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Most likely a French academic or artist originally held this excellent chainette of miniature orders. Surprizing there's no Legion of Honor. The pin arrangement confirms that the Academic Palmes is in the first position, not the Hessian Philip Order. Kretley, who supplied the case and likely the entire chainette, was a very popular Parisian jeweler & insignia manufacturer. Jacob's Court Jewelelrs of the World will provide dates Kretley was active [maybe 1870s-1920?].

Awards are: French Academic Palmes, French Agricultural Merit [officer or commander], Portugese Villa Vicosa, Tunisian Nicham Iftikhir, Italian Maurice & Lazurus [knight], Portugese [or much less likely Papal] Christ, Italian Crown, Saxe-Weimer White Falcon, Monaco St. Charles, Spanish Isabella the Catholic, Venezuelan Bolivar & Hessian Philip. Order grades in brackets determined by the specific insignia design. Hard to guess what grades the others represent.

Portugese Villa Vicosa last awarded as a state decoration in 1910.

You have a quite interesting and beautiful set of miniatures!

WOW... many thanks! That's just what the doctor ordered!!!! Great info and tells me tons more than I've known up to this point. This is one I picked up well over 25 years ago at a little militaria shop, not even knowing what it was but just that it looked neat and had the enamels I love. Can hardly believe they've risen so much but seeing as how even German Hindenburg Crosses have gone up, at least on some Ebay sales and dealer prices I guess anything is possible. I remember we used to pick up double court mounted bars of WW1 EK 2's and Hindenburg Crosses for like $12 to $15 each! Now... they go upwards of $100 to $150 on Ebay and it blows me away each time I see that.

The world turned upside down. But admittedly 20 to 25 years or so is a long time when it comes to prices and such. I remember when if you paid $1.00 for a paperback book it was a really thick one and that was pricey. Comic books ran .15 to .25 cents each... oh for the good old days!

Again thanks so much for this great info! I deeply appreciate your help on this!

Dan

You are certainly welcome. Besides inflation, another factor impacting prices in general is the growing availability of decent reference works enabling us to know what we have and to assess rarity/desirability. For Bulgaria, Pavlov and Dimitrov deserve special thanks. Many GMIC members have contributed to this ever-expanding knowledge base and merit thanks. Guess we must remember that in the days of the $100 Albert Order Grand Cross set [cased!], you were fortunate to make $10,000 a year!!

Yes, this is a 5th class Bulgarian kingdom type Order of St. Alexander with crown & swords-on-ring. Likely a 1930s Sofia-made, silvered base metal piece with a replacement ribbon. EBay sold prices are probably the best market price indicator. These sell there [when available] for anywhere from 100 euros/$130 to 175 euros/$225 or more. Dealers, in the face of stockage and other costs, list this type for up to 250 euros/$375 or more. Earlier made examples in actual silver achieve about 15-20% higher prices. Other varities, such as regency or republic types usually command higher prices.

Thank Dieter..

What's the little badge on the right pocket? An officer/academy badge?

Is it an Order from Manchukuo on his left pocket?

The star most likely represents a 2nd class Order of United Honor [AKA Order of United Glory or Order of Common Honor] award of the 1940-45 Chinese Nanking government. This grade comprises a star, badge & sash. The awarding entity is generally held to be a Japanese surrogate or puppet govnernment.

The Bulgarian Military Merit Order is on the regular Order ribbon, not the war service [Military Bravery Order]ribbon. Possibly a pre-war award?

it hasn't sent yet because still wait from my side to get some Indonesian medal for trade..

i'll post photo again later when it's arrived

Very nice set--great acquisition!! The grand cross sash seems to be harder to find than the badge. Is the trade for 2 badges & a star or 1 badge & star? [i ask because the badge without the sash has a suspension loop seen on commander badges and the one on the sash has a typical double ring sash badge suspension. Usually the grand cross and the commander badges are the same size.]

