Beau Newman

Sorry for being off topic but, anyone going to the SOS this week needs to be ready for some weather issues. Right now, Louisville is forecast for 6 to 10 inches of snow on Wednesday with morning temperatures in the single digits F in the days after that. Stay safe.

Farouk was a huge collector. He had a world class coin collection, including some unique or nearly unique pieces that sell now in the 7 figure range.

I picked up a couple of really nice lots from a recent online auction that had several pieces that were in the 1954 Mehl sale of the King Farouk Collection. The first is a REO 1st Class Cross (no sash unfortunately) and Breast Star. The Cross is marked "W" on the bottom edge. The Star is unmarked: The second is a Black Eagle Breast Star. It has quite a bit of loss to the orange/red enamel behind the eagle and the pin is rotated 180 degrees from the normal orientation. The only marking is a script number on the backplate:

This just showed up. A charm bracelet with 8 minis that appear to be fairly random. I guess it's possible that they are to a single recipient but, it seems very unlikely. Some are incomplete but, there are some scarce minis: 1. Bavarian MVK without flames - Type of 1866-1905 (Complete) 2. Prussian General Service Cross - 1900 (One side center replaced with a pink stone) 3. Oldenburg PFL Honor Cross 1st Class (Complete) 4. Saxony Albert Cross (Center madallions missing) 5. Dutch Orange-Nassau Silver Merit Medal 6. Mecklenburg Wendisch Crown Silver VK - (Centers replaced with a green stone) 7. Austria Silver Cross of Merit with Crown 8. Sweden Order of Vasa Silver Cross (Centers replaced with a pink stone) A mixed bag, condition wise but, some nice individual pieces.

No ID yet. I would be interested to know as it is an unusual combo.

I'm getting to the age where I have to start thinking about where all this stuff will end up. At these prices, it's tempting to think about "thinning the herd". But, as usual, I hate to get rid of anything I haven't upgraded.

Look familiar? I wanted to get this in hand and get my own photos before I put it in here.

These just arrived. Only 1 of each but, 3 nice examples.

You might look into the 12th Jager zu Pferde.

Some of the Garde Regiments had no devices but, almost all of the other units had numbers, letters, symbols or cypher devices. Some staff officers also tended to not have devices since they were not attached to a particular unit.

I just received this Baden group with the Small Gold Service Medal (silver gilt) on the Karl Friedrich ribbon. The Baden Long Service was missing but, I had one to replace it with. I started digging into what references I have on the subject. I really couldn't determine what the actual criteria for the award was. It ranks below the Karl Friedrich Silver Medal but, is actually scarcer with 400-500 awards on the KF ribbon vs. over 1,200 for the Karl Friedrich Silver Medal. The only thing I can come up with is it was awarded to those who already had the Silver Service Medal but, who did not quite merit the Karl Friedrich. It still seems that the number awarded is surprisingly small given 170,000 awards of the Silver Service Medal. Am I missing something or is this just one of the many quirks of the award system?

There hasn't been anything on this topic for a while. I thought I would revive it with one that hasn't been shown yet. Zahringen Lion Knight 2nd Class w/Oakleaves. 1452 awarded, making it actually more scarce than the 2nd Class w/Oakleaves and Swords, the 1st Class w/Oakleaves or the Commander. The oakleaves are not marked but, test out as 14K gold.

The half moon shaped hinge well is generally not accepted as correct for Juncker badges.

This unusual piece popped up in Louisville. The details are very good with separately applied medallions and with the sword hilts and blades separate as well. The high points of the design and cross edges have been polished. Definitely not standard WWI construction. Any thoughts. Early? Custom? Spangenstucke? It seems like a lot of effort for an out and out fake.

There may be variations but, the originals of these normally have swords that are smooth on the reverse.

The stripes on the sides appear to be white but, may just be a faded green. That is one of 2 possible ribbons for this medal but, is also correct for the Army Jubilee Medal, which is very similar. The bronze medal with crown and dates also used the same ribbon but, that would probably mount much higher on the bar.

I would tend to lean more toward the 3rd Reich Civil Service for the 6th place award. I would think that a Freidrichs Order would be higher in the order of precedence than 6th. As far as the 7th Place, any of the RK versions from 1922 right up to 1945 are possible as they all used the same ribbon.

The number is indistinct but, I assume you are correct.

The crowd seemed to be down this year. Understandable under the circumstances. A few empty tables but, not many. I didn't run into nearly as many of my overseas acquaintances as normal. Even so, I did manage to scrounge up a couple of nice pieces. Did anyone else here find anything of note? I got this nice Princely Hohenzollern 3rd Class with Crown and Swords and a nice little miniature Danish Christian IX Dannebrog pair with an 1864 War Medal:

Gold pieces are usually IDed from the weight. Gold examples are almost always hollow and are noticeably lighter than the silver gilt types.

That's pretty much what I thought. It came with a group of items but, was interesting enough that I held onto it.

This topic brought to mind a piece that I have been hanging on to for a while because I thought it was interesting. Not silver, not magnetic. The suspension is attached by a narrow strip soldered to the top of the planchet, similar to the war metal Baden Service Medals. Nimmergut lists a Kriegsmetall version in the OEK but, no photo. Has anyone seen a similar example?

This one is on my "to do" list. I need to find a period Stanislaus 3rd Class to go with the pre-1905 Bavarian MVO. I don't know the exact background but, I am assuming that a non-swords award would be correct.

Here are some older photos of varying quality that have been posted elsewhere:

Many thanks!