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Rusty--A Worth hallmark & silver fineness mark image follow below. Worth had a website, now unavailable, that imaged an Ismail star and Mohammed Ali set at least. You may be able to access via wayback or similar service. Worth has/had offices or correspondents in Paris, Lisbon, Geneva, and elsewhere. I am not sure whether Eng Leong or Royal Insignia actually made Ismail insignia with their proprietary hallmarks or acted as sub-contractors and used the direct contractor’s marks if any. I am unclear as to which firm actually made the pieces because Royal Insignia 'sprang' from Eng Leong. Eng Leong uses "ELM" and reportedly "ELMI" as their hallmark. Royal Insignia marked some item with their name in quasi script [example below]. Both firms usually include a silver or gold fineness mark on their products.

Spink’s shorthand description may have misled...after all, their original description mispelled the supplier/manufacturer's name! JOMSA Vol 68, number 5, pp 43-44 describes Nishan el-Noor [Order of Light] insignia & cases. The case outer lid [illustrated there] bears the Royal Egyptian coat-of-arms above the supplier/manufacturer information. Some cases have this same material centered on the inside of the lid. Worth, the insignia supplier, informed me that Mohammed Ali cases have similar markings. Usually Worth provided stars and badges have Worth's trademark on the reverse center disk. Sometimes Worth items have a silver content stamp--I do not know whether their Royal Egyptian pieces bear such identifiers. ELM and Royal Insignia both often, but not always, use their proprietary hallmarks and a silver fineness indicia stamp.

King Peter II of Yugoslavia established an honor titled Knight Bachelor of Yugoslavia in 1965 or 1966 while living in exile in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A. The King reportedly created about 100 Knights Bachelor between 1966 and his death on 3 November 1970 in Denver, Colorado, U.S. A. I seek information about this honor including the statutes, lists of persons decorated with the award, a description of the insignia, and related information. Please help!

Both of these appear to be Portuguese Republic [1910-present] awards. There may be maker or silver fineness marks on the badge suspension lugs--I cannot see them clearly. From workmanship and absent ability to read the marks [if they exist], I'd place Christ at 1960's-'90's and Avis at 1990's-present. Does this information answer your questions? Jeff is a very highly regarded, well respected dealer who stands behind his material.

I bought one of these without case in about the same condition for nearly 70 euro equivalent in 2004 because it was part of a group. Can’t recall any recent sales although an auction, perhaps Gallerie Numismatique?, may have offered one in the past several years…do not remember opening bid or sales price. Maybe a Vatican State collector can offer a better idea…

Case lid illustrates arms of Pope Pius X (2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914); reign August 1903 to death in 1914. That should enable you to fix a time period. This type appears on the collector market infrequently, usually in an Austrian milieu. Van Der Dussen may provide expanded information. Sometimes described as a 'Knight Cross'. What are the hallmarks? Austrian? What exactly do you want to know?

Great item! Marks look like those of I. Oseritskij [maker] and 84 [silver]...

Simply an amazing major coup!!! Strongly agree that Rick would have been overjoyed!!!

Judging mostly by the badge [lowest one, hangs almost beside star] this looks like a civil division set. Take into consideration my poor eyesight combined with the image size & wash-out, however.

Noticed Bophuthatswana's coat of arms on medal reverses in Post 10 above. Bophuthatswana's national motto, Tshwaraganang Lo Dire Pula E Ne [Tswana for "If we stand together and work hard we will be blessed with rain"] appears as the coat of arms motto underneath the blason. This caused me to revisit the entire thread where for the first time I saw what looks like an inscription embossed into the star motto ring Post 6 above. It seems more visible from the reverse but the obverse image shows enamel 'thins' at the embossing's location. Sometimes gouges or lines are made in metal before enameling to ensure that the enamel bonds more securely to the metal. This technique is known as Champlevé. It may be that whatever is embossed into the motto ring was so intended. However, I seem to make out letters along the lines of "AFRIKAANCE--" on the upper half and "AFRICA--A" on the lower part. [Dashes indicate unclear characters.] This text, if that's what it is, seems unrelated to Bophuthatswana's national motto. Maybe it's the manufacturer's mark or indicates that the same die was used for another item. Perhaps the original design included a motto ring legend? Any ideas?

