Tim B

:speechless1: I know already no more for you!!

Tim

Wow Naoki!

Are all your SC's cased? Very nice!!

Just some inspirational eye candy at this point! Let's see more!!

Tim

Though the abundance of the orders I have seen appear to be of very high quality, I have noticed some of these where the center appears offset and not set perfectly in line with the cross. I assume the center is fixed and cannot rotate, so are these just cases where quality control was lacking, or is it like coinage where it's acceptable for some degree of offset before QA throws it out?

Tim

Here's a 4th class sacred treasure with what I thought looked like the kanji "BI" on the back. Same kanji used in "BIJIN" (beautiful woman). Upon closer inspection I think it reads "HEI." The same character is used in ZOUHEIKYOKU (The Japan Mint).

I think you were thinking of this one John.

Tim

They do exist! You see them occasionally on ebay, but not nearly as often as the unmarked ones. I even seen one 6th class marked with "M" within the last year. Outbid though, of course!

This one is not mine; owned by another collector.

Tim

Hi,Spanienkreuz of friend! I have one of Spanienkreuz Gold CEJ,Only one.Please

WOW!! Only one, but the one to have!! Very nice!

Tim

Both nice crosses gents!

These were really nice looking awards; back when design and quality of workmanship still meant something.

Tim

I always thought Juncker could have did a better job on the swastikas, but the eagles are great looking!!

Thank you for the nice comments! Yes, one I really like. Here's some better PICS of it.

Tim

Well, honestly the marks don't appear to be in such high regard as they are in German items, probably because we don't know enough about them, what or who they represent and any significance to different makers.

Maybe one day this mark or that will command higher prices or be more desirable for one reason or another. Right now, I'm glad we don't put any significance on these as demand and resultant prices would ruin the hobby as it did on the other side of the fence.

They are still relatively cheap compared to German WWII items and for that I am extremely grateful!

Tim

John,

I'm just seeing square boxes behind the roman numerals; I assume I need to download some Japanese fonts or something??

I have several awards with different marks; ranging from the "HI" to "BI" to "M"; "M" which I thought was attributed to the Osaka mint. This "N or Z" is the first I seen on any of my pieces. Latest one was a small "M" on a very nice matching Meiji era 4th Class Rising Sun!!

Tim

Thanks Scott!

The CEJ has a heavy dark patina to it, but I just can't bring myself to clean it. I have a matching early CEJ pilot badge (J1) as well. I almost bought a plain 900 from Philipp Military a few years back until they "lost" it at one of the major European shows along with many other high value items. That one was nice and bright white. Wish I had got it instead of waiting for the price to come down a bit. Oh well.

Tim

Hi Jacques!

Thank you my friend, always loved your collection of these as well. If I ever save up enough cash, I still want one of those silver Meybauers w/swords; they are the best looking IMO.

Tim

Another one showing the same bronze w/swords and an unmarked bronze w/o swords.

Tim

My small contribution:

Bronze is unmarked; Silver is CEJ 900

Well, the ebay price just went up a lot too. :rolleyes:

Hey John!

First time I seen you here; welcome to the forum!

Tim :cheers:

Yeah- I saw that one on eBay. I thought it was because the price was too high.

I see the seller relisted it on ebay with a slightly reduced price.

Tim

Okay Rick, I already know your views of that "other" site; the link is there for those that might be interested in the star variation and different points of view, that's all.

I agree, prices on EVERYTHING are insane these days, actually have been for about the last five years in my opinion, but if you want to collect and didn't have an extensive collection built up from the 70's, you're pretty much screwed or at the whims of the selling prices these days. You do what you got to do to continue or get out.

I know you thoughts on the award in general and it's lowly position in the pecking order of higher awards, but when EK1's are over $300. and cased ones are hitting $600-$700 now, when I can get one of these for under $200. I'll take it!

All the best and thanks for looking.

Tim

As promised, here's a link to the concurrent running thread at WAF: http://70.87.163.50/forums/showthread.php?t=342546

There are some additional member comments there. Thanks for all the looks and help so far guys!

Tim

Just for comparison info, here are the dimensions and weights of the three that I have handled:

BB&Co. // This unknown piece // The last one that was believed fake

Weight: 28.1 grams // 22.8 grams // 17.0 grams

Width star tips: 57.4 mm // 55.85 mm // 55.4 mm

Thickness star arms: 2 mm // 1.8 - 1.9 mm // didn't measure

Crescent width: 30.0 mm // 28.72 mm // didn't measure

Hi, thanks for looking. Weights and dimensions are above in post #2.

This is good news for me on the enamel bubbling, something I did not know but will apply that knowledge in the future!

Tim

As a side note; Here's another one that was recently listed on ebay and went unsold. It started with a high price and the seller was in Croatia, so that may have been why it didn't sell.

Very similar IMO, though the cutouts are not as many as the one I got and the pin is slightly different. I do like the look of this one, in some ways more than mine. The brass coming through and the stronger silver finsh on the star arms, plus the taper to the pin tell me this one is original. Interestingly, the seller told me this piece only has 4 rivets.

I don't know.

Tim

Hi Gordon!

Thanks for responding, hoped there would have been more comments by now, but that's the way it goes I guess.

This one does have a better "feel" to it compared to the last one. Similar to earlier made German pieces, this one seems to hold the ambient temperature when touching it; meaning it's cold to the touch at first, then seems to hold any heat longer than more modern metals. Not sure if anyone else ever noticed that aspect or not.

Overall, I like this one. I guess if there were things that make me question it, it would be these:

- The minute bubbles in the enamel.

- The appearance of the holes from the front side, though to the unaided eye they are virtually unnoticeable.

- The wide pin, but more so, the color of the pin/hinge/catch in relation to the rest of the backside.

- The rivets and holes are kind of rough looking; expected a more finished look I guess, but again I'm scrutinizing under a loop and I have to take that into perspective.

This may all be okay, depending on the maker and timeline, I just do not know for certain.

Anyone else?

Very cool!

Were these actual unit badges or post-war commemorative pieces? How big are the ones you are showing? I have one with a pinback that is approximately 1 1/2" diameter and appears to be of an earlier tombak-like material. Understand there were mini's as well.

Tim