Reliable information on this topic is scarce, as you've learned. Several people did pioneering research on Royal Afghan awards, including A.A. Miller in the 1950s as well as Ed Haynes & Gustav Tammann in the 1990s. Miller wrote a couple of articles that appeared in "The Medal Collector" {OMSA} in the mid-1950s. Believe that Ed had a rather extensive page on his former website [iEPE] & that Gustav worked on a manuscript for several years. Over the years, there may have been a write-up or two in the British OMRS Journal as well, most probably on the Order of the Doranee Empire and perhaps on post-1919 instituted awards. Do not know where one could obtain copies of these works.

Other than copy Order of the Doranee Empire pieces [including some made in Spain or Germany in the 1970-80s], generally speaking fakes are not an issue. Certainly, the former king awarded decorations {at least, the Order of the Sun and Order of the Star} while in his Italian exile--most such honorees obtained their insignia either on the collectors' market or from a Spanish or German maker. Possibly manufacturers' stocks came onto the collector market. Whether these pieces are original, non-official, or fakes depends upon your personal view.

Extremely rare and beautiful--any idea of the recipient or his positions?

Thanks to Emmanual and other contributors for their work on this subject.

Excellent research, Emmanuel! Many thanks once again. Even in Nairobi it is very difficult, if not impossible, to find this information. Are these medals Spink or Gerrard manufacture [Long Service & Good Conduct for the Armed Forces ribbon looks like recycled Iraqi Rafadhain military ribbon!]

Grand Cross is not Romanian Crown but rather Serb/Yugoslav St. Sava

We must remember to adjust for inflation!! When was a room in Gunzenhausen 50 DM and what would it cost today, regardless of currency used? Or take a look at collector prices versus, say, a hotel room rate in the 1930s --- a specific high profile auction catalog from that time offers surprizing insights!

The 1987 Wallis & Wallis sale auctioned off much of Col. Dodkin's collection.

Fantastic!! Would have been worth the trip. Thanks for sharing!

Yes, the 5th miniature represents membership in the Order of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem. Based on the silver 'wings' behind the rosette, it is a commander's badge miniature. Sometime in the 1970s, the Rudolf Souval of Vienna company manufactured this insignia type. Perhaps other makers did too. The central design represents 3 loaves and 3 fishes; thus the concept of Christian religious bountiful sharing.

It existed {exists?} in 5 grades + a collar but with a variety of classes: Some had crown suspensions, some crossed swords suspensions, some both, some none---may have been a laurel or oak wreath suspension as well. Besides an officer badge for breast wear with a rosette on the ribbon, a pin-back 'officer cross' was available. The commander stars looked like the body was made from an altered or enlarged Azad Hind die--with different centers, naturally. The Order could be awarded with several different color ribbons to denote different things; I cannot remember the significance of or the exact colors. In the 1970s-80s, Souval could supply the insignia to anyone who had interest, for a price, of course.

Souval people reported it to be a distinction 'founded by the Archbishop of Canterbury" for award to CoE/Anglicans, and those supporting them, for various services, usually charitable work or 'good deeds'. In 1975, a CoE official attending an installation of the UK branch of the Order of St. John of Jerusalam in Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem wore this order's neck-badge. By the late 1980s, no CoE officials could supply information on the award -- it may have been allowed to lapse, replaced by another decoration or it may still exist.

An article on this Order was submitted to the "Medal Collector" [now JOMSA] in 1975-6 but apparently never appeared in print. The gist of the article appears above.

The first miniature in this group has been identified as any number of ephemeral awards including 'Order of St. John and St. Eugene', 'Order of the (Christian Crusaders?) of Tiberias', Order of St. Angelena', and others, I'm sure. However, I've seen nothing definite in the literature or among specialists in the "ephemeral" world. Maybe someone like Stair-Sainty would have an idea.

All in all, this group [if not a 'put together' by someone with some loose miniatures] reflects membership in a number of family descent or 'charitable' organizations of a popular type.

Hello Lorenzo,

Yes, this is the style of mounting seen previously for royal Al Rafadhain badges, apparently for ladies if based on British traditional style/method. However, this badge appears to be a commander or grand cross [size compared to ribbon width & gc type swivel attachment to the ribbon bow]. The award in the Bacqueville case, a gilded breast badge, was sewn to the ribbon bow directly via the usual ribbon-ring found on knight and officer badges. It also had a pin-back mounting of the type seen on typical knight or officer badges sewn to the ribbon bow reverse. The other badge known to me was a knight or officer size insignia as well.

