Great Dane

Hmmm... I'm not really convinced... The letter before the 'd' in the last name definitely looks like an 'r' (same 'r' as in 'Graf') - especially on the grayscale picture. I know there can be a difference in spelling, but still...? BTW, the third decoration from the end looks like the Italian Order of the Crown. He sure was around... /Mike

Thanks a lot, both of you. I greatly appreciate your opinions /Mike

The mark is the crowned Z (for the Mint). According to our member Elmar Lang this means it was made in the 30s or 40s - hence my question about "originality". /Mike

I know the photos are not the best, but... no opinions at all? Any comment is welcome... /Mike

The list of foreign recipients of the Swedish Order of Wasa in the Swedish State- and Court handbooks is fairly short (at least for Commanders and higher classes). In the 1900 edition, "Graf Dominik Hardegg" is the only that comes even close to the scribbled name (checked GCs, Commanders 1.class and Commanders). In the 1882 edition noone comes close to the name. Provided - of course - that the scribbled name has anything to do with the man on the photo... Strange... Ulsterman, I can't really see the medal at the end, so I can't tell. /Mike

There was a "Graf Dominik Hardegg - Austr.-Hung. geheimerat" who received the Swedish Order of Wasa (Commander 1. class) on 19. September 1890. Could it be him? /Mike

I just received this medal today - an Italian Al Valore Militare. The inscription does look very 'home-made' but seems consistent with other pieces from the WWI period. The medal has a mintmark (a crowned Z) for the Royal Mint, and according to our member Elmar Lang in this thread (GMIC thread) that would mean that it was made in the 1930-1940s? So is it a replacement? Opinions are welcome... (I know the photo quality is not the best) If genuine, it seems the inscription "Giacinto Zupelli - Sober, 11 ottobre 1916" refers to the 8th battle of Isonzo 9-12 October 1916 (Mt. Sober and Nova Vas). And genuine or not, the little research I did regarding the battles of Isonzo was so fascinating (1.75 mio. casualties so I don't know if 'fascinating' is the right word...) that it made me order John R. Schindler's "Isonzo: The Forgotten Sacrifice of the Great War" from Amazon. /Mike

I think you can rule out the Dannebrog Order. The ribbon is very wrong (even for an outfitter without the exact ribbon) and the crown doesn't make any sense at all. And more important: He is not in any of the Dannebrog lists... My guess is one of the Spanish crosses (Order of Merit etc.) /Mike

I tried to twist the image a little, but I don't know if that made it clearer... ? (not to me but then again, I don't know what to look for...) /Mike

I have absolutely no idea why 10. april 1809 is important But although you don't get that many replies on your various Napoleonic posts, I really enjoy reading them. Keep'em coming /Mike

Number 4 looks like the Estonian Order of the White Star. Number 5 looks Hungarian. /Mike

'Professional' sellers aren't much better. I remember Zeige's last auction where they sold a cased Commander's Cross as 3 separate lots - the cross, the case and... the small piece of ribbon that had been attached to the cross What's next Zeige? Removing the ring from the cross and selling it separately That bar in post #1 would have been a real beauty in all it's glory /Mike

I think it's "Kameraden" instead of commander. /Mike

Um... sorry? My what...? Or are you actually saying that I can't point out bugs/omissions in a website in order to make it work better? I'm sure I must have misunderstood something...? I think the catalog is quite interesting and would love if it reached as wide an audience as possible. /Mike

Yeah, but what I meant was that you get to that page after clicking 'Send' no matter if you filled out the fields or not... And I wouldn't mind giving my address, e-mail etc. and then just have the PDF file, but the wording on the catalog page suggests that this is for the mailed catalog ("To request our printed catalog to be mailed to you ..."). Details... I know, but a tad confusing... even with the unintended work-around. /Mike

Hi Jani, Looking forward to the auction Allow me some constructive critizism of your website: - Clicking the 'Upcoming sale' link describes the coming 2009 auction but never mentions a date? (and there is no fields to fill out to download a catalog) - Clicking 'Catalog' gives you the opportunity to fill in fields to have a catalog mailed to you (what if you just want to download the PDF?) - Apparently if you just click the 'Send' button without filling out the - required - fields on the catalog page you can download the PDF file anyway. A bit confusing... /Mike

Very nice collection Demir, I have already shown this group before but it fits right in here. A group awarded to a (surgical) dentist who served aboard the Danish hospital ship Jutlandia during the Korean war. The Danish personnel received the English version of the UN medal (and were permitted to wear it). You can also see the Korean Presidential Citation ribbon on his ribbon bar. P.S: Are you sure there is a version of the UN medal with Swedish text? /Mike

There is a v. Alten, Ernst Reinhold Moritz, Schaumburg-Lippische Hofmarschall. who received the Danish Order of Dannebrog (Commander 1. class aka Grand Officer) on 6. June 1905. Could that be your man? If yes, the cypher above the Dannebrog cross should be Christian IX (C R ix). /Mike

If Ernst is his first name, what is his last name? /Mike

Deleted due to hallucinations (lack of sleep ) I realize the golden thingy is the oakleaf for the Waldeck order. /Mike

Dannebrog (or Danebrog) - NOT Daneborg! Great chain What's the golden thingy no. 4 from the right? /Mike

Yes, but WWII was quite a different story. Joining the Germans (now being the enemy as opposed to WWI where we were neutral) was entirely those people's own decision. And no Iron Cross (or any other German WWII decoration) was ever permitted to be worn in Denmark. /Mike

Nice ones I've always been on the lookout for an ensemble like that. /Mike

Stunning! A lot of care has obviously gone into it - not only to find and select the items but also to display them properly. /Mike

Don't know if it counts as 'foreigners', but from the end of the 2. Danish-Prussian war (1864) to the end of WWI (1918 or actually 1920) the southern part of Jutland was under German command. Danes living in this area was forced to fight on the German side during WWI and some earned the Iron Cross. After the plebiscite in 1920 where the area returned to Denmark they were permitted to keep wearing it. /Mike