Bob

Thanks for this info Dragomir. I understand somebody in the Serbian government has been assigned to implement new orders/medals for the country. This person in a past life was an actor and during a movie was depicting Tito and was wearing his genuine awards and was continuously surrounded by 5 body guards during filming. I guess not displaying the awards may have to do with a lack of well secured display capabilities (at least, judging from the military museum that seems plausible). Or are there also local sensitivities? Back on Tito's awards. At the mausoleum complex I visited a few days ago the closest thing to his awards were 2 uniforms with miniatures.

Substantial update, liberally using Christopher Buyers website (http://www.royalark.net/) and expanding on it from other sources to create one overview of typology. Next focus will be on adding more manufacturers details and trying to figure out online / via mail what the validity is of this Malta Order as well as a first jab at the badges. A MEDALS 1 1914 Accession Medal 2 Commemorative Medal of 24 December 1924 (instituted to commemorate King Zog I's assumption of power on 24th December 1924, but later awarded as a decoration for distinguished and personal services to the sovereign) 2a Gold (not yet observed) 2b Silver 2c Bronze 3 Commemorative Medal for the Expedition to Albania (instituted on 7 March 1940 to be awarded to military and civilian participants in the Italian occupation of Albania; multiple types exist) B ORDER OF BLACK EAGLE (1914) 1 Grand Cross (consisting of cross + breast star) 2 Grand Officer (consisting of neck badge + breast star) 3 Commander 4 Officer 5 Knight 6 Medal 6a Gold 6b Silver 6c Bronze B6 sighted both as Willibald Kluge and Arthus Bertrand produced. C ORDER OF SCANDERBEG - Urdhëri i Skënderbeut (instituted 12th December 1925) 1 Grand Cross - Kordon i Madh me Yll (consisting of cross + breast star) 2 Grand Officer - Oficer i Madh (consisting of neck badge + breast star) 3 Commander - Kumandar 4 Officer - Oficer 5 Knight - Kalorës C1-5 are found in two types: - type 1 (1925-1940) i.e. left facing goat (?) - type 2 (1940-1944) i.e. right facing goat D HONOR COLLOR OF ALBANIA (1925) Is this simply a superior class of the Order of Scanderbeg (Grand Collar - Kular i Madh) with awarding restricted to Heads of State? As per Christopher Buyers website: "The only statutes for a collar are the Order of Scanderbeg, the actual insignia for which includes the Scanderbeg badge, differenced slightly by a shield shaped background in the centre rather than a circular disc." E ALBANIAN KNIGHTS OF MALTA ORDER (1926) 1 Collar 2 Grand Cross Badge 3 Commander 4 Officer (breast badge) 5 Knight F ORDER OF FIDELITY - Urdhëri Besa (instituded 22nd January 1926) 1 Grand Cross - Kordon i Madh me Yll (consisting of cross + breast star) 2 Grand Officer - Oficer i Madh(consisting of neck badge + breast star) 3 Commander - Kumandar 4 Officer 5 Knight - Kalorës F1-5 are found in two types: - type 1 (1926-1940); only 4 classes + medal in this type (i.e. excluding officer)? - type 2 (1940-1944) i.e. FERT; expanded to 5 classes G ORDER OF BRAVERY AND MILITARY MERIT - Urdhëri i Trimërisë me Meritë Ushtarak (instituted in 1928 as a military decoration to reward bravery and distinguished services during war or in defence of the fatherland) 1 1st class or Hero - Hero (consisting of neckbadge and breast star; supposedly ranked before all other decorations and medals) 2 2nd class or Martyr - Theror (consisting of neckbadge only?) 3 3rd class or Brave - Trim 4 Medal of Bravery - Medalja i Trimërisë (military medal for officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the Albanian military forces and gendarmerie to recognise and reward individual acts of bravery in the face of the enemy or in defence of the fatherland) 4a Gold Medal of Bravery - Medalja e Artë e Trimërisë – for acts of valour 4b Silver Medal of Bravery - Medalja e Argjend e Trimërisë – for acts of gallantry 4c Bronze Medal of Bravery - Medalja e Bronz e Trimërisë – for bravery conduct Potentially the G4 split into 3 classes actually refers to the B6 medal and in fact there are only the three classes (G1-3) with G3 being the bronze bravery medal seen on several occasions. H DECORATION FOR ARTS AND SCIENCES (instituted in 1928) To reward services to the arts and for achievements in scientific merit I BADGES 1 10th anniversary of the monarchy (1938; reverse: E. Gardino, Roma) 2 Albanian Badge for Operations in Yugoslavia and Greece (1941; different types exist i.e. 4 manufacturing variations - Boeri (Rome), Lorioli Fratelli (Milan), S. Johnson (Rome & Milan), unmarked - and the unmarked variation breaks down into both a painted and an enameled version) 3 Albanian Fascist Militia (1939-1943) 4 Albanian Fascist Party - Partia Fashiste e Shqipërisë - PFSh

