TacHel

The FSB (ex KGB) produces incredibly beautiful awards for merit (nice to have a president now prime-minister that was in the service I guess). There are more awards, but these 7 are the nicer ones. They are from left to right (top row): -Medal for Merit in the Fight Against Terrorism (2005) -Medal for Merit in Safeguarding Economic Security (2005) -Medal for Merit in Counterintelligence (2004) -Medal for Merit in Border Activity (2005) -Medal for Merit in Investigations (2004) Bottom row, a close up showing the exquisite detailing and "silicate enamels". All have the same inscription on the reverse: "Federal Security Service Russian Federation". Each award has a serial number etched in below this inscription.

You'd think a medal like this would be easy to find... Pfffft... Took me months! But I finally got one.

The "Cent Gardes" translates into "100 guards". It was an elite cavalry unit created in 1854 (HQ and 2 companies) directly attached to the person of the Emperor yet not part of the Imperial Guard. They accompanied him during the Italian campaign of 1859 and received an especially made version of that campaign medal (with the imperial crown). They also accompanied him to Metz and Sedan in 1870. The unit was disbanded by decree in 1870 and merged into the 2nd Cuirassiers regiment. I must also tell you that the crown with the leaves might have been correct if the LoH is from the 1st Empire period... Only an inspection of the entire award would tell. We having fun yet?:rolleyes:

I've asked a friend in France to look into it (time between decree and actual bestowal of 3rd Rep LoH), but since he's also a member of these forums, he might just drop into the conversation. My take on the weird crown with the leaves... A LoH from the "2nd restoration" period, King Henry IV (1815-1830). If it has Napoleon in the center, then I submit the center medallion was replaced, not at all uncommon. By the way Djedj... AWESOME pic!! With a GREAT history! Thanks for sharing, I eat this stuff up!

Go here: http://histoire-coll...m/catalog_5.htm He's presently out of the 2, 3 and 4 medal "boules" but is selling single ribbons mounted on them at 4 EURO a pop... Which is practically what it would cost you without the ribbon anyway. Scroll down to 2/3 of the page, you can't miss them.

If your friend went through so much trouble to properly acquire his father's awards, do you think he'd just slap this one among the set knowing full well it wasn't meant for him? And if regs stipulate "living", then forget it... Regs are regs... Don't mean to seem cold but there you have it...

I'm talking about the degrees within the Order, they are different than British. Lowest is "Chevalier" (Knight of the Order), 40mm silver breast badge with plain ribbon, then "Officier" (Officer or the Order), 40mm gilt breast badge with a rosette on the ribbon, then "Commandeur" (Commander), 60mm gilt badge and worn around the neck, then "Grand-Officier" (Grand-Officer), large silver breast cross. and finally "Grand-Croix" (Grand-Cross), large gilt breat cross and sash. You can see it at this link: http://en.wikipedia....ion_d%27honneur Addenda: Paris mint examples will have a mint mark. Look at the thread on makers' marks in this same forum (France), you'll see what it looks like and where to find it.

This is my 2nd Empire LoH, and Officer's badge. It is of gilded silver. Unfortunately, much of the gilding is gone and the ribbon isn't original. But I still love it! I paid just under 700 EURO for it years ago but have seen prices drop a bit lately. You could probably find an officer's badge for less than 600 EURO and in better shape than mine nowadays.

No, not really... Any LoH not made by the Paris mint can rarely be pinned down to anything other than simply "2nd Empire". As for official Paris mint models, I'm not 100% positive how many types/variations existed (if any) during the 2nd Empire. And even if such slightly varying types did exist, existing stocks would be used prior to the award of new pieces so heh...

French awards come in all forms, shapes, metals, sizes due to the fact anybody can produce them... In the 2nd Empire, jewelers produced gold examples of stunning beauty, some even added small diamonds. The more money you had, the nicer your LoH and other awards could look. The sky's the limit here... Premiere makers? Not to my knowledge but others might know of a few names. Keep in mind though that examples of such high quality will probably require you to re mortgage your house...

If you do buy it, it would be quite easy to reconstitute the complete set. 3rd Republic Knight of the LoH are easy to find and don't cost a lot. Medals for wounds (older model) are also relatively easy to find. The French model inter-allied victory medal is also easy to find and cheap. If you do decide to go that way, might I suggest finding yourself some "pins & balls" for all of them? That's the mount you see on the commemorative medal at left, it really adds to the charm of an early French set.

Yikes... If you take it even with the best intentions in the World and cannot find the rightful recipient or heir... What then? Bad situation to be in. If you are not absolutely positive you can find the vet... Don't touch it, return it, too bad... My 2 cents worth...

Tim is correct, no diff peace or war time issues. As for your question on the Franco-Prussian war, I will ask colleagues who know more than I do on the subject. I've personally checked and cannot find an exact date when the model changed from the 2nd Empire to the 3rd Republic model. I'll get back to you when I receive a more definite answer.

If totally undocumented... Then I'm afraid the value amounts to each individual medal... In this case, taking into account the ribbon bar, "maybe" 100 EURO on a good day.

UMALATOVA medals are no more! There will be no new ones. The new Russian laws are "FINALLY" being put into effect. They are not permitted to, matter of fact, they're outright forbidden to produce and/or bestow any more medals. Conversely, and somewhat incredibly, their prices have suddenly gone up. So, if you have a penchant for such things, I suggest you acquire them sooner than later because their prices will soon border on the ridiculous...

The maker's mark on the 60th ann. medal (on mine anyway) is on the reverse center at the very bottom below the bow. On the 50th, it's on the reverse of the suspension loop.

Can you find makers' marks on them?

No hypothesis here... I'm a member of 3 Russian (language) phaleristic forums, these "things" were a hot topic last year.

Unless the medal has the same design and ribbon with finite differences to the one above due to a different mint, then it isn't an official one. Some organizations like Umalatova went as far as using the EXACT same medal and simply adding cheap enamels. I could name you a dozen events with a myriad of commemorative medal with varying designs, yet all only have a single official (governmental) medal. And yes, I am absolutely sure about this. In the next few days (because this weekend I don't have the time), I'll post some of the medals you mentioned, and I'll ID the orgs that spat them out. For example, have a look at post #4 of this thread: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=37199

To be perfectly honest with you... These "re minted" and most of the time extremely poor copies with very questionable documents are meant for sale to fill the party coffers... Not to actually reward anybody... I forgot to mention: the WW2 ones are made in Poland BTW...:whistle:

Yup, they.re fast aren't they? But the medal above is the only "official" one from the government. All other variations are from civilian and/or veterans' organizations.

What can one say except... SUPERB!:jumping:

I wouldn't be surprised if the box alone was worth much more than the medal... A few of us have 30+ years of collecting and had NEVER seen one before.

Beautiful documented pair! SWEEET!:jumping:

Sweet! Original or spangenstück?