JohanH

Perhaps a few photos might boost the interest... First the officers cross. As far as I know only awarded around 20 times. Can anyone confirm that number? Secondly the merit cross. Unfortunately it has a enamel damage, but since only two crosses were awarded. I doubt I will find another one.

He received the Grand cross of the Order of the Sword on July 2nd 1890 and the collar on September 20th 1897. Grand cross of the Danish Dannebrogorden on March 4th 1891.

Hello! I wonder if any of any forum member has any information about the medals from Ingria. As far as I know the following medals exists and also a numbered badge. Cross for privates Cross for officers Cross for merit But when browsing through the book on Finnish ODM by Vladimir Glushko he shows what appears to be a merit cross with swords. The picture itself looks photoshopped and there are several errors and photoshopped pictures in the book. But it made me wonder if such a cross exists? Also, does anyone know how many crosses were awarded of the different classes? I've read somewhere that around 20 officers crosses and only 2 merit crosses were awarded. Of the merit crosses one went to a Finnish doctor and the other to an American. But how many crosses to privates? If anyone know of a cross for a private for sale, I am definitely interested! And one last thing, does anyone have any contact information to Vladimir Glushko? I wish to contact him on another matter.

Hello Janne! Here is a picture of some headgear in an exhibition about the jägers. Picture taken from this site: Vapaussodan merkkien ja esineiden näyttely Hohenlockstedtiin – Vapaussotiemme Helsingin seudun perinneyhdistys ry (vapaussodanperinto.fi) You probably already know about this site. But here are alot of photos of the jägers. Kuvagalleria | Jääkäripataljoona 27:n perinneyhdistys (jp27.fi)

He received the different classes of the Swedish order of the Sword as below: Grand cross - June 6h 1908 Commander 1st class - May 9th 1899 Commander 2nd class - December 19th 1893 He received the Danish Dannebrog-orden commander 2nd class November 30th 1891.

Interesting. That one is clearly an early version made long before 1893. Emedals have this for sale. Also an very early order and with the owl-mark.

Thanks Graf! Was french made pieces stamped with the owl or only pieces that were imported in to France (after 1893)?

Here are a photo of the entire piece and a close up on the crown. It size-wise like a knight cross but it's hanging from a neck ribbon which appears to be old and the hook and clasp on the ribbon is also made from what appears to be gold.

Hello! I have a Finnish winter war commemorative medal with it's original paper bag carrying the awarded mans name. It's awarded to a German freiwillige Helmut A. Lemke and as far as I've been told only 18 Germans received the commemorative medal and Helmut was one of them. Is there any way to find any more information about Helmut A. Lemke? As I have understood there sometimes might be information to find at Ancestry.de. But since my skills in German language are very limited and a membership isn't free I ask the community here for help.

Thank you JapanX! You are an infinite source of knowledge.

Thanks for your reply! So the only thing we can say for sure is that the piece was imported in to France sometime after 1893? Have I understood it correctly? The order itself may have been manufactured several years before it being imported to France?

Hello! I have a Swedish order of the North Star from what I believe is middle to late 1800s. The design of the crown is not very Swedish in appearance. And on the ring is a hallmark depicting an owl. I believe the owl-mark is a french hallmark for gold? Is there any way to determine the age of my piece from the hallmark? I have tried google it but didn't find any good answer. Thanks in advance! //Johan

The breast star of the grand cross of the Finnish cross of Liberty with swords and diamonds 1918 was stolen a long time ago and it's destiny is unknown. It's sad since it was the only example with diamonds awarded in 1918. Another interesting thing is that the Swedish medal of the Swords (Svärdsmedaljen) in gold is not the medal that was awaded to the kaiser. The Swedish king, Oscar II had made a single piece of the Swordmedal in gold to give to the kaiser in 1875. After the kaisers death, the original medal was returned to Sweden and a gilt replica was sent as replacement. The original goldmedal is in the royal collection at the Royal Armoury (Livrustkammaren). But it is not displayed and the only pictures I know of are in black/white.

The sign of the sword exists in two different versions. With swords and without swords. The one with swords were instituted in 1850 and awarded to NCO:s. Awarding ended in 1974. The one without swords were instituted in 1896 and was awarded to civilian personnel. Awarding ended in 1974. Here are examples from my collection. Sometimes they are maker marked just below the crown on the back. If and when you decide to sell it. Please think of me. ______________________________________________________________________________________ Here are the two classes of the Knight of the order of the Swords. 1st class in 18k gold and the rarer 2nd class in silver. The 2nd class was instituted in 1889 and only awarded to foreigners. A total of 687 awards were made.

Great looking bar! But it would look even better if it were in my collection... At the moment, the award roll for the sign of the sword is not available to the public. But I hope that will change in the future.

Could we see the entire bar? Unusual to see the sign of the sword (Svärdstecknet) on a foreign medal bar. Do you know who the medal bar belonged to?

Yes, that's the fun part of auctions. Sometimes you win and sometimes you loose. Unfortunately for me (fortunately for you) my collecting budget is quite small and there are a few other items I wanted more than this mini. Otherwise the price would have been a lot higher. You got it for a very good price this time.

So it was you who bid against me! Is there any maker marks or similar on it?

I have both 1906 and 1907 and Hullström has the Verdienstkreuz in both of them. Hullström was forrester in Örbyhus which was owned by the von Rosen family so perhaps the Waldeck's was visiting and hunting on the estate? Another interesting thing is that Hullström lived in the town of Marma, in a house called "Villa Waldeck". So there is some kind of connection there. Here is a picture of Hullström.

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.