Browsing through the (wonderful!) online catalogue of San Giorgio Aste's next auction. Sadly a HUGE group is being broken up with beautiful items (from pre-socialist Albanian to top of the bill italian, czech, third reich, french, etc.). It took me a while to see this as the group is broken down in many small lots. Sad, this group is of museum quality. Is there an index listing all items belonging to that group in the auction? Maybe somebody with a big wallet can save it:(

Thanks Dragomir. I was in this museum (the mausoleum branch) the day before yesterday, and saw no orders or medals aside from a Tito uniform with miniatures (pics to follow). This morning I went to the branch on Trg Nikole Pasica... but was turned back because the museum was closed (as in, closed down for renovations). Have you actually seen his medals?

I heard a rumor (for what it is worth) that during the NATO bombing Milosjevic moved into the former Tito residence (assuming it would not be bombed) and that his son (Marko) found the orders (and weapons) of Tito in the cellar and took them. Anybody who is friends with the Milosjevic family who can verify?

Updated A MEDALS 1 1914 Accession Medal 2 Commemorative Medal of 24 December 1924 a Gold (not sure) b Silver c Bronze B ORDER OF BLACK EAGLE (1914) 1 Grand Cross (consisting of cross + breast star) 2 Grand Officer (consisting of neck badge + breast star) 3 Commander 4 Officer 5 Knight 6 Medal a Gold b Silver c Bronze B6 sighted both as Willibald Kluge and Arthus Bertrand produced. C ORDER OF SCANDERBEG (1925) 1 Grand Cross (consisting of cross + breast star) 2 Grand Officer (consisting of neck badge + breast star) 3 Commander 4 Officer 5 Knight C1-5 are found in two types: - type 1 (1925-1940) i.e. left facing goat (?) - type 2 (1940-1944) i.e. right facing goat D HONOR COLLOR OF ALBANIA (1925) E ALBANIAN KNIGHTS OF MALTA ORDER (1926) 1 Collar 2 Grand Cross Badge 3 Commander 4 Officer (breast badge) 5 Knight F ORDER OF FIDELITY (1926) 1 Grand Cross (consisting of cross + breast star) 2 Grand Officer (consisting of neck badge + breast star) 3 Commander 4 Officer 5 Knight F1-5 are found in two types: - type 1 (1926-1940) - type 2 (1940-1944) i.e. FERT G ORDER OF BRAVERY (1928) 1 1st class neckbadge 2 1st class breast star 3 2nd class neckbadge 4 3rd class medal

Thanks Eric, when it becomes too detailed, I will let you know:) Just trying to (long overdue) get a decent typology in one place. How do you see the difference between Kluge and Bertrand if I may ask?

http://www.emedals.ca/catalog.asp?item=A967#bigPic http://www.ormedec.com/ http://www.omsa.org/forums/showthread.php?t=3825 links to the catalogue i was referring to... have placed an order and hope to get it soon, a very handy couple of pages on pre-socialist Albanian awards

Hi Eric, thanks - will add badges to structure as well. Will also send you a PM on different topic.