This man has been identified as a son of King Toffa II of Porto Novo or as a Marcus Garvey disciple...neither with any conclusive proof. He somewhat resembles Toffa's son Prince Adjiki, sent to Paris as Ambassador in the 1880's. The decorations suggest that neither of the supposed IDs are correct.

Cursory search of Silver Star multiple recipients lists reveals a scant handful of supposed 9 time winners, none named Delaney. Looks like at least 2 ribbon mounts here. Some Vietnamese ribbons apparently not in correct rank order. Can't make out shoulder tab insignia--which might be an ID clue.

Although they are handsome minis, you are correct. They are of course collectible and often not as expensive as national or regional awards.

Specialist websites like that of M. Semon chronicle these sorts of awards. Most of the groups that use such awards have [or had] a five class award structure usually with French style ranks/insignia. The first item on the mini bar that resembles a Belgian Royal Order of the Lion cross format with commander rosette on ribbon indicates membership in the Société Vivre et Sourire [live & smile/laugh Society] also known as Société Dévouement Civiquesee, among other names, see eZay https://www.befr.ebay.be/itm/MED-556-MEDAILLE-VIVRE-ET-SOURIRE/401610527583?hash=item5d81da535f:g:rs8AAOSwhN5btFee:rk:1:pf:0 The second has been identified as either the Royal Polish [exile] Merit Order or the Franco-Polish Historical Recognition Order. I know of no definitive proof for either or what entity it definitely indicates. As to the blue enamel one, I do not have even a tentative identification. A similar badge with red enamel arms, however, is yet another Public Education/Instruction society award. The Ordre Ouvre Humanitaire officer mini is 2nd type. The group had to alter their badge design as the first type [pictured above post 3] resembled Legion of Honor insignia too closely. Except for high-profile people decorated by these 'charitable organizations' generally for publicity purposes, persons admitted to such bodies pay what equate to admission, membership and insignia cost fees as well as contribute to various associated fund-raisers. The groups use money they collect to do good. Many of them actually put some of the funds they collect to charitable use--others do not using them for social functions or 'overhead' expenses.

This museum constantly improves in terms of facilities, displays and information resources. The staff, unfailingly knowledgeable, helpful to visitors, and polite, really appear to enjoy their work. I first visited it in 1980 when housed in an old barracks closer to the city center. Even then, it was of remarkable quality. Enhanced presentation, not to mention the greatly increased range of materials on display, really sets a standard for similar exhibitions. Other Eastern European military museums, like the National Military Museum (Muzeul Militar Naţional) at 125-127 Mircea Vulcănescu St., Bucharest, Romania, offer further outstanding examples of the museological art.

Wonderful item in prostine condition!, Uwe. You are lucky!

Don't find him [other than an image] in Neal O'Conner's works. Didn't he fly with the Turks rather than Bulgarians?

Mea Culpa--too old eyes and faulty memory. Last 2 photos seem to show Raeder with a ribbon bar and pin back awards. Boris' bio Crown of Thorns reports "...Field Marshal Keitel and Grand Admiral Dönitz headed the German delegation", p 384. I find no mention of Boris' funeral in Dönitz' autobiography. It would seem extremely unusual that both Dönitz and Raeder would attend so CoT likely seems wrong! Raeder reportedly received the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Alexander with swords on September 3, 1941. It looks like the Bulgarian report claiming that both Dönitz & Keitel received a Bulgarian star & sash set before Boris' funeral ceremonies was completely incorrect! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY3A1x3ZH2Q at 1:15 3:02 certainly looks like Raeder wearing a St. Alexander GC star with Keital in background! See also

This may be either ex-Alexander Patterson collection which Paul describes above or of a piece with that example. The serrated reverse center and clunky reverse ribbon attachments indicate that type work. Another person [don’t recall the name but maybe a Bavarian] started as a sort of EB worker/collaborator but graduated to making or enhancing their own product for a year or two in the mid-1970's. This variety is somewhat cruder than those attributed to Ernst. [Oak leaf reverse bent pin attachment may be a hint?] D.R. Overall-Hatswell Collection had several of both types.

