VtwinVince

LOL, another crazy Bavarian Reihenfolge.

Oh dear, this must be one of the 'next generation' coming out of Belgium. Pretty scary.

I was closely watching those items Rick, and I posted several over at SDA for opinions. I found the sudden appearance of these from a seller with zero feedback strange, and some of the orders had strange characteristics, while others looked quite good. For instance, the Iron Halfmoon looked like a good Austrian piece, but the RAO was quite weird, with the eagle painting looking like Sedlazek but the cross apparently marked for Wilm, and that's not even mentioning the extremely weird oakleaves. And the St. Michael was supposed to be a first class in gold, but looked silver-gilt to me. Too many questions for me to feel comfortable spending that kind of money.

I thought he married a Karin von Rantzau? Sorry, her name was von Kantzow, need to get my eyeglass prescription updated!

Any relation to the Rantzau that Goering married?

Can you make out what it says? That pin looks vaguely Zimmermann-ish. And the enamel looks unusual. Where are the Bavaria specialists, Lorin?

Is there a pic of the reverse with the pin raised? Appears to be silver gilt.

Probably, as that loony 'Prinzessin von Anhalt', or whatever she calls herself, is probably still awarding them.

You're right Lorin, I lost my faith a long time ago, But at least the SAO got an upgrade!

I agree, completely fake bar.

Yes, these are not run of the mill junk, look at the quality of construction. I find this a worrying trend.

I posted these on SDA for opinions, and the consensus is that these are the new generation of fakes currently being produced in Belgium.

The only thing that looks even remotely good about this piece is the ribbon. And that's repro as well.

I've never heard of this tailor either, but the bar is genuine.

Hmmm, that cypher is not for Prinz Alfons von Bayern, and the coronet is not a royal crown. I'm guessing that this was a 'Geschenkbrosche' from a princely or ducal house, and the person had a name starting with 'M'.

I would have bid on the latter, but the case wasn't OEM. And the combo on that Frack threw me for a loop, couldn't make any sense of it.

I saw that one, and was wondering about the gilding on those orders. A genuine award BMVO3mdK would be worth the price of admission by itself, but I have my doubts.

I saw that one, and agree that the price wasn't crazy.

Nice one Rick, some of those items look vaguely familiar.

Yes, I haven't seen one of those for a long time.

OK John, I can supply some of that material. I'll drop you a line once I get my act together.

Yes, as Alex says, do not try to alter or clean the Becher, it has real character. And the connection to the Duke of Brunswick explains that award for sure. It would be excellent to see the reverse of the Luftschiffer-Erinnerungsabzeichen, if possible.

Fantastic paperwork, truly one of the best Nachlaesse I have seen. And I think you underestimate the importance given to the EK1. My uncle didn't get his until summer 1918, and this was after four years of continuous action. The document for the Braunschweig Verdienstkreuz to a Luftschiffer has to be unique. As an aside, my family was from Magdeburg, although my grandfather ended up at Pillau in 1945, which was a very dire situation.

Thanks for that, and that goblet is a stunner, it even has the wooden Sockel. I'm assuming your grandfather was a Saxon?

Very interesting, and thanks for giving this thread new life. Do you have more information on your ancestor, such as rank and decorations? I think I see a Saxon Albert Order, but a close-up of the medal bar would be great. OK, just saw the Urkunde for the Tor Becher, now that is what we call a 'Volltreffer'. Incredible. Here is my uncle's goblet and Urkunde.