Hendrik

Hello Gents, Would appreciate an ID on this one : no medal appears to be associated with it and it is worn as a ribbon only "decoration" : Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Lukasz, The idea of mixing orders in one fourrag?re may have blown over from France ... in any case, there's a "tradition" there even to the point of mixing various ribbons on one single medal No more Belgian fourrag?res than the ones mentioned in previous posts ... Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Erik, ... and I fear they will remain so for a while longer : those threaded ones are pretty rare and thus expensive. Still, every Belgian fourrag?re you have is one more than I have - zilch here, haven't wandered off the beaten path for those yet Hendrik

Hello Jef & all, When would those mixed ones have been created (date of decree) ? I fear they are fantasy ones but would love to be proven wrong ! On the other hand, in March 1953, the regulations on the Order of Leopold fourrag?re were changed considerably by creating three classes (and basically retroactive to WW2) : 1st class : three gilt thread stripes woven into the fourrag?re, ferret is gilt (for units with 16 citations minimum) 2nd class : three silver thread stripes woven into the fourrag?re, ferret is silvered (for units with 8 citations minimum) 3rd class : no interwoven stripes, ferret is bronze (for units with 4 citations minimum) Cheers, Hendrik

Thanks Gents, As the total wings' span is reportedly 29.5 mm, my first inclination was to call it an EK2 Spange ... but, you both are confirming my feeling of it being too odd to be original. I'll forward the sad news to the present owner Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Michael, That is indeed correct and one can add that the Military Medal 2nd class (Art. 4) carried a silver palm on its ribbon (indicating a wartime award) - he apparently was wounded in the act concerned. As he is in one of the Fire Card books, he obviously also got the Fire Cross. Would be a very nice group to display ! Cheers, Hendrik

The mystery reverse :

Gents, I'm trying to find out more about a Spange in a friend's collection : the dimensions given indicate it is a EK2 Spange, the reverse maker's mark is L/11 (Deumer) - However, I can see no traces of prongs or whatever other means of attachment. Would appreciate your views ... Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Antonio, Great to see you on this forum and welcome !!! Looking forward to your input and expertise especially on Spanish ODM's. Hendrik

Laurence, I think I have to revise my opinion on those ribbons : in fact, after checking with my "bible", I've found 4 different ones can apply (thinner and thicker white stripes, different shades of green, even two size of ribbon width) although your ribbons with the thin center strip would make that a fifth variety ... still, I do think it's impossible as Belgian manufacturers are not exactly known to be very precise I'm not into service branch insignia at all but feel confident to say the "grenade" is not related to fire brigades ... which leaves us with the "garde civique" I suppose. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Erik, Trust you to come up with a picture like this I'm not at all sure but it looks to me as if the man is wearing three Courage+Devotion ones - presumably gold, silver and bronze classes. Noted the difference in sizes and I don't think it's the picture but him actually wearing various sizes. The suspension on the Long Service one is indeed not the usual one but I've seen just the one in another picture some time ago. No clue as to why that suspension was used ... perhaps a manufacturer's error ? Cheers, Hendrik

Ha, I'm already in Belgium, nicely situated in the centre of Western Europe ... although, I must concede, taxes etc. here are very high. Seriously though, Ed's "underground railroad" idea is quite feasible : send someone you trust the US medals you want to sell off for him/her to put up in the local eBay auction with the restriction that no shipment will be made to the US. That should pass eBay's scrutiny ... It would cost a bit more as extra shipment costs and currency exhange fees would come into it but at least you'd be able to still sell. Likewise one could ask a trusted fellow collector to purchase an item and have it sent over to the States ... I wouldn't be surprised if the odd Medal of Honor found its way back "home" that way earlier on. Cheers, Hendrik (who dislikes a lot of laws)

Hello Laurence, Wrong ribbon I'm afraid ... Don't know the ribbon either but suspect it might be one taken from a non-official medal because of the resemblance to the correct fire brigade ribbon. Cheers, Hendrik

Laurence, As the box mentions 1st class, the cross should be gilt ... perhaps you might try "cleaning" just a small tip to confirm that ? Cheers, Hendrik

Beautiful cross and a very nice acquisition, Laurence ! And your pictures show that great "old" red enamel perfectly - any markings to be found in the suspension ring ??? I'm not so sure about your dating though. I'm certainly no expert on it but rather think your knight's cross is of the type used between 1900 and 1918, judging by its crown suspension shape. Could any of the more informed forum members confirm this or correct me ? In fact, it wouldn't do any harm if anyone could give some tips on what to watch out for in order to properly date the various "types" of this order - any hints as to how to recognize specific maker's differences would also be welcome. Every scrap of information in that respect would be useful ! Cheers, Hendrik

Sorry ! A typo ! Should be "depth" instead of "width" ...

Hello Lukasz, I've sent a message to the forum's chairman on this for his decision ... Doc, it's indeed a lovely pair of medals Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Igor, Here's a few points which will help determine whether you have a copy (which I think it is) or not : height of the bar : original 6 mm vs. 6.9 mm on the copy height of the enameled cross : original 11.3 mm vs. 11.85 mm on the copy total width (i.e. bar + its suspension) : original 3.3 mm vs 5.8 mm on the copy - this is probably the most easy to check : there is an unusually big gap between the bar itself and the back suspension part. Also there are some other points with regard to the type of figures used (especially the "1" and "7"), the background (yours looks like having irregularly crossed lines - an original shows regular "points") and the fact that the enameled cross arms are protruding less than with an original which all together lead me to think it is a copy. Cheers, Hendrik

Ambiguous is right : both the military and civilian medals are unofficial ! The official award is a ribbon bar (in the particular colours denoting either the military or civilian type) with respectively a red or white enameled star on it. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Lukasz, ... or maybe both were awarded ? Possibly not even at the same time ? I feel these awards would have been too important to the town of Verdun for such a mistake to have been made. Looking forward to further information on this ! Cheers & Merry Xmas ! Hendrik

Excellent Christophe - Many thanks Hendrik

Many thanks, Tang Si ! It's always good to have the names right ... Hendrik

... and, finally, what I think is the 40th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemorative Medal - feel free to correct me or confirm this award's name ! Cheers, Hendrik

The Fatherland Liberation Medal,

The Freedom and Independence Star,