VtwinVince

Very similar to my Wagner example, looks good.

Great items, people. Now, can someone tell me what the correct ribbon actually is for the Messina Medal?

Fantastic document, was he a relation of Egmont Prinz zur Lippe? He was an old kumpel of my uncle in the Luftwaffe.

Rudi, echt toll. Sowas sieht man nicht alle Tage.

Chris, these sorts of incidents were rife on both sides, in both conflicts.

Nice little 'Blumenkohl mit Essbesteck' feldspange. Too bad about the Ordensspange, that's a real beauty.

Hilarious, now the St. Henry has been 'promoted' to commander grade. What a joke.

That recommendation doesn't get much better than that, and from someone like Koehl. Of course we know how few bomber pilots were actually awarded the Pour le Merite, although a few were 'vorgeschlagen'.

Nice one, I never get tired of Red Eagles.

Don't forget that von Hutier's Ordensspange was just sold by Detlev Niemann.

Thanks for the information, very useful.

Looks like that one caught a couple of mortar shells.

Aha, so that looks like our man. It could be that he was awarded the PKO in his role as Kanzleidiener?

Hardy, pardon my ignorance, but why, if this order is for officers, was it given to NCO's, or was this just an exception for 1870? To my mind, this spange must have belonged to a Hauptmann\Major grade officer.

Quite right, I was skeptical about the construction of the bar from photos, but having it in hand it is all absolutely period construction. The bar has been 'upgraded' for sure, and you're right, my suspicion was also that a General Honor Decoration had been swapped out for a PKO, which is the case. What got me more confused was my impression that the Zaehringen Lion was only awarded to officers, or was this only applicable in WW1?

Riley, from left to right: EK2 1870 with jubilee oakleaves, Baden Knight 2nd Class with Swords of Zaehringen Lion Order, Baden Silver Merit Medal on the ribbon of the Military Karl Friedrich Order, Prussia Red Eagle Order 4th Class, Prussia 1870 KDM with clasps, Baden Campaign Medal with clasps and 1897 Centenary Medal.

Thanks for the help so far, Hardy. We can assume that he became an officer later, due to the PKO4, no?

Hmm, that's weird. I have some photos of this guy, if someone would like to post them for me I can send scans. Perhaps the name on the back of the photo is incorrect, as it couldn't be the man above since my guy got the Centenarmedaille.

Sorry, I have nothing on his career. Edit: his name is spelled Papst.

I picked up some items from a Baden officer named Otto Pabst. His decorations include the 1870 EK2 with oakleaves, Zaehringer Loewen Knight with Swords, Baden Military Merit Medal, Prussia Red Eagle 4th Class, 1870 KDM with bars a.d. Lisaine, Strassburg and Woerth, Baden War Medal with bars 1866 and 1870-71, Baden Jubilee Medal, Prussia Centenary Medal and officer's 21 year LS clasp. If anyone could supply more biographical information on him, it would be greatly appreciated.

Wow, quite the collection of awards. Of course his son was president.

Quality doesn't look great, possibly a zweitstueck?

The 'funky chicken' fake RAO's were all over the market a couple of years ago, and were showing up on many dealer sites.

I was prepared to make a fair offer on this, but never imagined such a ludicrous price.

She sent me an email asking what I thought it was worth the other day. I asked for better scans and got no answer. Obviously a complete flake.