1812 thank you for the above images! The 4th funeral image depicts Keitel wearing what appears to be a St. Alexander star, maybe Grand Cross with swords through the center. Conceivably, he received a St. Alexander in 1941-2 when he liaised closely with the Bulgarians during the Balkan Campaign. That possibility leaves open what, if any, Bulgarian award with star he and Dönitz may have received at the funeral. Image 7 angle seems to show Dönitz with a Romanian Michael the Brave and pinback awards but in image 5 Dönitz does not appear to wear these. Suspect that apparent image 7 awards actually relate to the Romanian officer in image 7 back standing behind and to left of Dönitz.

Hi Yankee, Yes, sadly the phaleristic enhancer’s or forger’s art is/was widespread and has been documented in 1890’s sales/auction catalogs and probably before. Some copies may truly be replacements for original recipients' lost awards. Others seem clearly made for more or less legitimate purposes, like the Imperial Haitian Order insignia made in the 1950’s by Bertrand to illustrate Major Francis Etienne’s book, Decorations haitiennes a travers l'histoire Port-au-Prince (1954), and the French Three Golden Fleeces examples. Others….[1974] well do you really want that Berthold collar for 90,000DM? To my knowledge Rothe never put other than their marks [if any] on their ‘collector copy’ work. This was done by 'job lotters' or individuals. Tells include Rozet & Fischmeister’s name/logo engraved on Iron Crown reverse banderolls [aka lappets or infulae], something never seen on original R & F work which have the names in relief or raised letters. Other give-aways include bungled letter, trapezoid & and star punches suggesting Meyer origin on Leopold or Maria Theresa badge ribbon loops. However, Rothe certainly made copies of their work well into the 1960’s and early '70's at least. Even as late as the late '80's they did special commission work, mainly on A-H orders but also Mexican Eagle badges, a couple of Italian States Orders and Bavarian Crown stars among others. These were on display for sale in vitrines to the right of the shop entry door and in counter cases along with genuine items. One could specify bronze-gilt or silver-gilt varities--not sure about gold. While the metal stamping work of those is often hard to differentiate from original work, the enamel work and enamel detail fall short of originals. The very heavy crosshatching on Bavarian Crown star centers is a give-away for example…and whether Rothe ever was an official supplier of that order insignia remains an open topic. Again to my understanding, Rothe did make 'replacement' and collector pieces through the '20's-'50's. Maybe up to the early ‘60’s they might have put A-H or Austrian tax release stamps on these but they seem to have stopped applying tax stamps around that time. Someone one this forum mentioned that Rothe dies were sold –2007-14? Possibly those now enjoy reuse?

You may be correct E, however, Busch & Röll [Der U-Boot-Krieg 1939–1945 — Die Ritterkreuzträger der U-Boot-Waffe von September 1939 bis Mai 1945] list Military Order of Savoy Commander's Cross (7 November 1941) but not a Maurice & Lazarus of any grade. One might think he would have had M & L but given the Military Order of Savoy's higher prestige/rank would expect that’s the one he would wear. Busch & Röll may be incomplete. In the 1980's a Bulgarian report on King Boris' funeral indicated that both Dönitz & Keitel received a Bulgarian star & sash set before the ceremonies. Do not remember exactly what decoration or if this is reported/verified elsewhere. Given their ranks would expect probably St. Alexander GC or lst class but who knows if this account is accurate or the actual award. If true then Dönitz could have also had a Maurice & Lazarus commander, if not Grand Cross.

Outstanding work! Thank you 1812

Probably, given apparent shape of the suspension crown & Italian officers standing by.

4 & 5 = Hungarian Order of Merit [1922] 2nd class set -- can't tell but looks like civil division. If there are swords in the cross angles, then military division. Sash appears to be Bulgarian MMO lst class.