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    oamotme

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    Everything posted by oamotme

    1. Gentlemen, I have recently acquired an example of this silver campaign service medal : Obverse & Reverse: "Al Saeed Hamed Bin Thwaini Sultan Zanzibar 1313" (Corr. to 24 June 1896 - 11 June 1896) with clasp "Pumwan" bearing the stamped /die punched namimg: 678.SURUR FERAJI From my limited experience of this medal I have not seen another named example. Any ideas / suggestions? Is SURUR a name or rank? Regards & thanks, Owain Raw-Rees (OAMOTME)
    2. oamotme

      Angola medals

      Yes, Miltary Service Medal Peoples Democratic Republic of Yemen - now obsolete since unification in 1990. Owain.
    3. Bolgarin, Many thanks - you have saved me from the enthusiasm of being a collector - yes this is it 1st Class Civil enamel both sides with case circa 1960. I will try and get an image. Owain
    4. Dear Bolgarin, No document and the price is for this piece alone. All other items - various orders are for sale separately - some damaged. It will not be possible to get an image but the piece is in good condition. Regards, Owain.
    5. Gentlmen, This is not my usual scope of interest but I have been offered for sale here in Riyadh a 1st Class Civil - a quality white enameled piece (both sides) in its red box. From viewing this string of correspondence I suspect this is from the early/mid-1960s awarded to a Saudi diplomat - indeed some of the Arabic awards also for sale indicate this period. It is an attractive piece hence my interest - the price asked is SR2,400 or $640 - not cheap enough for me to go for it without consideration. I probably could negotiate a bit off for cash but is this a fair price? Venturing outside ones own field - Arabian awards - is always a wary exercise. Any comments would be appreciated. Many thanks, Owain (OAMOTME - Orders and Medals of the Middle East)
    6. Lorenzo, Superb - what workmanship! Now where is this piece? It is very similar indeed to the illustrations you posted last year and I would suggest, that in the absence of any argument to the contrary, that this is the Order of the Revolution. The inscription below the eagle is "Republic of Iraq". It appears that the manufacturer of this piece is Patek Phillipe of Geneva - normally known for watches - and as there is no suspension loop or brooch pin shown in this photograph the piece shown may be that of a proof specimen. When illustrations like this appear GMIC scales the heights. Happy new year, Owain
    7. Kim, Thanks for the link to the Ayat al Kursi - this sometimes apperar on the reverse of some Arab traditional jewellery pieces - usually Omani or Yemeni. Chris, Can you provide a better image of the obverse of the medal - I suspect from the religious text on the reverse that this piece is some form of religious token or medallion. Regards, Owain
    8. My own view is that this is not a fake but an example of a locally manufactured piece (cast copy?) from the period in question - I have a similar one but slightly smaller purchased many years ago. The naming would also imply a period piece - I cannot see any reason to fake such an obscure item - indeed I have yet to see any fakes of this medal . All in all an interesting piece and to my mind worthy of any collection of this period. With regard to the Seigal issue - the name is on relief on the reverse of the suspension bar. If you require more details on this series of awards I would refere you to my recent article in OMRS. Kind regards, Owain
    9. Not very exciting - adressed to the General Inspector of the American Embassy with regard io a small parcel received and requesting appropriate action. Signed by Dr. Tarek Najm Abdullah Manager of the Office of the Presidency of Ministers. Dated, I think 2 may 2007. Not a mention of amedal in sight.......nice headed paper though. Owain
    10. Possibly some form of civil recognition from Damascus - the centre reads "City of Damascus" and the left reads, I think, "Municipality" - I cannot read the right hand inscription. Looks like a fairly well made piece - is it a pin back badge? Owain
    11. Er....looks like an Ahmed to me but a clear image would help to confirm. Owain. P.S. As indicated before "Nichan" is Order thus it should be more properly referred to as the "Order of Glory"
    12. Ed et al. My "mule" came out of Turkey and a fellow collector purchased a couple of mules in Amman some two years ago. I don't think that there are many about - indeed the collectors market for legitimate Arab awards is small enough - although prices are going up - I look forward to seeing the UBS Gustav Tammann auction results from yesterday and the day before. I can understand imperial Greman and Russian fakes but suspect that these "mules" are miscellaneous spares. Owain
    13. Ed, I disagree - it is not the Order of Merit as illustrated in the Arab Republic of Egypt protocol book - this backing star has more acute points than the official order, there is no uppermost falcon or hawk device, and the central inscription should be "Al Istahqaq" (Merit) not "Al Jumhouriya" (Republic). I do though whole heartedly agree with your comments concerning the lack of research done by dealers - however this does sometimes, not often, present collectors with golden opportunities! Kind regards, Owain
