Hauptmann

Hi all,

Just got back up from the bunker doing a bunch of scans. This has motivated me to scan all my ancients in the hope of posting to an ancients forum at some point to get them ID'd. I only have an ID of sorts on one in my collection. Anyhow here is my extremely humble contribution:

Group shot (obverse/reverse)

Row 1 (obverse/reverse)

Row 2 (obverse/reverse)

Hi all,

Here's is my extremely humble contribution... all I have save all the singles with the various awards in my DDR collection:

Also I've found this site to be very helpful:

http://www.medals.lava.pl/de/ddr.htm

Great thread! Hoping it goes for quite some time.

Dan

Hi all,

So... out of curiosity... and I know tons of this is still up in the air... but does this idiotic new law only apply to "named" pieces/groups... or only certain awards or basically any and all U.S. awards?

I don't have any named pieces. I'd posted what I have and have no idea if any of them are effected by all this or not:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=10730

I don't have any intention on selling any of it but it really ticks me off that due to this latest rubbish foisted on us by our moron politicians over here there's a potential of any or all of this now being worthless unless I take the risk of going on the black market. It's insane! As has been said, you'd think they'd have better things to do with their time and the money we pay them in taxes for them to turn around and stab us in the back like this! Cretins!!!! Well, like Rick said and I seconded in another post... they can come pry them out of my cold, dead hands!

Anyhow, opinions on where I stand with what I have and what, if any effect I'm facing would be welcome.

Thanks!!!!

Dan

Eduardo,

Thank you for the photos! I could not imagine being hit with one of those!

johan,

Thanks for sharing the photo. So you dont know how long the grave has been there? I would love to see what your relatives find!

Eric,

I will soak some of them in the oil. One thing I have pleny of is olive oil and TIME!

Regards

Paul

Hi Paul,

One thing on cleaning the coins though... be very careful not to remove any green patina! That is "extremely" desireable on ancient coins and folks tend to pay a premium for that.

I've got a few ancients I can post... will have to pop down and do some scanning. Nothing fancy, and no silver yet. Well, I have one I got as a kid that I'm not sure about. Took it to a coin dealer who dabbles in ancients but he couldn't ID it one way or the other.

But I've got to say... everyone certainly has some beautiful ancient collections going here. Barry... fantastic collection! I envy you. I've been after just one nice silver for so many years I don't even like to think about it. I guess I got spoiled once when I was in a coin shop and spotted the most beautiful silver Roman coin I'd ever seen in my life. Was only just under $60 and yet I was just short of that at the time. Had planned to go back. But he'd been robbed a couple of times, got rather paranoid and finally got out of the business. A shame as he had some terrific pieces. So I never was able to get that one. Whenever I look at another one I flash back to that and end up seeing how, at least in my mind, the ones I'd currently be looking at pale in comparison to that one. It was a nice sized piece... between the sizes of a U.S. nickel and quarter dollar. Seems anything in a decent size range like that always goes for more than I have to put out. But I haven't given up yet.

But I must say, your's are gorgeous and certainly meet or exceed the quality of the strike, etc., that I recall from that one all those years ago.

Thanks so much for sharing and I'd like to second Eduardo's motion that we should have a section to cover ancient items like these. Fascinating and sooooo much history in ones hands!

Dan

Richard -

Very nice Order of Merit of Hunarian Freedom collection you have there! Now all you need is the first type!. Here is another recent aquisition.

1976 Order of Merit for the Socialist Hungary. It was to be bestowed "at the end of a long time of meritorious work, cosisting of the exemlary activity for the society, acknowledged by a structured life of seriving in part of the government and armed forces" the order was bestowed 1965 times betweeen 1976 and 1989. It carried with it an addiotinal one time pension bonus of 8000 Hungarian Forint. (about 8 months salary)

Hi Charles,

WOW! I'm in love again!!!! That's ecquisite! Absolutely beautiful!!!!

Now I'm guessing that it's super rare and really pricey, right? That's the way my luck tends to run with goodies I like this much. Please let me know though as if it's anywhere within my range at some point I'd sure love one of them.

What type of case did it come in? Did it have classes or only just this one? Anything on the reverse? Takes my breath away... I just can't say enough about it.

Thanks!

Dan

Dan you have a really nice collection now

The lesson on the MMM, you got from me lately, was: "NEVER EVER leave any stuff laying around, when Kid?s are close" But who could have been mad about him, his intentions were good and he really did a good job polishing that Medal, i have to admit it. No worries, it will develop some patina again with the time...

I miss my Homeland At least its in good hands

Great stuff, mate

Gerd

Hi Gerd,

Very true... but as you say one could never be mad of him for doing it. He did mean well and he did indeed do a good job. And of course many vets would polish their awards so not like it was anything different than they would have done. Give it time and mother nature will put a nice new patina on it and as I say perhaps it'll be even better than the first one.

I'll let your Homeland know that dad says hi and says greetings from across the pond. You'll definitely have to come visit sometime and see how it's doing. But plenty of friends to keep it company, that's for sure!

Many thanks my friend.

Dan

The safety-pin-suspension on MMM # 1758993, post # 36.

Ahh yes... that one is a hoot isn't it? But it's just as I got it so I've just let it be. You just never know what you're going to find when collecting these things. Tons of oddball stuff out there.

Thanks again,

Dan

Hi Gents,

Charles... sorry to say I don't have pics of any of the others. Hopefully Gordon will be able to come up with some (thanks Gordon! ).

Dan

Very classy!

Hi Peter,

Many thanks! I only wish I'd gotten one of their naval daggers and whatever others they had at the time as they were really cheap... about $35 each... including the hangars in most cases!