Have you had any luck in finding Faisal I order insignia?

My pleasure. I should have noted 'Gardino, successor to Cravanzola, in Rome' rather than Cravanzola in Rome' among others, made first type insignia. Gardino took over Cravanzola's business before WW II--J.R. Jacob's book "Court Jewellers" has exact information. A couple of other makers including, in the 1950s, Alberti of Milan and, in the late 1990s, Guccione [mispelt but you get the idea] in Rome also come to mind. Presently, a U.S.A. eBay vendor offers a lst type Grand Cross set for about $1,000 & another has a star opening for about $400--though both stars are maker marked [and possibly have silver fineness marks], prices are too rich for my blood. You may want to look on Italian eBay for less expensive options.

Without access to the order statutes at present, I don't remember whether there is a regulation difference in the size of the stars relating to the grade [grand officer versus grand cross]. However, cased grand officer sets usually have a 75-80 mm diameter star and grand crosses an 85 mm. or slightly larger diameter star. I have seen a couple of grand cross badges that are larger than the commander size badge usually attached to sashes but do not know if that is statutory. Badges attached to collars are by statute commander size. Two different types of collar are reported but the statutes describe just one--the other type may be Johnson-made samples or a fantasy.

Tim is correct about the reason for the insignia change and approximate year of statute amendment but Tammann says that the statute changing the insignia format took effect in 2003. His beautiful Gardino made cased silver gilt GC set with hallmarked gold central badge and star five pointed stars did not sell at the 2008 UBS Geneva auction; the reserve price [including auction commission & delivery] was about $550.

For a while, the President of Italy website supplied information on the country's awards. I have not checked that recently.

Early [1951-late '60s] Italian Merit Order commander badges are usually made of gilded silver and usually so marked on the bottom edge of the lower cross arm or top cross arm edge. Cravat loops may also be marked. Special order ones, made at the honoree's expense, were available in 14 & 18 k gold & so marked in same places. Gold ones are very delicate and easily deformed. Rarely, a maker's mark will appear near the silver [gold] fineness mark. Later ones are usually made of bronze gilt and not maker marked. Your vendor should be able to tell you if this piece is marked.

Early cases [green] have the Italian arms in thin metal attached to the outer lid, later ones have it stamped in gilt like this one. Makers include Johnson, Cravanzola, & Ponzi all of Rome among others. Often the interior case lid has a gilt stamped maker's label. Your vendor should be able to tell you if the case is marked.

A relatively common decoration that appears not to be copied in the commander grade yet, the price ranges from US$145-$200 with case regardless whether silver or bronze gilt, maybe $300-$350 in gold. An uncased bronze gilt commander with miniature & lapel pin but no case sold at the OMSA convention for $140; a silver-gilt one with case & miniature but no lapel pin went for $170. Very poor copies of knight and officer badges exist; these may have the letter "C" on the reverse lower arm.

In a word, no.

This insignia type was (is?) on offer at a few Russian and Polish museum shops and was often sold as a 'Russian Grand Priory-Emperor Paul St. John badge'. Some such shops had the more usual SMOM insignia for sale with the same description.

In point-of-fact, this insignia is also of a type mainly but not exclusively used by various King Peter of Yugoslavia protected, proposed, successor, or otherwise related Orders of St. John. Another St. John group claiming protection by a non-verified member of the House of Savoy uses (d?) the same insignia. The iconography of the Serb/Yugoslav St. Sava type eagles or a Russian eagle with the Savoy arms hints at the fonts of honor. Both of the above mentioned groups [among many others] usually claimed 'descent' from the Russian Emperor Paul Order of Malta grandmaster theory. I will not get into justifications or variations; enough ink and webspace has already been consumed over the issue.

By now, other St/ John groups may use this insignia.

Ready for a firestorm of comment? Or maybe not, as the topic has been beaten to death repeatedly.

