Tom Y

Ya mean this one?

One piece in brass.

Here's one that's definitely cast. I've always considered it an old fake. Interestingly, it came on a very fragile 1813 type ribbon.

1. Look where the core meets the frame. They were originally painted before assembly and a careful inspection will show idf there's a paint line or if there's any on the frame.t. Also, a repaint will tend to blur the details.

2. You used to be able to get NOS ribbon on eBay regularly. I haven't checked lately, but it might be a good place to start. Also, the OMSA ribbon bank. http://www.omsa.org/forums/ribbons.php

The 88s seem to be flooding the market.

I picked up a neutralised one for the old round headed bullet and one modified for the Spitzgeschoss.... what do these cost in the States ?

The Turked ones go for $200 and less. Must ahve been shipped in by the boatload. Can't tell you about the unmodified ones as I've cnever seen one for sale. Prolly considerably more. I imagine they're quite rare on this side of the pond.

It might just be cause you've got all the good'uns

That is without a doubt the BEST S&L I have ever seen. Yup, the unmistakable strawberry seeds pattern confirms it.

I'm not sure of the vintage just from the pin-- they made a lot of replacement enamel-type Silesian Eagles in the 1930s with pin fastenings like that.

No fair, you guys can type faster than me

Chris, that was my thought, but thwe rest of the group is pre-war. Enamel being what it is, though, it might be a replacement for a broken original or a deteriorated Turkish made one.

It's a well made example, highly vaulted, with a very bright finish, maybe chrome. The enamel is thinner than my BB&C and the underlying metal I'd call a "strawberry" pattern.

What I find interesting is the pin and catch. It looks more like something you'd find on a piece of costume jewelry. Regardless, I'm happy with it.

This group just arrived today from My Man in Porscheburg..

The Cross looks like it might be a Wagner, but to me the interesting thing is the TWM.

Tom,

Thanks for that. It's so hard to work this sort of thing out and be fair to seller. Guess I'm just too much of an honest guy

I have that problem too. Just can't seem to remember honesty is its own punishment

I seem to remember reading, maybe in All Quiet on the Western Front or Storm of Steel that bandsmen doubled as stretcher beares.

#2 is a vanity Weimar piece: the Ehrenbund Deutscher Weltkreigsteilnehmer" (the german honourable association of world war participants") and the last one is the Deutscher Volksorden Bekenntniskreuz 2nd class-rather rare and worth quite a bit. See Detlev's book at 2.02.16-18.

Your Silesian Eagle is heart stopping.

Since you need a price,Detlev values it at DM 180, which would be around 70 or so Euros if I remember correctly.

Whats the last bit on the top bar? Who would these have been issued to, Naval Infantry?

Got to like playing with them scanners

i redid the scan so you can read it. I believe they weren't issued, but private purchase for all Naval/Marine personnel who served in Flanders.

The bars

Here's one with some add-ons.

This should be better.

Page 1. Tuesday, 5 October, 1915. Evening in the trench.

I'll leave it at this for the nonce, as it looks like he's preparing for battle. Dontcha love cliffhangers?

Here's another letter I unearthed from my pile of odds and sods. From, I think, the Eastern Front, probably around Riga, it goes to 16 pages. I've tried to translate it without a net, but other than learning tha it's to his parents and sister from the trenches where he's been for 6 days I haven't made a whole lot of headway Rather tha wait a decade or so I decided I'd post it now and take advantage of those more gifted.

I guess I should set the scene by starting with the envelope.

Absolute "Killer" for want of a better word.....

A Schrapnel wound on the 30th June 1916.... I wonder if that could have just by coincidence been part of the last barrage before something along the lines of...... the first day of the Somme.... for instance dig a bit deeper... you will find it is historically very interesting...

My thoughts exactly.

Thanks, all. I did my own search online with practically no results so your input is greatly appreciated.

While going through my stamps I came across this letter. The gist of it seems to be that the recipient's son , Alber Schmidt, fell on 30 June 1916 and is buried in Lailly. Hopefully one of you with a better understanding of S?tterlin can fill out this bare outline.

Finally for today, an assortment of Kaiserreich stamps from 1874 t0 1902

If y'all are interested, and time willing, I can post more tomorrow.

One of my favorites. A Bavarian cover from 1866 Pre-envelope days.

Oldenburg 1852-55