paul wood

Perhaps. Shall post (elsewhere) the full list of his "sources".

(And I am looking for those arms -- suspecting a pretentious zamindar.)

Many thanks Ed,

Paul

Isn't it just as easy to use McClanaghan's book, from which Buyers borrowed his information?

Dear Ed,

Not for the point of view of the heraldry, coats of arms etc. of the various states, which is why I sent you that photograph of the mysterious cigar case the other week.

Paul

I tried to acccess the Royal Arks site which for the Indain Princely States is extremely useful but alas is down and appears to have been down for a while, this is a pain in balaam's beast of burden. Anyone heard anything of when it might be back on line.

Paul

Looks a perfectly kosher German made piece. Not marked but some of them are not.

Paul

Nice one Herrn Magister. I do think the certificate is more impressive than the medal.

All the best,

Paul

Hallo Paul,

any chance of some pictures to go with your warning?

and many thanks for the tip-off.

Kevin in Deva.

Unfortunately the piece was returned to the owner before I could get a picture of it. There is a picture of one albeit not very good in the Smith & Wilde auction 21/3/08, lot 272, www.smithandwilde.co.uk

Paul

Rick,

You'd be surprized by the amount and variety of fake documents. 99.5% of NKVD documents that you can see are fake. Have a look at the Soviet Awards forum, these are regularly shown and discussed.

Marc

I know that one of the ways to check for doctored pieces of documentation is to place them under a ultra violet light which will reveal if they have been spiced up a bit.

Paul

Scan #3

Thanks in advance as always

All NKVD officers. Those nice kind people who beat you up (and worse) in the Lubyanka.

Paul

Hi Mike.

They are still in business at Palais Royal. I believe, as mentioned by Paul, this is a box for a non-french award. No french award as far as I know has such a shape. A British one ?

Cheers.

Ch.

If British possibly a KCB a fair few were given to the top brass of the French Army and the box has that WWI look about it.

Paul

It's a post 1911 case (they moved to 346 Rue Saint-Honore that year). As to Order impossible to be certain as as well as French Orders they made a host of other world orders and I believe are still in business at Palais-Royal.

Paul

I'd say name recognition goes to Nelson.

My vote would goto Hugh Dowding the commander of the RAF during the Battle of Britain.

Wiki Dowding

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Dowding

thanks,

barry

I would personally go for Napier of Magdala who conducted one of the most logistically difficult capaigns of all times (Abyssinia 1868) successfully through thorough and careful planning and with virtually no casualties and there was plenty of potential for things going wrong.

Paul

Let me look.

2 Squadrons were part of the 53rd Brigade of the 18th (Indian) Division and served throughout the allied occupation of Iraq.

Paul

Hello,

your order has a very nice case, and it's printed with a very early mark of the Souval manufacture.

Best wishes,

Enzo

I agree with Enzo you have picked up an absolute gem.

Paul

Thanks for clearing that up.

Paul

Would any of our experts like to comment on the authenticity or otherwise of the attached?

regards

Alex K

Croos looks OK but clasp looks very "fresh".

Paul

Its certainly not Turkish, It's a 4th Class badge, Egyptian?

Paul

Is the Liakat (German spelling, so the way we are most used to seeing it) actually REAL gold?

The wartime "silver" ones are usually some horrible cheap alloy.

I have handled one many years ago and yes it is the real yellow metal. You also get the Imtiaz Medal in gold normally engraved but allied rulers, the Kaiser and King of Bulgaria amongst them had their names individually die struck. For Ferdinand Of Bulgaria see the King of Bulgaria collection, Sotheby's 7 July 1998, lot 263 gold and silver,naming on the gold is illustrated.

All the best,

Paul

pick up this boy brigade belt up at a car boot sale can anyone tell me.how old this belt may be please paul

Unfortunately clairvoyance is not one my specialities any fear of a photo as from your description could be anything from its inception (4th October 1883) to the present day.

All the best,

Paul

This is a Portuguese Order at typical French made piece which until the latter part of the 19th century most Portuguese Orders were. However it was awarded in Brazil the badges are easily distinguishable by the crown suspensions.

Paul

...

French export mark in use 11 July 1840- 1 April 1879 applied to all silver destined for export.

Paul

Hi, is there any knowledge about the Austria Merit Order out There ?

I found this Order but what class is it? I have only seen Merit order worn on band earlier

This one made by Souval Wienna

Christer

It's an Officer's breast Cross. Souval is also famous for the restriking of the Azad Hind Decorations.

Paul

I'm certainly what you'd call new to the area but i also think its fake the loop has some feature which point to it being wrong, the numbering is not of the style i've ever seen, there appears to be some piting marks and it generally just looks like a cast piece.

Cheers

Chris

It's a standard and particulary unpleasant fake (a bit like Jordan's prominent parts). Just comparing it with the earlier one clearly shows the difference.

All the best,

Paul

Hy Paul,

thanks a lot!

Could it be awarded to a German?

As it came with a german medalbar (prussian long service cross and centenial medal) and the last ribbon was white wis a red middle stripe).

Very interesting and first time for me, that i have seen it!

Thanks again and best regards Christian

It certainly could be awarded to a German. I have not seen one from this period but I have seen Military Merit Crosses awarded to Germans for the Spanish Civil War. Possibly a German detachment based in the German cantonment in Morocco who aided the Spanish in their campaigns afginst the local tribes.

Paul

Roeland,

Looks Great War period to me similar to the type you see given to allied top brass.

All the best,

Paul

Dear Christian,

What you have is the Cruz del Plata 1875-1931 type. It is basically an other ranks award and was highly prized by the recipients although the quality is (as often with these) diabolical. Not of significant value but interesting.

All the best,

Paul