Eric Schena

...and another Pr?wema made example, but this time a later not as well made flatback. The tip off that these are made by Pr?wema is the pin assembly:

Here's a 2nd class with a concave reverse, also made by Pr?wema:

Ah, the Order of Skanderbeg - this is one of my favorites. First up is a Pr?wema 1st class example made of some sort of anodized alloy:

The Order and Medal of Bravery were part of the original series of orders established in July 1945. They were awarded for combat bravery (of course) and continued to be awarded into at least the 1960s. While I have not been able to definitively determine when it was replaced, it would appear that the 1965 overhaul rendered this decoration obsolete and was effectively replaced with the establishment of the Order and medal for Brave Deeds that year. The 1968 regulations, however, still carried it as active, but the 1982 regulations state categorically that they were no longer awarded. There are still mysteries that abound in the Albanian honors system... Cheers, Eric

I've seen ones made by Pr?wema from the late 1950s and 1960s. They will have a ring at the top that is separately applied to the silver rayed base rather than the integral ring on the later Albanian ones. Another tip off is the pin assembly. If you see a pin secured to the base by means of a metal tube, it's Albanian made. Pr?wema ones the pin is directly attached to the base and looks a bit different. Also, Pr?wema ones were better quality - the factory in Tiran? was not exactly known for quality.

Another decoration with a fairly interesting story to tell. When this was first established, the requirement to win it was to have given birth, raised and educated a minimum of 10 children, the youngest of whom must have reached 1 year old. However, so few people qualified for this award as that in the late 1970's, the requirement was downgraded to 8 children, the Motherhood Medals were abolished and the Order of Motherhood Glory was downgraded as well. Most of the Mother Heroine badges seen are the Albanian made versions because of this. This particular one is an Albanian made one. Cheers, Eric

The MENNICA PANSTWOWA version was produced between roughly 1952 (that's when the Polish State Mint says they started producing decorations) and approximately 1955 when Pr?wema took over the majority of production of Albanian decorations. The first version of this decoration was made by IKOM in 1945 to 1948 and is much more frequently seen than the Polish ones, so this is a rare one. There's an even rarer version that is smaller (roughly 40 mm across) by an unidentified maker that is mentioned in the 1956 statutes, but I have not run across one of those in person (I know someone with one, though, but it is missing a screwplate). Great stuff, Bob! Cheers, Eric

Trying to figure out all the oddities of the Order of the Red Star used to give me headaches for ages until I finally landed copies of the original statutes as well as the text of one of the decrees modifying it. Why am I seeing silver plated ones on ribbons for the first class? Why are the few various English language books on the subject saying there's only one class and other surces saying there are three and a medal? What gives? Well, turns out that Werlich and Hieronymussen were incorrect on their statement that the order was created in 1945 as a military decoration. It was actually established in 1952 as a decoration for civil and military service not necessarily derived from WW II service. When first established, it was awarded in one class only - the silver plated one on a red ribbon with one broad silver stripe. When the honors system was completely overhauled on January 18, 1965, the order was subsequently split into 3 classes and the Medal of the Red Star was also added. I have a cased example of the first type (pre-1965) and also a 1st class one. Indeed, the lower classes of the later type are rather hard to come by (as if Albanian decorations period were easy to find ) Cheers, Eric

Hi Bob: Great stuff you are showing here The decoration in post 2 is actually the title of Teacher of the People and is ranked higher than Artist of the People. It was established in 1950 - the earliest ones by statute were made of .800 fine silver but at some point were changed to base metal. I would imagine that occurred in January 1965, as that is when the Albanian government did a complete overhaul of the awards system. The recipients of the other titles you show here when originally awarded were only given a certificate, but again most likely in 1965, actual badges were handed out. It's odd that the two Teacher awards (Teacher of the People and Meritorious Teacher) would have a badge and the others would not. But there are tons of these oddities in Albanian decorations. Cheers, Eric

