Eric Stahlhut

it's probably all about the red chicken feet or something....

hmmm...i don't ever think i've seen that particular style of pin on a carl dillenius--marked cross before...the catch and hinge are bog standard, but the pin..??

hi, sascha!

the cross is indeed flat--and no visible marks--i figured it to be a k.a.g. cross

it could be baltische landeswehr 1919 related....

see here:

a little more

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_03_2014/post-4736-0-48141000-1393796493.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_03_2014/post-4736-0-73431000-1393796115.jpg

it's a german balt pin!

i hardly think this website would make a mistake...take a look...must be a dialect...oh those silly german balts...

http://www.z-g-v.de/english/aktuelles/?id=56

looks great--- textbook high quality godet merchandise right there!

hope it's not brass, hehehe

here's something that i'd wager quite a few fellow members have never seen nor heard of before. i have very little information on it, so any help would be greatly appreciated. i vaguely recall a thread by rick lundstrom (the master of all things arcane and interesting) that touched upon this organization many years back, but am currently unable to locate it.

it's an extremely vaulted johanniter-style cross awarded by the A.O.R. (arbeitsgemeinschaft ostpreussische regiments??), a large, well made item at 53mm, 26 gr.

period repairs to the enamel are evident

obverse script reads, " for services in east prussia and danzig during difficult post-war years"

the history of this area during the immediate postwar years is infinitely fascinating, and precludes the rise of the freikorps, followed by the rise of national socialism in germany.

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_02_2014/post-4736-0-65978400-1393353100.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_02_2014/post-4736-0-14024800-1393353117.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_02_2014/post-4736-0-04327900-1393353143.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_02_2014/post-4736-0-20472000-1393353174.jpg

it's your birthday???

pip, or rank badge looks austrian to me

the only indicator for me is the size--the awaloff crosses are smaller.

another slight possibility is that it's some type of badge from the jungdeutscher orden.

interesting to me is that the method of construction is also commonly found on johanniter crosses of this era and earlier

the pin, catch, and faint hallmark. also, the type of metal used to make this piece doesn't look very encouraging. my best guess is that it's a copy originating out of eastern europe

i disagree. it's a total fake. sorry

rick lundstrom used to talk about ww2 wound badges made of bakelite. it's totally plausible, if you think about it

hi bolewts58,

thanks for the input.

do you mind telling where you saw them and handled them? i've been keeping my eyes peeled for another example and have yet to encounter one. are you 100% certain that the source is chichikalov?

many thanks!

here is a nice example of a detachement von randow 'deutschritterkreuz,' or randow cross.

it is vaulted, of silvered bronze, and measures 49-50mm. condition of enamel is chipped and scratched, which is unfortunate, but par for the course with these glassy enamel crosses.

i'm not sure yet when an attempt to repair the enamel chips was made--could have been 1929 or 2009, for that matter. definitely not a professional repair!

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-4736-0-73792200-1390530441.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-4736-0-02856700-1390530499.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-4736-0-67320800-1390530516.jpg

This was a VERY strange decoration, being created by Baltic Germans hoping for union with a Reich that had ceased to be, in the vacuum temporarily left by the collapse of the tsarist empire, before the Baltic republics' existence was certain.

Created as a ribboned award ONLY, it was almost immediately worn in pinback form and most often found in that form afterwards.

It is found all over in German ribbon bars. Most wearers seem to have considered it a "German" award when it was not. Although certainly FOR Freikorps service, it was essentially a FOREIGN award and belonged back there with non-German awards in precedence. Although considered official right into the Federal Republic, I have never seen it listed in regulations for precedence--probably because it was almost invariably worn as a pinback and not ribboned award.

perhaps there remains a slight glimmer of hope regarding the authenticity of my latvian-styled baltic screwback? unless many examples of this type become available on the open market, of course.

i remain pessimistic, but have been collecting long enough to have seen stranger things come to light.

essentially, what i am trying to state is that just because the baltic cross isn't done in the german style, doesn't necessarily mean that it could NOT prove to be an authentic example.

Hi Eric,

That's a fake made in Russia, we discussed it on WAF recently http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=589555

Hi Eric,

Not that much to add to WAF thread, actually. The guy is an artist, producing all kind of decoration copies (including fantasy pieces, or reconstructions of some mysterious/never seen ones). He's selling them as copies as well, but these are sometimes re-sold as originals. I'm not that much into this, just know that he is one of the old collectors of White Russian stuff, and an Author of some books. Alas, seems like I can't post any pictures here to show some of his creatures....

hi, here are images of the russian, or ukrainian fake baltic cross. as you will notice, it is different from the screwback version that i posted on page four. entirely different!

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-4736-0-42849500-1390500346.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-4736-0-34717700-1390500365.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-4736-0-75006700-1390500389.jpg

to me, it seems to be a DLRG stickpin

doesn't look like it smells badly. i like it, and i agree that it seems to have a hansen core. i would like to see the other side of the screw and disc

Tom of Fuengirola!

here's an otto schickle in very nice condition

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-4736-0-50911600-1389554845.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2014/post-4736-0-44317500-1389554900.jpg

john, that's a very nice group!

i've never seen such a 50-year service cross...thanks for sharing!

here are three that over time, i have acquired. initially i assumed that they were for a specific military veteran's group, but one must remember that this maker made a lot of medals and badges for civilian organizations such as the red cross, civil services, social welfare support groups, samaritan, and religious aid societies. the shades of green and red enamels sort of make me lean in that direction, i guess.

i like to think that the smaller 25-year badge was for a female member of this yet-unidentified (to me) organization.

can anyone now positively attribute these?

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_12_2013/post-4736-0-34308000-1388347705.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_12_2013/post-4736-0-36735100-1388347753.jpg