paul wood

That was a bit fowl Chris. p

How can one join? I would surely pull the ladies so attired P

Good order to collect. relatively inexpensive and the quality is generally very good. Founded by Willem II of tne Netherlands as grand Duke of Luxemburg. It was awarded in large numbers to Dutch recipients by his son and virtually all pre 1891 insignia is Dutch made . on the accession of Grand Duke Adolphe in 1890 it was a purely Luxemburg order with occaisional honorary awards to foreigners. Any of your pieces marked? P

25th anniversary 1973-98 I think Yemen Arab Republic buy no idea what it commemorates. I suspect Owain will know. Paul

many painters did the face from life and the remainder from memory often employing a student to apply the finishing touches and as we all know after a few bottles of wine the memory is often less than reliable p

They look like various society medals for which the germans were famed p

Yes these EU medals lower the tone of a decent british group. They make the UN medal look ilke an artistic masterpiece. p

there is. One must be very careful when buying early French medals as from the later part of the 19th century Paris mint restrikes (the early ones are very good) are stamped on the rims OR ARGENT or BRONZE, some dishonest people hzve been known to skilfully file these off. While the restrikes are collectae, they are worth considerably less

i am sure it is the order of merit of the bavarian crown, ribbon matches. Painters are noted for getting depictions of orders wrong I frequently advise painting experts on orders and if I had £10 for every incorrectly depicted order on a painting, even by top painters I have encountered I would have long since retired to Barbados. P

A gold example of the bronze medal appeared in auction about 20 years ago. p

One or two emerged from the Baldwins basement circa 1990 but they are about the only ones i am aware of. p

There is a medal which depicts louis xiv and his family which is believed by some to be an indian peace medal. p

i am not aware of any general VOC awards, as Marconi mentions they tend to be one offs, if anyone knows of any general awards I woild be interested to hear. p

lovely shame no name on the photo beautifully clear picture of the suspension. paul

about 500 per annum during his reign however they dont appear that frequently in commerce. I assumd the award is much valued amongst its recipients. paul