Steve K.

Hi Christophe and Daniel It is a sweet bar!! I knew it had a good pedigree Daniel!! Cheers, Steve

Beautiful set Rick!! I saw that one myself...... Will you get the document translated?

Rick and David Thank you for the quick replies, and the information. Kindest Regards Steve

**** Attn: Note from ChrisB.... I have caused CHAOS! but for a reason..... we had a few dozen long lost threads about buckles which I have now merged. Down side is, sometimes it is not obvious to see which text goes with which buckle... but feel free to post questions... there were some really nice buckles posted and I decided it was worth the Chaos to not loose sight of those threads completely, thanks :-) Chris **** Can anyone tell me who may have worn this buckle and its time of use? Leather is stamped in three lines: BERNH. HAARMAN..... METALLWARENEA..... LUDENSCH...... umlauts over the 'U' in the last line, naturally.. I'm not a buckle maven, so any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Steve

My contribution to the bars....simple, with a nice Bavarian crown device.

Deruelle Stunning bar Love the White Falcon order!!! Steve

Can anyone tell me the approximate age of this buckle and who may have worn it?

Here, Here....I mean...Hear, Here.......uhhh..just easier to do this....... Thank Goodness for Rick Research!!! I can offer only 1 of these....direct from the other twin.....but please, let me drool over the white falcon bar for a bit!!

Hey, You put 'fun' in my 'education'.... No, you got 'eduction' on my 'fun'..... Two great tastes... (wait, that doesn't work!)..... I would like to use my discount on a bar that says 'SOLD'. How do I do that?

Friedrich order is kinda low grade (or odd precedence) for this officer..........(still...need...baby steps!)

Whoa! How many states are represented? Let's count.....

Back with hand-made screwing plane in aluminum..

Francois, Beautiful badges!! So tough to find as factory produced screwbacks! I've been looking for one for a long time. Not factory produced but it's my only screwback. Assman RO 1st pattern in aluminum. Definately in the realm of repair/modification/'exotica', but I love it! Cheers, Steve

Panzerpionier, There is none. Steve

It seems to be a consistent trend on Ebay: Bad stuff sells stupidly high while alot of real stuff sells low ( sells low only if you know where to look and are willing to let it go when it reaches market value....unless you REALLY want it!)

Jacques Thank you for the information. I had always thought this was '36-'39 time period award. Where can I find the correct information to reference? I thought there was a good website...but I can't remember the address right now.... My apologies for posting this since it's not in the correct time frame. It's still a beautiful navy award!! @Panzerpionier, Here is the worn mark for the jeweler on the inside of the case.

Ed, I agree. More "Spanish" than "Spanish Civil War" but I believe Raeder received one of these for delivering the Naval Aid requested. The German Navy's involvement in the Spanish Civil always seems to play second fiddle to the Luftwaffe. And it's more of a Breast Star than a Grand Cross!

Jeweler's name and address is marked on the inside of the box "CEJALVO .... MADRID". Cheers, Steve

Sal I'm glad you like it! Rarely do these show up. The box is even more rare!!

Here is my contribution to the Spanish Civil War Section: Alfonso XIII Naval Military Merit Star with case. A not often seen cross. There is a picture (somewhere) of Raeder wearing this cross...I believe it is in Bender's Legion Condor book. Enjoy!

Dave I like that cross!! Hinge is definately from the 1930s, but I've never seen a cyphered AF with crown I. Klasse. I never knew these existed!! I thought these were only seen as II. Klasse. Also, I've only seen I. Klasse crosses having the date incuse-relief. As far as the first cross I presented here, all I can say is that I'm glad you returned it to the dealer! I have not seen this hinge on any faked crosses yet, but maybe I should look more closely at those fakes on Ebay. I looked at the one Ebay auction you noted in your first post above and the pin/hinge combination on that cross is different from mine, and also the date font is not typical. If you look at the "4" in the date on mine you will see that the arms flare out along any length, giving the font a 3-D feel. The font used in the fakes are very "block-like", squared, with not much detailing. Just my observations...and why I like my cross compared to others. Cheers, Steve

Hi David The "TAPFER UND TREU" StK I. without the bottom date are also difficult to find. Here is the only one that has made it to my collection. It is buntmetal as you can see the base metal brassy color showing through on the highlights, so again I believe it may have been produced 1920s-1930s. It's alittle beat up but there are no casting faults and good signs of construction details. From the Ohm-Hieronymussen book, he reports "Fur Tappferkeit" I. Klasse 21 awarded and 398 "Tapfer und Treu" I. Klasse awarded. That is the source from which I've been getting information. The cross from Herr KW's site came to my house for a short time, but was quickly returned. The obverse details are horrible and show signs of casting, although he does not agree. I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole, and the resulting conversations with him on this cross and our dealings surrounding the return has strained our relationship. I've seen maybe 3 StK I. Klasse on Ebay.de over the past few years. The only one I liked sold about 2 years ago for nearly 800 USD and it came with a case. My bank account couldn't afford it at the time, so I had to sit and watch it go to someone else.

Hellooo Stogie-Rick It's good to be here!!!

Hi Rick I too would love to see the Strelitzer rolls compiled, but incomplete information makes the task frustrating, I can only imagine! @David, What a wonderful Mecklenburg picture and document!! My heart skipped a beat when I saw the photo! Steve

Hello David Here are better photos of the hinge and catch. The scans can be deceiving. I look through German and US Ebay twice a week and I am well aware that great fakes exist, but I'm not convinced yet that this is one of those (but I could be wrong!! ). Steve