If one accepts that the SMOM with extraterroritial status based at Via dei Condotti 68, Rome == see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_Military_Order_of_Malta for example == is a or the 'legitimate' successor to the Order of Malta that held sovereign territory [Malta] until defeated and dissolved by Napoleon in 1798 is in fact a sovereign entity, many books, websites and other media completely describe the range of past and current SMOM insignia.

The Order of St. John is perhaps the best example of convuluted 'history', confused interpretation, reformed or reconstituted entities, and downright fakery involved with persons organized to do good, those 'questing for personal recognition' and the honors for sale game. Parties from royalty to distinguished churchmen from self-proclaimed princes to reclusive crackpots have and continue to involve themselves in Order of St. John organizations, offshoots and fakes.

Many St. John entities strongly support charities, ambulance services, hospitals, and so on. The SMOM, in my opinion, is one of these.

Google search reveals legal action against a number of St. John 'frauds' that attract often well-intentioned but uninformed persons. Some St. John entities apparently exist to satisfy their members vanity, need for recognition and desire for 'medals'.

The Federal Government of Comores reestablished this order about 20 years ago. The motto ring inscription [in French] now generally omits the word Royal. Check Ed Emering's or the Comoro Gov't website.

Thanks, I thought it unusual as well, so I made the purchase.

That's usually where I start to go wrong.

Thanks again.

Brian

An interesting group, congratulations!

Ferdinand abdicated in 1918, medals with his effigy supposedly were issued as late as 1921. This medal has the Bulgarian czarist crown so issued from either 1900 or 1908----depending on which 'expert' you consult. It is bronze or the third class but with crown, so the 5th grade of a 6 rank merit medal award system. Perhaps most useful, it has the civil ribbon---ribbon of the Order of St. Alexander. This award often compensated long serving enlisted men, government workers [like teachers with 15-20 years service], junior technical experts, & so on. Foreigners most often would get such a medal if members of a visiting or liaising group worthy of some sort of low level recognition.

Ferdinand visited Germany often and lived in Coburg while in 'exile' until his death in 1944. He often awarded merit medals as a sign of appreciation for personal services [sometimes in lieu of a tip] to people ranging in rank from railway station master to personal servants. It seems clear that he continued this practice on a limited level while in 'exile'.

You will find further information [coinages, makers, etc.] in Petrov, Denkov or similar specialized Bulgarian works. Books in the $15-$50 price range are only in Bulgarian, English and Bulgarian versions cost from $90-$200 and may be found on eBay.

Thank you Artan and Enzo for this wonderful image!!!----At least one Mussolini biography reports this award and identifies it as "The Collar of Albania". Unfortunately, I cannot remember which biography mentions this or the approximate year of award--likely 1935 when an Italian "gift" [reportedly 3 million gold francs] was provided to the Albanian state with the promise of further economic aid.

Although I doubt it, it would be interesting to learn whether King Albert's collar is actually this bejeweled 'upswept wings' type. Klietmann suggests that his was the 'splayed wings' type made by Bertrand, and given the time frame, that appears reasonable. The insignia differences suggest that the 'upswept wings' type is of completely different manufacture, quite possibly Italian [Gardino?] especially considering the treatment of the tail feathers/talons. They clearly echo of the Skenderbeg badge design of that element.

On a related note---Artan's monumental book provides a wonderful resource!!! He merits all of our cooperation and high commendation for this work . Again, thanks to you both!!

Hi Adam--

As Paul says, many makers, many variations. The crudeness of the rear finish does not put me off. I do not recall seeing this exact type but have seen a grand cross badge with the oval "shields" above the elephant heads separately applied. You mention the lack of metal work under the enamel leaves--Often there are also stirations in the metal under the elephant head red "cloths" as well. What size is this badge---60 mm.? Are there hallmarks on the cravat ring? Is the enamel is hard [fired] or "cold" [epoxy]. Does the main badge part appear to be silver? Looks it. An interesting item in any case!

On the second photo, what is the pin/medal on his left hand side right above his arm?

The September-October JOMSA [pp 35-39] contains a 5 page illustrated article on Seychelloise {?} military {?} awards. Although the piece lacks specific regulatory or administrative information, the photos may be useful.