paul wood

This appears to be a standard worn on portuguese medals. I have seen many medals with identical fittings I suspect these were a standard military tailor's issue. Paul

F is follower i have ww2 medals to a dairyman bootmaker cleaner and barber all with F prefix. Paul

1320 is 1901 in lunar hejira so it would be ok for muzaffar. I dont think the solar callender wad introduced until the pahlavi era. Paul

It is sh1320 ad 1941an early Pahlavi issue. Paul

I wonder what happenned to the Tostrup records after liquidisation as they would have the answer. I suspect it is an award for the Norwegian equivalent of a national eisteddfod. Paul

Delta behind kokoshnik for Moscow. Paul

I suspect it is an orthodox decoration but i doubt if it is from the imperial period. A lot have emerged in the last 25 years. paul

Red eagle Paul

What an amazing collection of images. paul

Nice group. paul

Megan why does it say Pentru Marina.which refers to Maritime rather than Military which I thought was another medal? Paul

With swords for Romanian Naval Personnel. One of the many plethora of decorations established by Carol II (1930-40) Paul

The arms remind me of those of Ostfriesland. paul

Claudius 1 General Belmont Avalov's medal 1919 2 Bicentenary of the Battle of Poltava 1909 5 Alexander III memorial 1894. Others spot on. Paul

Fakes to deceive collectors originated in the late 80s (my God 30 years ago seems like yesterday) when top end soviet started making worthwhile money. Prior to that they were made for theatrical or museum display purposes. Paul

Sorry it is a joke it means it is a copy. Copy if written with cyrillic script is pronounced Soru. At work when we see a Russian piece which is a wrong un we say it looks like Soru's handywork. The Nevsky illustrated looks very much as if it is a theatrical copy not made with the intent to deceive. As usual my joke has back-fired. Paul

It is by the famous Russian maker "Soru" (in Cyrilic Copy). Paul

I suspect it wil remain with e-medals for the foreseeable future paul

Also no Tamar in the 1998 in the forgotten king Ferdinand Sotheby's sale which i catalogued and none with the pieces which remained with the family. PAUL

It is best to stick with the urkundes they tend to be less of a problem p

50th Anniversary of Campaigns in the Caucasus 1906. paul

Difficult to be certain as all recipients of the order of Queen Tamar only received the award document. The stars were made privately at the recipient's expense which is why there are miriads of variants ranging from awful to superb quality. Paul

The royal victorian order was unnumbered prior to 1902 so this is a nice very early piece paul

Having read this book I can say I am very impressed. This is a comprehensive work dealing with the history and evolution of both orders. Various makers and marks of both Turkish and European madeeeer pieces. From the detailed images it is possible to establish the period of manufacture. There is an in depth study of the jewelled pieces and given the quality of the forger's handy work there is a detaled study and listings of copies of each order. This is a work that Avsar has spent several years producing and it is nothing short of a masterpiece. If you have an interest in Orders buy this book, it is worth its weight in gold and probably the finest phaleristic studies to have appeared for several years. Paul

It is possible that the group was made up post 1971 when the Edward medal was exchangable for the George medal as was the Albert medal. The recipient could have been in his 70's and an interwar Edward Medal recipient such as the Bentley colliery disaster. Could have had the set made up for a Buckingham palace garden party or a VC/GC association beano. all the best, Paul