Great Dane

Mark, It's 72 degrees outside, the girls are wearing mini skirts and the smell of freshly brewed coffee is reaching me from my local caf?... but hey... how can that compete with sitting inside a dark and dusty library for hours... Unfortunately there are never any indications whether an award was with or without swords (probably because we never used swords ourselves). My only hope is to find out which year the different awards occured in his lists for the first time (so no exact award date either). The guy in the picture is King Frederik VIII (1906-1912). Yeah, I guess if he wears the Dannebrog Grand Commander (a special class for royalty only) he wouldn't want to 'pollute' it with inferior Commander crosses /Mike

Hi Brian, Very nice cross indeed and pretty rare In the lifetime of the Dannebrog Knight crosses there were 3 changes. First one occured after the death of Frederik VI in 1839 where the reverse was changed so it would contain 'F VI' on the upper cross arm and '1808' was moved to the lower cross arm. Second one occured in the 1840s when the court jeweler changed to the present one (A. Michelsen) and the third occured - as you mention - in the beginning of the 20th century when the design was slightly changed (most visible on the 'C5' on the front). All the last 3 types are re-cyphered and reissued today. /Mike

Gents, Please don't take 1920 as a precise date. Some had copied what they saw foreign officers wearing etc. It's just that around 1910-20 it starts to be the norm to use medal bars. On Mark's picture: Around the neck: Dannebrog, Grand Commander On chest: Dannebrog, Silver Merit Cross Denmark, Commemorative medal for 2nd Danish-Prussian war 1864 Greece, Order of the Redeemer, Knight Unknown, maybe Russian? Is this Christian IX or Frederik VIII? (they both wore these kind of orders) He is wearing a foreign Grand Cross sash and Star (maybe in connection with a state visit?) /Mike

Christian IX also wore his orders with the 'Danish trifold' ribbon (even on early pictures), so there was a bit of anarchy (or just no established procedure yet)... What is also interesting to notice is that not until approx. 1920 did it become normal to wear the orders and medals mounted on a bar. Until then they were just attached as singles. /Mike

Thanks Brian , And remember that the Silver Merit Cross was awarded in high numbers (as a bravery award) during the two Danish-Prussian wars in 1848-50 and 1864 (i.e. the Frederik VII and the Christian IX versions). These crosses were mainly awarded to 'the common man' who wasn't used to wear orders and medals, so many of them kept the cross on a straight ribbon even after the 'fashion' changed. /Mike

There are a few copies of the Silver Merit Crosses out there, but so few that they were probably made as replacement pieces rather than made to deceive. And the ones I've seen are very easy to distinguish from the real thing. So unless some very good copies exist (which I don't believe) yours is as genuine as they come. If you're unsure of specific details on the cross, you're welcome to mail me (PM or here) detailed pictures of it. Tomorrow is a national holiday here, so the libraries are closed (talk about lack of logic...), but I'll try to go there on Saturday and do some more research. You'll have to live with the suspense until then /Mike

Brian, It's very easy to list the amount of Austrians who received this cross: The Silver Merit Cross was reserved for Danes only (unless you were Royalty related to the King...) /Mike

Mark, Without having the actual piece in hand, I'd say it looks OK. Danish ribbon style evolved over time. In the 19th century a straight ribbon was normally used, but towards the end of the century the trifold ribbon became very popular (probably copied after Austrians). Even Christian IX himself wore his Dannebrog Silver Merit Cross on a trifold ribbon (although the cross had a different cypher than yours). Shortly after the turn of the century the current 'trifold' style became standard (although - as I already mentioned - the decision of which part should be on top of the other was changed around 1910-20). /Mike

You mean 'same' as in 'similar'? Because I don't see the enamel damage on the left cross arm on that one /Mike

Similar to this one? eBay Kappenabzeichen /Mike

Mark, My 3 piece medal bars are all with a 7 cm hinge and the 2 piece bars with a 5 cm hinge, so I guess that combination would fit (give or take a bit...) /Mike

Czar Nicolaus II Dannebrog Silver Merit Cross was the Christian IX version (awarded 11. Sept. 1891) /Mike

Under the heading "Ordensnachla? eines Kommerzienrat". EDIT: Darn, you were too fast /Mike

Allow me to correct you: Czar Nicolaus II is always wearing his Dannebrog Silver Merit Cross (he was also Knight of the Order of the Elephant and Grand Commander of the Order of Dannebrog). Grand Commander is a special class reserved for royalty. /Mike

Zeige has an Oldenburg Offizierskreuz (lot 8) in the forthcoming auction on May, 26th, but it seems to be connected to the award document in lot 9 (or am I wrong in my assumption here?) and it would be a real shame to split them. There is also an Offizierskreuz with swords in lot 78. Next big question: Was Nyholm awarded the version with or without swords? Zeige Auction /Mike Lot 8 and 78:

Brian, No Silver Merit Cross I have seen has been marked and only some Knight Crosses. Most (all?) Commander badges are marked - at least the gold ones. Mark, Well, your guess is as good as mine (yours is probably better when it comes to uniforms... ), but your suggestion seems plausible. /Mike

Mark, Allow me to correct myself: Browsing through my books of Danish Navy officers, there actually are examples of officers wearing their medal bars in two rows, where the badges of the top row cover the ribbons of the bottom row (what I call 'french style'). Also, placing Commander awards along the right side buttons is more common than I thought... /Mike

Mark, I can only answer for the Danish awards, so someone else will have to help with the others. The Frederik VIII Silver Cross is very hard to find and will cost you $1500-$2000. If you want a filler, the cheapest one is the Christian X version, which can be found for approx. $500. Actually $550 is not a bad price for a Christian IX version. A Christian X Commander set will cost you $2000-$2500. The Christian X version is actually the cheapest version, but the price will vary depending on the badge being gold or silvergilt. The Breast Crosses have changed a bit over the years (3 official models - last one from approx. 1960) but the differences are small. Note that the Breast Crosses do not have any royal cypher, so in that sense they are 'generic'. For the other awards, I think the Russian St. Anne, the Oldenburg Offizierskreuz and the Mecklenburg Greifen Order will be the most expensive ones. /Mike

Brian, Yes, I'm sure economical reasons played a big part in the return policy, but I guess it was also a matter of continuing the tradition from when the order was instituted in 1671. Frederik VI changed the order to a multi-class order and opened it to a wider audience resembling the French Legion d'Honneur (we were allied with Napoleon back then). When Frederik VI died it was decided to change the appearance of the order as a tribute to him. The reverse now contained his name 'Fr.VI' on the upper cross arm and the year of his change (1808) was moved to the lower cross arm. So no crosses from his reign were re-cyphered, but from Christian VIII and onwards crosses were reused. Even today you can be awarded a cross from the Christian VIII period (1839-48) with the cypher of Margrethe II. Unlike the enamelled crosses which had some small adjustments to the design around the beginning of the 20th century, the Silver Cross has kept it's appearance. /Mike

The recipient would continue to wear his award with the cypher of the King it was awarded under. Of course if he was promoted from, say, Knight to Commander the Commander badge would have the cypher of the new King and the Knight badge would be returned. Hmm... I'm definitely not an expert on uniforms so my only guesses are that his latest medal bar goes through the 8 cm loops. Maybe an earlier bar used the 5.5 cm loops which are in a more correct position according to regulations. Then, after receiving som Commander awards, he felt he had to put his medal bar in a higher position to match the Commander awards on the right breast. I doubt both loop pairs were used at the same time - I have never seen any Danish officer wearing his medals 'french style'. I would suggest his Dannebrog Commander Breast Star (actually it's a Cross) goes in the most prominent position using the 5.5 cm vertical loops (the distance between the hinge and the hook is actually 5.5 cm), and maybe the small Oldenburg Offizierskreuz would use the 2.5 cm loops. The loops along the right side buttons may have been used for other Commander badges. I know that Hussars are allowed to place them there, but I don't know about others (or maybe he just felt it looked better to put them there). /Mike

Mark, A note about finding the Frederik VIII Silver Merit Cross: Remember that all orders was/is to be returned upon the death of the recipient. They would then be re-cyphered (i.e. the 'F R VIII' cypher under the crown would be replaced by a newer cypher) and awarded again. This means that early specimens are not just hard to find because they are old, but very hard to find because they are old and removed from circulation... To give you an idea of the no. of Silver Merit Crosses awarded, I have listed some of them here: Christian IX (1863-1906): ~7000 Frederik VIII (1906-1912): ~1700 Christian X (1912-1947): ~12000 During the 2. Danish-Prussian war in 1864 the Silver Merit Cross was used as a decoration for bravery, hence the high number for Christian IX. Frederik VIII only reigned for 6 years, so they are very hard to find. /Mike

The length of the pin on the medal bar shown is 15 cm, but remember this is a 6 medal bar. The medals are attached to a hook sewn onto the back ribbon. I have 'pulled apart' a medal to show the principle /Mike P.S: Beautiful bar Brian, I remember seeing it in another thread.

Sure can (it has of course nothing to do with Nyholm - just an example of the Danish mounting). (in this case the 2 Dannebrog orders have been returned) /Mike

Not necessarily. Danish bars are fairly simple - if you have the orders on the trifolded ribbon (OK, that could be a challenge for the foreign awards...) it's just a matter of attaching them to a metal thingy. All the Danish mounted bars I have seen is mounted this way (the oldest being from the 1910s). Here is an example: /Mike

The last one seems to be the Finnish Skyddsk?rernas f?rtj?nstkors. I don't think it has a rosette - I think it's the top tunic button shining through. /Mike