Hi all: Here is a new addition to my Albanian collection and it is not communist. This is the medal commemorating the accession of Wilhelm of Weid as Albania's ruling Prince (Mbret which later came to mean King). He was elected by the Central Powers after they polled around looking for a minor noble to assume the throne after Albania was liberated from the Ottoman Empire in December 1913. Wilhelm was the only candidate willing to take on the job. He tried to secure long promised funds to help maintain some degree of stability but the outbreak of WW I put an end to that and with the rapid disintegration of Albania into civil war between warring factions, Wilhelm fled in September 1914. This medal was designed by the Austrian scuptor Gustav Gurschner and was most likely produced in Austria as well. I remember seeing a medal bar once with this decoration on it. If anyone has one, post them! Cheers, Eric

That's Omar Bradley's card! Where did you find that?

Hi all: I saw this one, too, and it looks good to me FWIW. The asking price, though, was a tad stiff ($1850 if I recall) especially since there are no docs associated with it and thus could be an unawarded one that was locked away until the flood of Bulgarian material came forth. I like Bulgarian decorations - they are comparatively inexepensive, so when my wallet's feeling a pinch and cannot locate Albanian medals (go figure that Albanian stuff is tough to find ), Bulgarian's been very enjoyable to collect. Cheers, Eric

Hi all: Thanks for the comments - I've wanted an IKOM example for quite some time and being cased is the cherry on the top. Now if I could locate some award documents, I'd be a happy camper. I do have a 1st class one made by Pr?wema (which puts it in the 1960s timeframe). For the record, the 1st class of this order was the highest Albanian order according to the 1982 regulations, just below Hero of the People and Hero of Socialist Labor. It was also not strictly a military decoration as Werlich and Hieronymussen allude and could be awarded for both civil and military reasons (like the Order of Lenin).

And here it is in the case of issue - this is probably one of my favorite pieces in my collection...

Hi all: It's been a while since I've posted anything, but I got this in last week and wanted to share it with y'all. This is an Order of Freedom 3rd class made by IKOM in the original cardboard case of issue, dating it to between 1945 and 1948. The badge itself appears to be made of either silver or high grade nickel silver (it's not marked and I know IKOM marked their silver decorations so I'm inclined towards nickel silver). Hope you like it! Eric PS: I got yet another great early reference document for use towards my 2nd edition and this one has statute finenesses of the earliest decorations (up to 1962). Interesting to note that very few Albanian decorations were made of precious medals: Hero of the People & Hero of Socialist Labor (18 or 20 karat gold depending on time frame), Partisan Star 1st class (gold as well, though some are not), and Teacher of the People (.800 fine silver).

To whet your appetite, here are some of the key addenda and corrigenda to my book: 7. If you have an Order of Freedom 1st class, you have the highest Albanian order. 10. The official name of this decoration is the Medal of Remembrance (this is my avatar, BTW). While labeled a medal, this is actually the 5th highest decoration in the order of precedence, coming after the Order of the Flag and before the Partisan Star 1st class. 21. The correct name is Order & Medal "For Distinguished Service in the State Defence". 27. This is the Order & Medal "For Distinguished Labor in Agriculture". 28. This is the Order & Medal "For Distinguished Labor in Mining & Geology". 33. This is the Medal "For Long Service in the Armed Forces" and not an anniversary medal. 34. This medal is indeed attached to the Order of the Red Star. 35. This is the Medal of Arts and not an education medal. 36. This is the medal for the Honorary Title "Exemplary Oil Worker and Exemplary Miner" and apparently was obsolete by 1980. 37. This is the medal for the Honorary Title "Distinguished Master of Profession". 38. This is actually the Medal for Patriotic Achievements and is a division of the Order of Patriotic Achievments, and not an education medal. There are a few other decorations that were not in my book that I will add. Some of the more interesting (just to tease y'all): 1. There was a first version of the Hero of the People (hint: it was a round neck badge modeled after the Yugoslav version). This appears to have been replaced around the time of the split with Yugoslavia in 1948 by the Soviet style Hero star. 2. There was briefly an Order of Labor Glory that was rendered obsolete sometime in the 1950's. 3. There were also two Motherhood Medals, a silver and bronze, which were obsolete by 1980.

