2dresq

Greetings and welcome to a great forum. Lots of great information and thanks for posting pictures. I find your photo quite interesting as it appears to be a long service ribbon and next to it having a ribbon that I am unaware of that has the crown on it. Here is a bit of information I found doing a search. this is another wonderful reference site. Schlummer Willi OLt.z.S. Indonesia 12.10.1945 from: https://www.forum-marinearchiv.de/smf/index.php?topic=11403.60 Hope that helps a bit. Best Regards, JustinG

Very nice. Thanks for sharing. Regards, JustinG

I agree, You can post the name and such on forums like this. Google search will reveal the post and if, the family ever wanted to contact you, to possibly re-acquire the pieces, then they can contact you and you can proceed how you feel you should (return with nothing, or offer to sell back). It is your choice. I haven't found all items but I have tracked down other members to see if I could acquire an award that was attributed to a particular soldier. Many collectors are, happy to re-unite groupings. For the cost of a replacement piece, it is great to do. I wish more members would specifically mention the sailor/soldier information as printed on the awards to see if there are other pieces or groupings that are in collections of others. I love re-uniting groups back together. Enough of my ramblings. It is up to you. I agree with others though; you shouldn't feel guilty or pressured to do anything that you don't feel comfortable doing. Best Regards, JustinG

Greetings, I wanted to share with the forum some works I have done. There have been several artists that have received national attention. I got inspired a couple of years ago and decided to give my hand a chance at creating some images. So here I go.. Luftwaffe with metal eagle Brandenburg gate then and now. Cholm battle Schlachtschiff Gneisenau Munich Photomerge Munich continued Aircrew medal. Thanks for looking. Best Regards, JustinG

Both the silver thread and the gold thread S.M.S Derfflinger Reference: Gold script: Seemännisches Personnel (Deck Related professions) Silver Script: Schiffstechnisches Personnel (Engineering, technical) Red Script: Cadets/shipboys

Greetings, Well, as a commemorative piece, I would not believe so. The removal of the swastika would have been most likely done for this, especially if this was going to be a "reunion piece". I have yet to see a plastic casting on a piece of wood. Most of the ones I have are cast from wood, ceramic or metallic. The links and google searches showed a great history as well as from a commemorative/memorial page for the USS Frost, the ship credited with the sinking of U-490. http://ussfrost.homestead.com/ She had an extremely short career as you know. Something about this has me a bit suspicious. A crew of 53 to have a plaque like this is also an extremely small number especially with such a short operational career. Torpedoboats are the next smallest ship that I have seen to have pieces, They had over 100 men serving and a much longer service history. There have been a few U-flottille crests but many of those have been painted and solid metal or they were Quimper tiles painted. I have a Unterseebootstender Saar crest, it was shown earlier in the thread. Here is a reunion piece that is from 1980, notice the swastika has been removed from the Uboat badge. This is from the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago Illinois where U-505 resides. I am just sharing my observations and my opinions. Best Regards, JustinG Here is a metallic Deutschland one I picked up a year or so ago. Pretty heavy sucker. JustinG

Hi, Another great piece. I like reading your musings and anecdotes. When you mentioned Mr. Hutt's name I kept thinking, (humorously) of another well-known but fictional character: Jabba. I have always appreciated how that term can be applied to a certain person in a related field. A credential that anyone can throw around and very few might even challenge your "expert-authority". Professions like Medicine and law are very interesting in how this works. There are Legal experts and judicial review experts all reviewing and able to critique a judgement or interpretation. For Medicine: all physicians are practicing medicine. Yet after a while you can become a leading expert in your respective field, rising to national and international acclaim. There are hucksters who will try to sell you snake venom and tell you it's the cure.. How they can help you lose weight, become overnight millionaires, self-help gurus and other people who prey on the weak and feeble minded people. (There are so many out there) It baffles me how people can still not see the scam. But, if you have someone in a lab coat telling you that this wonder drug is the miracle you've been waiting for and if you answer this email advert or call this toll-free number we can send you a sample or just pay shipping and handling, but hurry and act fast, this is a limited time offer and supplies might run out. So why not order two... and we'll toss in a second item for a lower price. Ha Ha Ha Ha. But this WORKS!!!! for the seller. The old addage: "If something is too good to be true... It probably is." People genuinely seem to feel like they can beat the system now, thanks to the internet, if you have a viral video or photo, you can rise to fame, get a million people to follow you and create your YouTube video channel. Companies will sponsor you, paying you big dollars, thanks to your huge fan base and you will be a celebrity. Perhaps one day become the next Kardashian. ( I mean really, why is this family so famous). Then you too can say you are an expert. After all, look at how many followers you have. To which I say: "Tweet this" while giving a rather rude gesture. Maybe one of those students at the theater, will one day be the next "Kardashian." The others can all "SnapChat" and "Instagram" on how they went to school and knew that person way back when. (As they apply their plastic name tag to the uniform, smock, at the "McJob "they are clocking in to for the next 8.5 hours for the next 40 years. Qui novit omnia, JustinG

