RobW

Carol, What would you suggest I do with the rosettes? Leave them on or remove them?? Regards, Rob

Hello Carol, Here is the close-up of the two rosettes. Regards, Rob

And the reverses. Regards, Rob

Hello Kevin, Here are the close-ups. Pics of the reverse to follow. Regards, Rob

Hello Carol, I shall also post a close-up of the area of the two rosettes for you to compare. To me both rosettes appear to have equal and similar wear and rubbing on the high points. I also noted that there is a repair job evident near the base of the Crown on the Order of the Star. Would this be relevant? Regards, Rob

Hello Kevin, As far as I can recall the first of the two Orders of the Crown has traces of gilt on it with the second appearing to be tarnished silver. I shall post close-ups of the obverse/reverse of these two this evening when I have time. Regards, Rob

Hello Carol, Thanks for the clarification and information. I had been told by the vendor that the group was dated circa 1940 so I was reasonably sure that with awards spanning from the Jubilee of Carol I period (1906), through the Second Balkan War 1913, Great War victory medal, and then the 25 Years' Military Service medal, that the time frame seemed correct for the early to mid 1930s to 1940. I wasn't particularly looking for such a group but as luck would have it, when you aren't looking for items, they sometimes find you. Is it normal practice to bend the bars over the ribbon on the Commemorative Cross of the 1916-1918 War, so that the ends cannot be seen or is this a medal mounting issue?? Regards, Rob

And the reverse. Regards, Rob

To all, Here is a nice Romanian group of 9 that I recently picked up. While the group has a certain level of wear, loss of enamel, and gilding loss on some of the medals I like it because it shows that the item was worn and displayed by its recipient. * Order of the Star, Officer. * Order of the Crown, Knight, gilt (possibly Lemaitre). * Order of the Crown, Knight, silver. * 25 Years' Military Service medal. * Commemorative Medal for the Second Balkan War 1913. * Commemorative Cross of the 1916-1918 War, ARDEAL, CARPATI, MARASESTI, BUCURESTI clasps. * Medal for Manhood and Loyalty, variation with designer's name (F. PAWLIK F.E.C.) on obverse and maker's name (RESCH) on reverse. * Official victory medal, with KRISTESKU designers name on the reverse. * Medal for the Jubilee of Carol I, military version. Of note is that it appears, to my untrained eye, that there are two different style of swords in between the arms of the Cross on the two Orders of the Crown. Would this indicate different manufacturers or just later design changes? Not having any specific knowledge on Romanian medals could anybody assist in identifying the time period the two Orders were produced, and who was the likely manufacturer?? I would appreciate any and all opinions. Regards, Rob

And the reverse. Regards, Rob

To all, Here is a nice Romanian group of 9 that I recently picked up. While the group has a certain level of wear, loss of enamel, and gilding loss on some of the medals I like it because it shows that the item was worn and displayed by its recipient. * Order of the Star, Officer. * Order of the Crown, Knight, gilt (possibly Lemaitre). * Order of the Crown, Knight, silver. * 25 Years' Military Service medal. * Commemorative Medal for the Second Balkan War 1913. * Commemorative Cross of the 1916-1918 War, ARDEAL, CARPATI, MARASESTI, BUCURESTI clasps. * Medal for Manhood and Loyalty, variation with designer's name (F. PAWLIK F.E.C.) on obverse and maker's name (RESCH) on reverse. * Official victory medal, with KRISTESKU designers name on the reverse. * Medal for the Jubilee of Carol I, military version. Of note is that it appears, to my untrained eye, that there are two different style of swords in between the arms of the Cross on the two Orders of the Crown. Would this indicate different manufacturers or just later design changes? Not having any specific knowledge on Romanian medals could anybody assist in identifying the time period the two Orders were produced, and who was the likely manufacturer?? I would appreciate any and all opinions. Regards, Rob

Hello Timo, The awards of the vic to members of the French Red Cross are not common but they do turn up on occassion. In my mind they are a nice addition to any vic collection. Of note on the Medal Index Card (MIC) the code for the 'Theatre of War first served in' is marked as: 1(a). This is France and Belgium. This would probably indicate she likely served in the large field hospitals in those locations. In addition her date of entry is listed as Oct-18. This, with the struck out mark near 'British' on the medal entitlement indicates that the vic was her sole medal entitlement. It should be also be considered that some nurses serving with the French Red Cross were also awarded the French War Ministry's 'Devouement Epidemies' Medal. It was awarded in either bronze, silver, vermeil (silver gilt or gilt bronze), or gold so some extra research may be in order here. Hope this helps. Regards, Rob

Thanks Veteran for the clarification. Regards, Rob

Hello all, Thanks for the great clarification about these awards. It really helps to find out about these unofficial but tolerated awards. Regards, Rob

Medal of Military Merit 1917, 3rd class, with bronze wreath. Hope it helps. Regards, Rob

Hello Lukasz, Here are a couple of pictures which may help. War Cross 1916-17, 2nd class, with second award silvered star Regards, Rob

And the requesite close-up. Such lovely detail. Hope it helps. Regards, Rob

Hello all, Here is a Redeemer piece that is part of a Balkans War & Great War (WW1) group that I recently obtained. Aside from the enamel chips I think it is a particularly nice order and a great centre-piece of the group as it indicates some form of wear on the part of the recipient. Close-up of the obverse centre to follow. Regards, Rob

Medal of National Merit (13 mm at the widest point)

Medal of Civic Merit (12 mm in diameter)

To one and all, I have recently picked up these two French mini's as part of a larger group and am intrigued by them. Inquiries with the vendor identified them only as: * Medal of Civic Merit * Medal of National Merit French medals are not my area of expertise and after some other inquiries the limited information I have would suggest that both of these awards are possibly unofficial. Other than that I am bereft of detail. Does anyone have any ideas as to the background and award details of these two interesting, possibly unofficial French awards? Any ideas or possibilities would be welcomed. Pics to follow. Regards, Rob

And the date bars in close-up. Note that the order of wear is in reverse to the other example previously posted. Rob

To all, This example was part of a larger group of 4. It is produced in a darker bronze finish, and has the makers name 'Sacchini-Milano' underneath the bust of the King and has a slightly more refined strike. Note the different style of dates on the bars as well as the fixed backstrap. Close-ups of the date bars to follow. Regards, Rob

Hello Brian, Yes it is a nice specimen, and you are correct that it seems to be more difficult to find them with all 4 date bars. I have a few different varieties which I shall post when I find them amongst the clutter of my desk. My records indicate that this medal was produced by up to 6 official manufacturers with another 4 unofficial strikes being observed, included one French production. Regards, Rob

Hello Tim, Yes I have been to that site before. As you have indicated Arthus Bertrand has a number of marks as did the other major French medal manufacturers of the time. I am aware that Chobillon, Delande, and Bertrand all had a number of different marks that were used so that makes the identification all the more problematic yet at the same time all the more fun. Regards, Rob