All: Thanks to a friend in Illinois, I got in contact with a True Gentleman in Germany who has what must be the single largest and best collection of Albanian medals outside of Albania. Not only does he have some splendid items in his collection (try TWO examples of the Hero of Socialist Labor ) but he also has reference materials from Albania about the medals. Thanks to him, I now have a partial copy/translation of a small book from Tiran? from 1968 which gives institution dates, but also a copy of the handbook the Albanian government used to determine who gets what award and why and even order of precedence Getting a treasure trove of information (not even necessarily the medals themselves) like this is what gets me really excited. Needless to say, I will be working on a rather substantial update on my book. It will probably take me several months to digest and synthesize this new information (he also sent me pictures of medals in his collection, plus some collected notes he has gathered over the years collecting). In the meantime, if anyone runs across something in their forays into Albanian medals that they would like to ask me about please send me a PM or put a post here and I'll dig through all of what I have. Eric

Yup! Those would be the same examples. If anyone wants to see them here, let me know and I'll post them up in a new thread or something. Cheers, Eric

Hi Dolf; This is quite an impressive collection! I've always liked Portuguese awards - in fact, the decoration that got me into collecting them was a collar to the officer class of the Order of St. James of the Sword. I finally managed to buy that collar, plus a Grand Cross badge and star set, and a gold officer class of the Order of St. Benedict of Aviz. They are still among my favorite items in my collection even though i have moved over to Communist decorations. Cheers, Eric

Aha! That Saxe-Ernestine House Order looks a lot like the Order of Francis I and since that parma orde rwas there, I assumed that last one was also Italian. In any event, way cool photo! Cheers, Eric

Hello: Those are actually both from pre-unification Italy. The middle one I do not recall the name of off hand but it's definitely from an Italian principality (I want to say Parma but I could be wrong). I'll look it up if no one else finds it before me. The one on the far right is the Order of Francis I of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Yuri Yashnev's site has some good pics of this order here: http://www.netdialogue.com/yy/Europe/Italy...anzI/FranzI.htm. Hope this helps! Cheers. Eric

Thanks everyone for your positive feedback! I just hope this work will help folks appreciate these interesting decorations. Of course, now that I put it out there, I'm sure I'll get outbid on anything I go after from now on Cheers, Eric

Hi all: As some of you know, I've been working on an introductory guide on Albanian decorations from the communist era. Well, thanks to some fantastic comments and contributions from some folks here, it is finally complete. The Chairman has very graciously offered to post a thread with the article for folks to download I am not asking for any money for this article. Once it's posted, download to your heart's content. The only thing I ask of anyone who does is that you do not sell it at all and if they "borrow" chunks from it that the source is properly credited. Otherwise, enjoy in good health! Please feel free to send me any changes or comments or additions you migt find. The whole goal of this project is to spur at least some sort of methodical study of these inored decorations. Cheers, Eric

Ceauşescu really tarted up the orders and decorations of Romania once he took power. I compared my 1964-1965 Orders of the Star to an RSR peroiod one and the difference is night and day. Shame, really, because the Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej period decorations easily rival those of the USSR and Czechoslovakia in quality. Since the Order of Tudor Vladimirescu was founded around the time of the change from RPR to RSR, I often wondered if any were made to the old standards of quality.

I'm glad I finished swallowing my tea when I read that thread, otherwise I'd have some 'splainin' to do as to how my laptop got soaked I've seen individual Republican Red Banners and even a few with great documentation, but this one takes the cake hands down. Simply stunning.