Great Dane

I would estimate the value of your cross to be $2-300. Best price would be obtained if it was sold in Denmark, I think. If you add "up for auction" to that auction description, it would probably be more accurate... /Michael

Never ever heard of this, so quite interesting! Thanks. /Michael

I think it's "Brücken Kolonne" instead of "Kolonie"... I would translate "Ober" to something like "Senior" (as in Senior Sgt., Senior Engineer etc.). /Mike

Second battle of Ypres? Poison gas? Tell us, tell us...! /Michael

Ooohh... Beautiful A former Thies lot, if I'm not mistaken... Do you have any photos of him wearing this bar? P.S: Apologies to the OP for hijacking the thread /Michael I'm asking because I'm trying to get photos of the last decoration (the Golden Wedding Anniversary of King Chr. IX and Queen Louise) in wear for all the different recipients. /Mike

I think you're right. In my book of Elephant knights he is listed as "Albrecht Christian Adolf Karl Eugen". Must be an error, since his other first names are the same as your guy's. /Michael

Komtur, Who is the gentleman in the first photo in your first post? I know the file name indicates "Albert Prinz zu Schleswig-Hostein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg", but is it in fact "Albrecht Prinz zu Schleswig-Hostein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg"? The reason for my doubt is that I can't find any Albert as a recipient of the Danish Order of the Elephant whose breast star he seems to be wearing... /Michael

Could it be for the commemorative cross for the Schleswig-Holstein army for the 1848 Danish-Prussian war? (the one made of blackened iron) /Mike

Absolutely possible. The Dannebrog cross is the King Frederik IX version (1947-1972). Hard to see if it's silver or silvergilt from the picture. If silver it was awarded after 1952 when the Knight class was split in two. If silvergilt and no rosette on ribbon it was awarded 1947-1952. (Someone should make the front of the award face forward...) /Michael

I you have $76.000 to spare, eMedals in Canada has the Garter - allegedly - belonging to the 1st Duke for sale: Duke of Wellington's Garter /Mike

Yes, "well done" will probably fit You know more about this than me, but I have always been a bit surprised of how many (very) unofficial medals are allowed to be worn on Swedish medal bars (not talking about the one in question). I have often seen high ranking Swedish officers with medal bars with 12-14 medals, of which half were for Automobile clubs, Yacht clubs, Shooting associations etc. /Michael

Yes, it does look like Dragsted's silver stamp and a little Googling of the motto lead me to an article mentioning that "Actuosa Provolo" was the motto for Danish "Fugleværneforeningen Svalen" (bird protection association "The Swallow"). So Danish it seems to be, but I'm a bit surprised to see it mounted as an 'official' medal. /Mike

Sorry, never seen anything Danish even remotely similar... /Michael

Including foreigners? /Mike

Interesting indeed... I wonder how old stuff has to be to be handed over to the state? Different countries, different laws? If I find a gold coin from, say 1985, in my back yard can I keep it? /Michael

The second from the right is the Swedish "King Oscar II Silver Jubilee Commemorative Medal". It came in 3 versions - light blue (for royalty), dark blue (for lower ranks) and dark red (for Norwegians). /Michael

Could "FYRB" be short for "fyrbøter" (= stoker) ? /Mike

Not unheard of. I know of a dealer who usually multiplies the hammer price by 3 before putting the items on his own webshop. Whether it's a good strategy or not I don't know... the turnaround time for his items seems to be measured in years... /Mike

Pulled from Ebay by the seller due to "an error in the listing"... /Mike

I suspect that someone took a genuine death card (it doesn't look manipulated to me, but it's hard to tell) and decided to 'dress it up' before selling it on. Unfortunately that same someone couldn't read fracture script very well, so got the name wrong on the fabricated case. Any research on Ostar Kraus obviously came out with nothing, hence the very generic description of what the regiment was doing. /Mike

The name on the death card seems to be Oskar Kraus, not "Ostar" as stated on the (fake?) case... /Michael

Hi Alex, Last one looks like one of the (prussian?) war medals with text "Unsern tapfern kriegern 18xx". /Michael

Yes, yes, of course. I meant if there was any way apart from the center medallion to tell what is up and down (it looks symmetrical to me)? If not, my bet is on that the medallion came loose at some point and someone fastened it without noticing the error. /Mike Great looking piece, by the way

Could it be the center medallion that's turned 90 degrees? Are there other way to tell what is up and down? /Mike

Hi Franca, PM sent. /Mike