I have this new one. It is rather common but I love the patina of this piece. SMS or Linienschiff Schlesien.

Fantastic photos gentlemen. Wish I had some to contribute. Best Regards, JustinG

Just got this one recently as well.

I chose my avatar name a while ago. When I was first collecting, I valued the annonimity. There is always people who could get the wrong impression, use our collecting interests and possibly do us harm. It was about 6 years ago that one respected friend suggested that I change my avatar name and consider my First name and last initial. Credibility and also people tend to remember a real name rather than a funny or adjective name. I also consider myself an honorable and I stand by my word and have nothing to be ashamed of with my responses or postings. I kept my avatar name here because I had already posted much on the forum and the ability to change user handles was not an option. Best regards JustinG 2dresq

Another one. S.M.S Stettin Here's a piece I did using my S.M.S Kaiser tally:

Thanks, I am a licensed Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic. The Avatar just seemed appropriate when I first joined. You were one of the few people who have ever commented. Since then, I have changed on many other forums to use my first name and last initial. Cheers. JustinG

These questions are ones that we have all thought about. I keep a log of what/when I have purchased items and who I purchased from. Determining a value is definitely a hard part. What I have paid for an item might seem incredibly out of range for someone who doesn't have a specific or focused goal. I look at you collection posted here on this "blog" I see many nice firearms. But to someone like me, who doesn't collect this particular focus, I would probably say a value figure that would have you scoffing, coughing, and other bodily functions that show ones discontent and anger. I have collected for my own enjoyment. I don't care if I never see the return on my investment or recoup the value of what I have put into my collection. I have purchased Items that I enjoy. This I think, is what the difference is between a collector and an investment collector. I do come from a school of thought that lets my family know what is truly rare. I would hate to have my family, after I am gone, turn over for mere pennies a really rare and unique piece that is being sold at the same price as a common unmarked EK2 for example. This ledger, I keep in a lock box with other documents of estate. I do echo your precautions of who you let see your collection. I have personally benefited by specializing in my collecting and those regarded and respected collectors have noted me and have offered to liquidate their collections to me. That is one of the huge benefits to belonging to forums like this. You get a chance to share your love of collecting military artifacts and trinkets from wars and conflicts past. You form a sort of online friendship and meet others with similar like views. There is a whole range of collectors out there of varying ages. Perhaps if you are thinking of liquidating your assets or anyone else in that matter, to consider reaching out to a fellow forum member who you have come to respect and who might be interested in items that you possess. The forum member will probably offer more than what a dealer would be. I have had opportunities like this. The members didn't post on the "for sale" platform, they contacted me directly and presented me with what they thought was a fair offer. As a collector, someone who cherishes history and the items. Doesn't it make you feel better when you sell to someone who you know will appreciate the items as you have? We, after all, are just caretakers for these items of history. We can't take this stuff with us. Bottom line: Summary: If you collect for your own interest and passion, then you never need to worry about if something was worth it, or what the value is to others. A collection is a collection, investments are investments. Military items in collections are never to be confused with the latter. You want a collection that holds value to everyone, collect bits of paper that have (Presidents, national heroes, symbols, Kings/Queens, kids playing hockey CANADA , monuments, animals and all will have a denomination number somewhere conspicuous on them) This will never go lower than face value. (I am speaking of currency) Well, that's enough of my ramblings. All the best.