Eric Schena

Artan, Thank you very much for your kind words - I am honored. I received my copy this past weekend through an extraordinarily generous gift of a fellow Forum member (a Gentleman among Gentlemen) and I cannot endorse this book highly enough - it is simply wonderful. I spent most of Sunday reading it. I'll be the first in line when the volume on badges and foreign awards is out! Cheers, Eric

Just saw that on eBay and the postings here - next paycheck, I'm putting in my order! I am absolutely thrilled to see such a comprehensive work on these decorations. I can now retire my modest book to the archives :-)

Once again, another superb photo, Artan - faleminderit! I was unaware he was awarded a Suvorov, so that's a particularly informative photo. Thanks again!

Hi Bob: That certainly looks to be the case here: the Bulgarian order around his neck and the two old style hero decorations. As a side note, I am very amused Hoxha has a Facebook page :whistle:

Hi Artan: Bob and I were just discussing this yesterday in the Albanian Links thread: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=42222. The attribution to Paul Telge came from an incorrect listing in a commonly used reference that has since been confirmed as incorrect. Willibald Kluge was the principle maker as you note. I have heard that Wilhelm awarded medals in exile and apparently Bertrand was contracted to make some of them, but most weren't delivered. It would be great to assemble all the experts here at GMIC and elsewhere and create an encyclopedia of Albanian phaleristics! Check out the Albanian Links thread Bob started - your input would be invaluable! Cheers, Eric

I am not 100% sure myself to be honest. My understanding is that there are very minor differences with regards to attachment ring size and the edge beveling. What little I have heard about these is that it seems that the Kluge pieces were the ones awarded when he was in Albania and the Bertrand pieces are the exile pieces (Wilhelm supposedly continued to award decorations for a few years after he was forced into exile). Again, this is not documented, but is included here for discussion...

How detailed into a typology do you want to get? Down to makers? I should note that Leka awarded Skanderbegs and Besa Orders in exile and there's quite a bit of discussion and controversy about those pieces. Here are some notes off the top of my head: WILHELM ERA: Medal of the Order of the Black Eagle a. Made by Willibald Kluge b. Made by Arthus Bertrand ZOG ERA: Commemorative Medal of 24 December 1924 a. Gold (does that even exist?) b. Silver c. Bronze

Hi Bob: Been a while - hope you're doing well! Here are two additional threads on Italian era badges: Albanian Fascist Party badge: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=38748 Albanian Badge for Operations in Yugoslavia and Greece: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=16967 Cheers, Eric

Hi Lars: I can't really help with the dating of those two pieces, but I can say that the letter "E" is actually not an "E". It's an omega: the one on the left is a capital omega (Ω) and the one on the right is the lower-case omega (ω). It's part of the expression "I am the Alpha and the Omega", which appears in the Book of Revelation. You'll see it a lot in old Chi-Rho Christograms. Just thought I'd share... Cheers, Eric

Hi Artan: As always, another wonderful thing that is almost never seen outside of Albania! Thank you very much for sharing it. As for the correct forum, I would argue that this could be in either this forum or the Fascist forum as well since it fits in both categories. I'll let someone else be the arbiter there Cheers, Eric

Peter: The price range I have seen for the first type Medal "Remembrance 1942-1943" (the kind suspended from the blue ribbon) has been between $300 and $600 when I have seen them. I paid $450 for mine. Now, for the screwback IKOM Medal of Remembrance, I have seen anywhere from $50 to $150, though probably $75 would be a solid price in my opinion. The Mennica Panstwowa made examples - like Bob's in the very first post in this thread - are rarer. I don't have one, but I imagine those are $150 to $300 or so. Hope that helps! /Been an age and a half since I posted here :)

Faleminderit, Malion! I have never seen anything from that conflict myself, so I have nothing to add. It is very valuable to see these pictures! Cheers, Eric

Hi Rick: Indeed, the RPR decorations are fantastic in quality, the later RSR stuff less so. The Order of the Star is my favorite Romanian order, so I have made it a small specialty. Here are the cases I have. The 3rd class one has a push clasp, while the 5th class one does not. The interiors of both are this cream colored terry cloth-like material - very soft, actually. Cheers, Eric

Here are the reverses of the four stars in my collection. Notice that the 3rd class star has 4 rivets...

Hi all: Since there's a dedicated thread to the first type (1947-1964) Order of the Star, I figure I'd start up a second type thread. This type was awarded from 1964 to 1966 and like the normal practice for communist era Romania decorations, they came in different metals depending on rank/status. Below are my four examples of this type. The gems on the 1st and 3rd class are paste stones (some of the gold examples had real diamonds from what I understand). The 3rd and 5th class stars below are cased. There seems to be a plethora of types based on metal, hallmarks, and number of rivets. I hope someday someone will do up a comprehensive guide to these wonderful decorations (Anatoly's site so far is the best going ) Enjoy!