Beau Newman

Another ex-Ludvigsen piece - Bavarian Order of St. Michael, 2nd Class. 420 awarded, mostly to non-Bavarians.

The reverse:

A Reuss Honor Cross. 1st Class w/Swords. No idea of the # awarded but, it must have been very low.

Hi Beau

Fascinating that a German State knight 2nd class with crown less scarce then without. Oldenburg must the only State that has that unique distinction. By chance do you know how

many were awarded with crown. Also any idea what the numbers were awarded between 1906-18 with crown. Thanks

Sincerely

Brian

The Beyreiss book shows a total of 1,234 2nd Class w/Crown awarded, starting in 1860. It shows 163 examples purchased between 1906 and 1914 so, even with returns, the total awarded would likely have been less than 200.

The reverse:

The Oldenburg Peter Friedrich Ludwig Knight, 2nd Class which is rare with only 309 awards, significantly fewer than either the 1st Class or the 2nd Class with Crown. This is due to it not being instituted until 1906. I bought ths piece from Eric Luvigsen the first time I met him at an OMSA convention in Houston.

An unusual Silver Wound Badge - Hollow construction with a rayed back. Marked "SILBER" on the pin.

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The reverses:

A couple of Nassau Adolphs - A Knight (56 Awarded) and a 4th Class (45 Awarded). I had no idea of their rarity before the release of "Lugvigsen".

The case lid:

At Hauptman's request from the EK Forum - The 1870 Cross is not rare but, the case is very hard to find:

The case lid - I am unaware of any "standard" design for the 1870 EK cases and have always assumed that the cases were private purchase. Is anyone aware of anything to the contrary?

I was going through my storage safe the other day and came across this piece. I acquired it several years ago before cased pieces started bringing such a premium, mainly because I thought that the "extra" included was interesting. It is what appears to be an old spent soft lead bullet attached to a silk string. Perhaps the EK wasn't his only "souvenir" of France.

Reverse medallion:

Obverse medallion:

The reverse:

Chris -

FWIW here is a mounted one for comparison:

With that said, there is some discoloration (due to heat?) on the reverse and perhaps the pin and/or hinge might have been repaired/replaced at one point. Do you see any indication of that in hand?

Tim

I had the same thought. If it has been replaced, it was very well done as I can find no sign of any previous hardware.

The reverse:

Just to confuse things more -

Here is a Schot marked badge with a "coke bottle" pin that seems to match up with the previous examples very well in the obverse details:

The statute ribbon for the Meckl. medal is a light blue, more or less the same as the Crown Order medal. Perhaps there was some provision for the Verdienst Medal to be awarded on the Wendisch Crown ribbon but, I am not aware of it.

This was previously posted in a thread in the Napoleonic Wars section. You may want to check that thread out.

The reverse:

An example of a group with both awards. Since he had the 20 year Reservist's Cross, he may have been deemed too old for front line service and spent his time behind the lines. Of course, over the course of a 4 year war, seeing both combat and home front service (due to age, wounds & etc.) would not have been out of the question.

My understanding is that the 1914 EK2 was awarded on the "combatant's" ribbon for any service outside Germany, even non-combat service. The top device on his cap does not look like a round cockade. He may be some kind of uniformed civil servant, like railways or postal who served in the occupied zone and was a Bavarian.

In fact, I own a couple of groups with both an "combatant" EK and a Ludwig Cross.