JohanH

I believe Great Dane is correct. It looks like an altered version of Karl XVs coronation coin (kastmynt in Swedish). 3200 pieces were made. See picture below of an unaltered piece. I have see several coronation coins from different kings that have been altered for wear. Made in to brooches or as a necklace. Why yours have been engraved with XV is a bit strange. It should probably not indicate long service in the royal court, since that's what "The Kings Medal" (Hovmedaljen / Court medal) is for.

I think the crown looks very much like the Russian crown of St Anna.

Hello! I had the possibility to search in a database of Swedish newspapers for Colin Keppel and found a short article mentioning him. I only had a very limited time to use the database (it was only allowed for 20 minutes per person and day) and I had a few other names to look up. But this is what I found. The article is from Svenska Dagbladet, November 23rd 1908. The headline is basically: "The royal couple is in France - Arrived to Cherbourg" The article itself is mostly about the greetings they received when arriving to France but there are a short part about their departure from UK. "Sunday, 07:30 the British royal yacht, Victoria & Albert, arrived carrying the king and queen of Sweden. All the ships were decorated and a salute of 21 shots were fired. The weather was rainy. Before leaving the yacht, they royalties went to the grand salon were the higher British officers were gathered. The royal couple greeted the commanding vice-admiral and thanked him for the journey. At 08:00 the royal couple said farewell to admiral Colin Keppel and went ashore while the British and French musicians played the national anthem of Sweden. The king was wearing his admiral uniform with the sash of the Legion of Honor and the queen wore a mauve colored dress" The rest of the article is about the visit in France and gives no more information about Keppel or UK. The translation is not entirely 100% accurate but it gives the idea of the content of the article. I'm sorry for any misspellings or bad grammar, English isn't my native language. Unfortunately the database is not accessible other from special computers in some (few) libraries around Sweden. So I cannot do any more research at the moment. There are surely more information to be found in the old newspaper.

Here are my other example of a miniature with it's full size brother. Supposedly both medals was awarded to the famous Swedish count Eric von Rosen. The same von Rosen who donated the first aircraft to Finland and was brother-in-law with Hermann Göring. But without documents to prove it. Who knows...

Hello! Is it possible to find any information about Oberstabsarzt Karl Schnell who received the Finnish Cross of Liberty 3rd class with swords on December 19th 1941? I guess "my" Karl Schnell is not the same Schnell as the later General in Bundeswehr? Thanks in advance!

As promised. Here are the entire miniature chain. Next to the Olympic medal there should be a North Star Order. What the other missing medals are I'm not sure of. Not yet anyway.

The competition on November 19th was a females gymnastics competition according to a small notice in a newspaper from that date.

Pehr Henrik Ling was the father of swedish gymnastics and is featured on many swedish sportmedals. On the back it says: Team 1st price Sweden - Czechoslovakia November 19th 1954 It is probably from some kind of gymnastics competition. It might be possible to find more information about the event. I’ll see if I can find anything tomorrow.

I’ll post the entire chain when I get home next weekend. I also have another mini of the olympic medal i can post at the same time.

Unfortunately I have no idea why he received the Sudwest-Afrika medal. German medals are not my strong side.

It's a great star you have. This first type of metalstar (and the best looking type if you ask me) was awarded between 1871-1919. During these years a total of 633 Commander 1st class stars were awarded. Does your star have any hallmarks?

As promised. Here are the miniature of the Swedish Olympic Medal of 1912. Mounted on the chain of miniatures that belonged to Paulus Palén, Swedish Olympic shooter.

Sir Colin Keppel received the order of the Sword on November 17th 1908 according to the award roll.

Hello! Is it possible to get some close ups on that gorgeous bar with Finnish decorations? Awesome collection!

It's a very nice medalbar with the unusual 2nd class order of the Sword. Of a total of 687 awarded 2nd class orders 149 went to Germans (all states) 71 went to Prussians So it's not that common to find.