OK, the reason i started this thread is because i want to dip further into pre-socialist albanian awards. The era's we are discussing then are: - 1914 = Wied - 1920-1928 = Republic - 1928-1939 = King Zog I - 1939-1943 = Italian occupation - 1944-onwards = People's Republic In order to start dipping deeper, I was really looking for a good typology... but couldn't make much sense out of the threads in place. So started (on paper) to create one overview... with more questions than i would have imagined. Then i spent today with a dealer/collector in Belgrade. Sharing anecdotes, him showing me his Albanian, Yugoslav, etc. collection, sipping some Rakija in between, and presto this gentleman starts digging into his ODM book collection... and after a while a local catalogue comes out with what appears to be an exhaustive typology (as well as many pics, price indications, etc.). So, I'll try to get a copy of this catalogue in coming weeks (e.g. it contained an Albanian Collor which is different than the one shown in threads here as well as other new items). I already am copying the typology here though. For the moment, leaving badges out... leaving that for later. A MEDALS 1 1914 Accession Medal 2 1924 Commemorative Medal B ORDER OF BLACK EAGLE (1914) 1 Grand Cross (consisting of cross + breast star) 2 Grand Officer (consisting of neck badge + breast star) 3 Commander 4 Officer 5 Knight 6 Medal: gold / silver / bronze C ORDER OF SCANDERBEG (1925) 1 Grand Cross (consisting of cross + breast star) 2 Grand Officer (consisting of neck badge + breast star) 3 Commander 4 Officer 5 Knight C1-5 are found in two types: - type 1 (1925-1940) i.e. left facing goat (?) - type 2 (1940-1944) i.e. right facing goat D HONOR COLLOR OF ALBANIA (1925) E ALBANIAN KNIGHTS OF MALTA ORDER (1926) 1 Collar 2 Grand Cross Badge 3 Commander 4 Officer (breast badge) 5 Knight F ORDER OF FIDELITY (1926) 1 Grand Cross (consisting of cross + breast star) 2 Grand Officer (consisting of neck badge + breast star) 3 Commander 4 Officer 5 Knight F1-5 are found in two types: - type 1 (1926-1940) - type 2 (1940-1944) i.e. FERT G ORDER OF BRAVERY (1928) 1 1st class neckbadge 2 1st class breast star 3 2nd class neckbadge 4 3rd class medal ================================= I will try to obtain the catalogue with color pictures and post scans here to illustrate the above. From that moment, i think this should provide an interesting base for discussion. Appreciate any comments - please do not just indicate something is "wrong" but also indicate what you believe it should be and be very specific. I realize some of the above may raise questions, hence getting my hands on a copy of the catalogue will be very useful (especially related to the collars I guess... that'll raise some eyebrows:))

aha, i had not noticed or thought of that:) effect is the same:)

By the way, www.sangiorgioaste.com is auctioning off some interesting items... they are spread out across the online catalogue so you have to look around a bit.

Given there is no seperate Albania section (pre socialist) and not being entirely altruistic, i just find it useful to not have to search each time. Will be making a post after my return from Belgrade in here as well. Would like to get to a clear (?) comprehensive list of all pre-socialist awards. Reading the threads and other sites, it just is not clear for me. Wied era medals http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=33865&st=80 Facist militia http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=41948 Collar of Albania http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=34967 Italy medals relating to Albania http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=35151 Italian army in Albania http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=34307 King Albert collier http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=34942 The Accession of Wilhelm of Weid medal http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=8404 Bust of King Zog http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=34453 Black Eagle Order http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=32035 Red Cross Medal http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=20563 Order of the Black Eagle http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=2724

Here's another Albanian King you may not be aware of yet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Witte

excellent, looking forward to see scans (especially the document!)

will try to post a blow up of the key text

Visited Kaliningrad last week. Very, very cold... but also very interesting. A city with a fascinating history (German) and - despite the destruction during/after the war - it is still interesting today. One of the places visited was the Museum of History/Art which contained an interesting section with Militaria incl. 2 awards to the museum (or the city?). Anybody able/willing to translate? Also of note for militaria lovers is the (recently opened) naval city of Baltysk. A key port for the Soviet Baltic fleet with a very interesting naval museum. May post a few more pics in coming days.

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=42122 Post in above thread to express your support of a seperate dedicated DPRK area!

An interesting early Polar Star for sale on collectrussia... hand engraved mintmark on reverse

Recession? What recession? Screwback nr 607 for sale on collectrussia.com for 4900 USD

I've received my copy of the book as well. Without any reservation: this is a SUPERB book. A wealth of information in here, extremely comprehensive, and beautifully published. For anyone with even a slight interest in DPRK awards I can HIGHLY recommend to get this book. It clearly sets the standard for many years to come. I doubt it will be surpassed unless DPRK government itself develops and publishes a book. I've only flipped through the pages briefly as this one clearly requires sitting down with a warm cup of tea on a rainy sunday and spending an entire day to read through it. This book belongs in any collection of people interested in socialist awards.

Interesting ribbon bar: cloth underneath (so NOT painted), but plastic on top. First time i've seen that. Also an interesting combination... with the rare unselfishness medal.

Sent it off to Alexei for an attempt at research. Hope something (anything!) comes out... Any other different channels to try?