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Don't mention it, maybe we shouldn't talk about people who look like they came straight out of Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut"

José Mujica opened the first Book fair in Andrićgrad in June. During that occasion he was awarded with Order of the Flag of Republic of Srpska with Golden Wreath.

The order looked like that to me, that's why I ended first post about it with question "How is this possible?" The first thing that was confusing me is the fact that there was a lot of dirt on the order and after I thoroughly cleaned it those yellowish parts appeared, so they could not be that easily removed. I have no idea what could that be, they were covering too much of order to be a factory flaw, I doubt that someone painted the order and that can't be patina, but who knows I was wrong once, maybe I'm wrong again. Second thing, when you look at that last photo I've posted it looks like silver plate is on yellowish base not the other way around. Anyway this was bothering me so much that I tried cleaning it again but nothing happened. After that I tried mechanically removing it and it finally came off. I hate doing any kind of interventions but like you said it just wasn't logical so I had to know. In the end one thing is certain, the order is made out of some white metal, it remains to be seen if it's silver.

Yes, the resemblance is obvious. Comparison with medal from my collection.

I did a little research and stumbled upon it on FB in a folder named "Insignie of St. Michael Order of Knights". Photos can also be found here.

Thanks for the tip! Perhaps the problem with some of the images is the fact that there is no space between the codes, it looks like this ".jpghttp://". Maybe they would be visible if we separated them. Also I've noticed there's a problem with Serbian letters both Cyrillic alphabet and Latin letters that don't exist in English. Can something be done about that? For example take a look at this topic. I apologize for going so much off-topic but I'd be happy if some of those issues could be solved. If everything has to be done manually I'd be more than willing to help.

Everything looks OK to me. I think I've seen that order before, if I remember well it was in a private collection in Slovenia.

It looks like Rothe to me but their orders were marked with FR.

Second Serbian Uprising Commemorative Medal (Војна споменица поводом 200 година Другог српског устанка). Separate topic about it can be found here.

Silver Medal for Zealous Service (Сребрна медаља за ревносну службу). Incorrect ribbon, photos found here.

Silver Medal for Merits (Сребрна медаља за заслуге). Photos found here.

Silver Medal for Bravery "Miloš Obilić" (Сребрна медаља за храброст „Милош Обилић“). Photos found here.

I think they are awarding only documents, otherwise we would probably have the opportunity to see the orders on website of Hereditary Prince of Montenegro, Serbia and Albania. Awarding ceremonies, images found on HRH Prince Predrag Jakovljevic De Obrenovic of Serbia FB page.

Medal for Zealous Military Service - 10 Years (Војна спомен-медаља за ревносну војну службу за 10 година). Photos found here.

Perhaps he could then reintroduce old Obrenović dynasty decorations, oops, someone already did that Takovo and Miloš awarded to His Imperial and Royal Highness Stephan Tchernetich, Hereditary Prince of Montenegro, Serbia and Albania, photos found here. Obrenović Royal House webiste: http://www.royalhouseofobrenovic.org/en/

Medal for Zealous Military Service - 20 Years (Војна спомен-медаља за ревносну војну службу за 20 година). I'm not sure where from are these pics, ebay maybe.

Medal for Zealous Military Service - 10 Years (Војна спомен-медаља за ревносну војну службу за 10 година). Photos found here.

Greetings Georg and thank you for expressing your opinion. When I got this order it was in terrible shape, apart from the damage you can see it looked like as if it was submerged in some kind of oil. That wasn't patina but some black stuff which I barely cleaned. I never clean decorations but this one was in so bad state that I had to do something. You can still see traces of that black thing on couple of places, especially on the screw nut. Perhaps that's the reason why the gilt looks strange. I made couple of photos, I hope this one can show that the silver plate is lost. That doesn't look like a trace of golden color or anything left over after gilding, silver plate layer is on top. Unfortunately I'm not able to test the order, but I would be very surprised if it turned out to be silver, I think that's not very likely.

I think that you are right! The painting is work of Stevan Todorović and it was made in 1881. My guess about the date was based on his decorations. A year or two ago I read some newspaper article about a book in which the author claims that Milan was father of Winston Churchill. Apparently Milan was lover of Churchill's mother and aunt. How much of this is true I don't know, just thought it might be interesting to mention.

Commemorative Medal for Participation in the Military Parade "Belgrade 2014" (Војна споменица за учешће на војној паради "Београд 2014.") Photos found here.

I stumbled upon this remarkable photo on ebay. His right side: 1) Montenegrin Order of Danilo 2) French Legion of Honor 3) Italian Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus 4) Romanian Star Around the neck: Russian Order of St. George His left side: 1) Austro-Hungarian Order of St. Stephen 2) Order of Takovo 3) Russian Order of St. Andrew? 4) Ottoman Order of Osmanieh 5) Austro-Hungarian Order of Leopold 6) ??? Medals: 7) Wars for Liberation and Independence Commemorative Medal 8) Romanian Medal of Military Virtue 9) Romanian Defenders of Independence Medal 1877-78 Photo was made in Novi Sad, part of Austria-Hungary back then. Based on that I think he's most likely wearing sash of the Order of St. Stephen. My guess is that the photo was made in the early 1880s.

You are welcome! That's just my opinion. I have the same type of 2nd class order with a smaller number. One thing has been puzzling me ever since I go it. Silverplate has been lost on some parts and you can clearly see yellowish metal underneath. At the same time central part has been damaged and the metal underneath has silver color! How is this possible?

Greetings Georg, Take a look at type 1C above. The seller claimed he tested it with acid and it came positive. I kind of suspected it's really silver and bought it anyway because I didn't have that variant. When it arrived I noticed he really tested it but once I got it in my hands I could see there's no way it's really silver. So what's the deal, I think these orders are silverplated and people are not doing the acid test the way it should be done. Here's a nice explanation I found online: "If you attempt to test your items yourself, make sure you take a sample from well below the silverplate. Silverplate will show a positive test for silver if you apply acid directly on to it. You must make a deep groove in the piece so you are below the plating before you can apply your acid. This is the most accurate way to test silver by yourself, as this is the method most jewelers use."

You are most welcome, Markus. I'm glad if my replies were helpful. Some of the Rothe's and Scheid's depictions of St. Sava are the most beautiful ones to me. Whether 1st type or not one thing is certain, absolutely amazing order and a great catch! Once again my congrats, I hope you'll have the star in your hands soon!

Quickly made comparison, there are differences but they are pretty similar.