I have also had my eyes on that medalbar but lack of funds stopped me from buying it. I like it even more since it's ID:able. Medalbars with a name attached is more interesting than nameless bars.

Is this medalbar in your collection?

It seems like they have both his diaries and 5000 photos in their archive. So they must have at least one photo that shows his awards. Carl und Liselott Diem-Archiv - Deutsche Sporthochschule Köln (dshs-koeln.de) If you find out anything, please keep us updated! I am curious about what you might find out.

Just glad to be able to help! It sure is a great medalbar you have! I think you should try to contact the Carl and Liselett Diem Archive and ask them if they know of any photos that shows his medalbar or if they can confirm that he had the Romanian order (just to verify that it really is his medals). The Swedish Olympic commemorative medal of 1912 was according to several sources awarded around 650 times. So it's a bit unusual and not the most common medal. I have a great miniature chain on it's way (it's stuck in the Swedish customs atm) that has the olympic medal of 1912 on it. The chain have belonged to one of the Swedish pistol shooters that won a team gold medal and a individual silver medal during the 1912 Olympics.

There is only one person that fits in with your list and the Vasa order 2nd class list.... So depending on whether the Vasa order is a 1st or 2nd class it's either: Dr. Martin or Carl Diem I have tried to find a picture of Diem with his medals but no luck. But it appears that Diem fought during the first world war which would explain the IC and the Braunschweig Honor Cross. Diem enlisted in the German army and served in Belgium and France. He was wounded at St. Quentin, recovered, and fought at both Champagne and the Argonne.

My opinion is that I don't believe the bar belonged to Dr. Martin. Yes, Dr. Martin received the Knight 1st class of the Vasa order in 1912, on July 20th to be precise. He never got a 2nd class Vasa-order. I can't see any logical reason to mount a 2nd class silver order instead of the gold one he received. The 2nd class Knight cross is much rarer than the 1st class. A total of 1471 awards of 2nd class compared to many thousands of 1st class crosses. (I'm not done with the rolls of the Vasa order yet so the total number is still unknown.) The Swedish government decided that from 1924 (or 1926, I don't remember) that all orders (Sword, North star and Vasa) awarded to foreigners would be made from gilded bronze/silver and not 18k gold. The decision was made to save money. If you have the list of German functionaries I can check it against my list of 2nd class crosses and hopefully we find something.

Here are my little contribution of Swedes with the Hohenzollern House Order. I don't know if these are known already or whether they received it with or without swords. Hjalmar Mauritz Lagerström Born 1888-01-13 in Enköping, Sweden Died 1975-10-19 in Stockholm, Sweden Albert Edvin Ekdahl Born 1885-08-17 in Karlsborg, Sweden Died 1967-12-06 in Solna, Sweden Carl Robert Douglas Born 1880-04-24 in Konstanz, Germany Died 1955-08-26 Ernst Lars Isaac Silfversvärd Born 1863-12-26 in Stockholm, Sweden Died 1949-08-01 in Stockholm, Sweden And finally one "with crown and swords" Gustaf David Gilbert John William Hamilton Born 1869-03-20 in Tillberga, Sweden Died 1947-08-11 in Linköping, Sweden

It might work to use a handheld PMI XRF gun to do an material analyze. It does not make any damage on the tested subject and since it's handheld it could easily be carried with you and do the same test on any old cannon. Then you might find out if they are both made from the same type of material composition. The biggest problem with these test guns is the price...

Hello! Old thread I know. Is the Order of Vasa gold/gilded or silver? On the pictures it looks like silver which would mean that it's a 2nd class and Dr. Martin isn't the original owner. Since Dr. Martin received his Vasa order in 1912 it should be made of 18k gold. If I remember correctly they year they changed to gilded bronze to foreigners was in 1924. Only 196 germans received the Order of Vasa 2nd class knight.

Thank you very much! This is exactly what I needed to know.