    14. A number of similar but unrecorded Egyptian pieces have appeared on the market over the past couple of years. and appear to be a combination of pre-1952 and post-1952 coup designs. The central inscription in this instance is "The Republic" and is on a gilt star similar the the Order of Mohammed Ali. A charitable view would be that they are post-1952 trial pieces which were never approved. Less charitably they may have been made up and sold on a let's see what we can get. I had the good fortune to meet Mr. Bichay a couple of times, and in the 1950s & 1960 he was the principal manufacturer of Egyptian awards and he never referred to any such pieces - although to be fair I didn't ask him specifically about trial pieces. At best I would regard this and similar others as peripheral curiosities and their price should reflect this status. I have a "specimen" Republican Deputies Badge (ex-E-Bay)on a Lattes backing star - Lattes ceased production in about 1930! Regards, Owain
    15. Dear Megan & Gentlemen, A long story but for full details see my article on this award in JOMSA. In short this badge was used as a model for a propoosed Kathiri order but never got much beyond the initial design stage - the 1967 communist take over thwarted the formal institution of the order. The badge illustrated, missing its owl suspension, is in fact a Schlaraffia badge (made in Vienna) from Sarajevo and the inscription reads "This is the medal of our great Imam". Schlaraffia were a fraternal society extant in Austro-Hungarian society and each "club" had its own badge. A number of such badges were sold at a Dorotheum Vienna auction a couple of years ago. Kind regards, Owain
    16. Whilst the theme of palm and crocodile is not new, I am not convinced of the ability of local craftsmen to execute such a piece - if you look at early examples of the Ethiopian Order of the Star, from the 1880's, whilst highly attractive, they are primitive and I would argue that if indeed Khartoum at this time had the ability to manfacture it would be on a level of tribal jewellery which was and remains basic in design. Also at this period, say 1825 onwards, this was the beginning of Turco-Egyptian expansion into the area, and Khartoum in 1836 was suffering from drought, famine and cholera epidimics. The design as described infers a more European influence than African thus possibly an attempt to either imitate locally or impose from afar an award. On looking at my copy of Trost, published in 1910, the order is referred to on page 92 but no illustration and Trost has no bibliography thus no source for this award - fact or fiction? Regards, Owain.
    17. Gentlemen, In the aformentioned early edition of JOMSA's predecessor a submission by James W. Peterson: "Trost in "Ritter und Verdienstorden" describes this order as having been established in the Sudan in 1837 in one class, to reward princely persons and foreigners for extraordinary service, but soon abolished. It does not seem to have been noted by any other wrtier. The badge is described as a 7-pointed brillianted star, surmounted by a turban, worn on the neck on a golden chain. The medallion has an alligator at the foot of a palm, enamelled in natural colours, surrounded by a green-enamelled ring with gold Arabic characters reading, "God is Great". The breast star is a golden rayed star with the superimposed obverse medallion encircled with precious stones." In twenty years I have seen no other reference to this award - even if this award did exist would any of the leaders (tribal) in the area that became Sudan had the ability to institute, commission and manufacture such an award? I suspect that Trost may have confused this with something else. Any ideas? Many thanks, Owain
    18. And another: Row A - Liberation Order; UAR Comm.; Evacuation. Row B - Victory; Independence: LSGC; 1948 War. Row C - 1949 M'd Ali; Army Day; 10th Rev.; 20th Rev. The device is missing from the Liberation Order - the same ribbon was used for the Liberation Order (Officers) and Liberation Medal (Other Ranks) - does the device signify the Order as opposed to the Medal? Owain
    19. Chris, The bars below illustrate service from the 1948 War through to the 2Oth Anniversary in 1972 of the Revolution (coup) - at least 24 years service: Row A - Liberation Order; UAR Commemorative; Evacuation; Victory Row B - Independence; LSGC; 1948 War; 1973 War Row C - 1949 Mohammed Ali Centenary: Army Day; 10th Rev.; 20th Rev Interesting to note that there are two medals from before the change of regime - the 1948 War was post 1952 worn reversed thereby hiding the profile of King Farouk. Owain
    20. Chris, Good to see your various bars - I will scan mine and inlcude in the next few days. As we both know trying to get examples of all the medals to match the ribbons is a dificult task! Regards, Owain.
    21. William How about, "Forgotten, he will not be". Owain Raw-Rees (1RWF 1978-84)
    22. James, Quite possibly - someone with better liguistic skills than myself can confirm. Owain
    23. ....and the obverse. Owain. P.S. Perhaps I am being pedantic but the Order of the Ouissam Alaouite should be more properly referred to a the Order of the Alaoui - after all Ouissam (or Wissam) is only Arabic for order. Similarly the Order of the Nishan Iftikar of Tunisia should be referred to a the Order of Glory - Nishan (or Nichan) again being an Arab/Turkish/Persian (Farsi) word for Order.
    24. Gentlemen, The obverse is illustrated below. Please note that the ribbon is incorrect as the red ribbon with indistinct yellow side stripes more properly belongs to the three grade Medal of Economic Prosperity. Regards, Owain. Later........I have today been verbally advised that in the Bertrand in house reference book this medal is referred to simply as the Medal of Hassan II and is apparently in three classes gilt, silver or silvered and bronze and may be a form of Royal Household award. The correct ribbon, it appears, would be of three equal stripes of red, green and red.
    25. ...and here is the reverse. Owain.
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