result is the same - in this case, possibly, two people dead with the bulk of the collection safely intact elsewhere. It is exactly for this reason that, during the short time that I have participated in online forums that I have hesitated, even refrained, from posting certain items. So, we have a couple of interconnected problems here; is there an answer? Possibly. When faced with this dilemma, I have wondered if there might be a way to post pictures on an anonymous basis? I see this as being done in one of two ways. First, and I am not sure if this is feasible, would be to set up a separate section/forum where pictures could be posted anonymously. The pictures would then be forwarded to the appropriate thread. The second way would be to forward the pictures to a third party who would then post them as such. Aside from the obvious personal tragedy that has occurred here, this situation, as applied to our forum, restricts the sharing of information which is what this, as I see it, is all about. Does anyone else have any ideas or suggestions with regard to this situation? Regards, Wild Card