paul wood

It is quite possible that he had served in the regular forces (although not with the 36th Foot (Herefordshire regiment) who had seen no active service since the Peninsular War), probably in the Crimea, subsequent to discharge, as many did, joined his local volunteer force, and presumably attached a similar suspension so he could wear it with his official award. The regulations for wearing medals were much more haphazard than later as can be seen from many photos of soldiers from this period. As for the hallmark on the medal, presumably NRA had some old stock lying around which nobody apart from a silver specialist was going to give a damn about receiving. Medal collectors should always remember that medals were adapted for the recipient not for the benefit of collectors. Paul

I notice for the Keibel version you chose an Albert Keibel piece, I noted that poor St Andrew looked like he had been crucified on a particularly bright day as he has chronic sunburn. As you are well aware the Keibel family produced official insignia for about seventy-five years. 1) KK, Kammerer and Wilhelm Keibel (1836-41) (have not seen any KK insignia of the Order of St Andrew). 2) Wilhelm Keibel (1841-62) who also in around 1850 was involved in the adoption of the 17 link from the 23 link collar and around introduced the metal star rather than the cloth star for the insignia set (have seen a collar set dated 1861) 3) Julius Keibel (1862-82) (turn up occaisionally), Albert Keibel (1882-1910) (along with Eduard the most common). What I am wondering is Is the AK badge a typical Keibel production or is there noticable production differences between AK and IK WK and KK. I personally like the ealrk Keibel pieces they are more subtle than Eduard. Although none are patch on Pannasch, there are images of a Pannasch badge and a Kammerer miniature coller in the Earl of Durham sale, Morton and Eden 10 June 2010. go to wwwmortonandeden.com and follow links to past auctions. All the best, Paul

Interestingly there is a fine contemporary (15th century) Italian renaissance medal of Skandebeg which has a very similar portrait to the Kossovan piece, possibly it was modelled from that. All the best, Paul

Has a Dutch look to me. Paul

I agree this has been a most useful and enlightening post for me and I am now able to note the stylistic differences between the two official suppliers. Question for Nick, apart from Eduard and Osipov are the any other known Russian makers of bronze insigina? All the best, Paul

Definitely lifted from the Albanian Order of Skanderbeg (they don't make beards like that these days) Paul

Any pictures of these orders and decorations available nothing appears to come through on the link? Paul

Nice but lacks the pure beauty of the Pannasch collars. Paul

Nick thanks for that, I have always assumed (mistakenly as it appears) all pre-revolutionary and provisional government pieces were marked, at least with the K if not the maker's mark. Paul

Nick, If it is unmarked how do you know it's Eduard? On stylistic grounds? Thanks, Paul

My suspicion is that this may be a 'White' Civil War period award, the lack of any marks pretty well debars it being a Czarist or Provisional Government, sorry I can't be more precise. Nick may have further ideas. All the best, Paul

No marks again, does not look like a later piece, possibly emigre or civil war and as you are well aware there was a large emigre community in Paris so this could explain it

P.S. "He makes 2 and 2 make 5" .... Synergy?! Nick, no offence meant and none taken I hope. You are right about the Eduard pieces, I have encountered some without the K. Paul

I would agree with Claudius. A 1940 DFC is much sought, more so than any other year after as many of these were awarded for the Battle of Britain. The big but is whether it is genuine (many fakes lurk out there) and without clear photographs this is impossible to ascertain. Paul

Most interesting and probably quite scarce, I have frequently encountered various insignia of the order which is generally quite common but never the medals. I wonder what class of people would have received these. Paul

I am surprised it has no marks, normally bronze-gilt pieces are made either by Eduard or Dmitri Osipov. Having never encountered a provisonal government Vladimir I can only base information on other orders and I would suspect that the Imperial crown on the arms would be lacking, also during the Great War late Czarist period production of insignia was changed from gold to gilt bronze. From the information you have given me my suspicion is that it is a European (quite possibly French) made piece, many of which were produced during the latter part of the war when many allied soldiers who were awarded Russian decorations did not receive the award and during the civil war allied intervention. All the best, Paul

Thanks David, I had never thought of looking there, it is the same piece but with the supension lacking. Paul

Muller is the correct manufacturer for insignia of this period circa 1930 (he was the manufacturer of Latvian orders). From the photo I would give it the benefit of the doubt as I am not aware of Latvian badges being faked, if they are it's a realtively recent development. Paul

Thanks for all the contributions, especially Fukuoka's All the best, Paul

Amazing, have never seen a cased Hirato piece before, what amazing photos. Paul

Michael, I can't think of any of the close younger female royals who did military service somebody may know of some on the periphary. Paul

These are clasps for the French World War II commemorative. Paul

William George was killed on Nov 5 1920 apparently undated. Did Albert have a middle name as this would speed up the search, alas the two numbers you give yield nothing (possibly because there was a prefix to them). Paul

. The late Rothe pieces are not fakes per se, they were made for collectors who could not conceivably afford, let alone find, the originals. The quality of manufacture was good. The main problem with the rare Austrian orders made by Rothe in the 50s-70s, is that a certain person in Germany applied false Austrian silver marks to pass them off as original pieces of the Great War period. An amusing story not related to the above German mentioned. Rothe in the period mentioned was owned by two sisters, the last members of the family. Around the 1960's the late, lamented? master Ernst Blass attempted to marry one of the sisters but without success. Perhaps his line of "What beautiful babies we could make" didn't go down too well. In my opinion late Rothe pieces are perfectly valid to have in a collection of world orders unless you are a Russian oligarch and can afford the originals.

460 French soldiers recived the Army MSM, 130 in 1918, 243 in 1919 and 87 in 1920, 7 received the Airforce Meritiorious Service Medal in 1919. All the best, Paul