Dan

Nice collection! And a nice Military Merit Medal suspension

Hi Ferdinand,

Welcome to the club. And many thanks for the compliment. On the MM... which one/post #?

Dan

That glory has seen a bit of wear and tear huh..... excess polishing? Considering it should date end of 60's ...........

Never seen one with ALL detail on the tower wiped totally clean!

All the best Dan.

Jim

Hi Jim,

Yeah, the vet must have been super proud of it and just kept polishing away for every parade and event you can think of. I do hope it's an indication of something good that got it for him... or her for that matter. Hopefully I'll be able to find out down the road.

Thanks,

Dan

Wow Dan,

You realy have a geat collection, keep up the good work

Order of Victory

Hi Vic,

Mucho thanks my friend! Again nothing really eye poppingly extraordinary our exceedingly rare but to me every little bit is history in ones hands. Every piece has a story to tell. Thank goodness with the numbered Orders that we're able to get that story... at least a good bit of the time. I simply can't wait to start being able to research what I can.

And hey, you're doing very well on your various collections and sets too. Congrats again on your latest coup. I know you'll let the cat out of the bag but assuming you're waiting till it arrives. Hope it's soon! In fact, I nearly get more excited waiting on everyone else to get goodies when I know they're coming then when I have stuff coming to me... and that's saying alot. Definitely can't wait to see great scans of your newest prize. That's one set I've definitely got to get put together myself one of these days.

Thanks again,

Dan

Gentlemen,

Have the oppurtunity to purchase this helmet:

http://surl.se/qms

Beeing the possible first Japanese helmet that I buy, I would like some opinions on it. Obviously missing chin strap, and maybe repainted too? Looks like a lighter shade of yellow under the mustard brown colour. Is the insignia original to the helmet? Some more wear around it would maybe be a better sign of originality?

Hope anyone can help me.

Regards,

Henrik

Hi Henrik,

If there's any way you can see this in person... smell it. If a repaint, paint tends to leave an odor for a surprising number of years. The star looks like the standard type they used but perhaps kind of funny that it go so much rust and not the area around it.

I had one of these walk into my room once many moons ago. A friend's dad had sent it back from the war. When he came back he'd forgotten all about it. It was stored at his mom's house in the attic. It was like pristine mint and very complete... but no star or any insignia on the outside as I recall. Even the chinstrap was tied in the proper manner. I should have hung onto it. But number one I had no idea they would go up like they did. And at the time I had eyes for little other than German items and particularly those from WWII. And then, I tried to buy it back from the guy I sold it to a few years later and he wouldn't let it go. Even tried having some mutual friends try... no luck. No idea where it is now. Oh the dumb things we do at times.

I know good complete untouched examples tend to go for what I'd consider a mint, especially compared with all those years ago. But as far as repaints and messed with examples... no idea. Of course alot depends on the price too. If it's a song... and it was me and I had it to spare I'd probably consider going for it. If it's high book then I'd definitely want to get it checked by as many more eyes as I could.

Hopefully one of the other members with alot more experience on these will pop on and give you a helpful hand.

Best of luck with it. Hope it turns out.

Dan

Dan,

some nice cuttlery you got there there!

Thanks for the pics. The portepee on the Heeres Dolch is not the right one. The one shown on your polaoid is from a Sabre.

The value of the Bayonet Knot is around $60 to $90

Take care, Hardy

Hi Hardy,

Wow, many thanks for the compliment! They love the attention. Glad I got it right on the one on the Army dagger... figured it was for a sword. But still wish I'd not left it go. Any idea on the unit, etc? How about on the one that's in pieces?

On the Bayo one... you're kidding? And to think I've just had this stuff sitting in a drawer all this time. If I could get that kind of $$'s for it I think I might consider letting it go... could use that right now to take care of something else more in line with my current lines of collecting. And again I've never been into these so in a way would prefer someone who is to get it and be able to enjoy it and take care of it.

Very nice to know it's something of value and importance. I think it was in with a box of assorted stuff I got... either that or I picked it up from a bits and pieces table or box somewhere along the way. Just been too long and can't remember. Well over twenty years ago I'm sure.

Mucho thanks!

Dan

Oh, if anyone has a way to make the images of the blades look better... lighter, etc., I'd be most abliged if they want to try their hand at it.

Thanks,

Dan

Hi all,

How about sword, dagger, bayonet and knife blades? Especially in the case of anything engraved... can they be restored to even some semblance of their former glory if they've been mistreated in the past? Reason I ask is I have a hunting sword with a double engraved blade which was fingered and not wiped down long before I owned it. When I got it the damage was already done.

Here's pics of the blade:

And the full post on this:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=14313

It's the last of three items covered in that post.

Then on that one as well as this sword:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=14286

there's been separation of the stitching that holds the leather scabbards together on the one side. Is there any way to restore those... or should they be left alone? Granted the leather is old so my fear is that a restoration might end up causing more problems then it solves... but figured I'd ask as I'm sure I'm not the only one out there with blades or leather items that have these problems.

Thanks,

Dan

Here, here! I second the motion! Can't wait to see it in all it's glory. I know it'll be fabulous!

Godspeed on getting it all finished.

Dan

Again, there's probably nothing earth shattering here... but if nothing else I think they are interesting. I hope some of you share that view.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look.

Dan

Now this one I know is an Imperial German hunting sword. I got it at one of my first shows. I think the seller was asking $90 but we chatted for a bit... it was close to the end of the show and I walked out with it at $75. No idea if I did well or not. It has a couple of problems, at least. One, it's missing one of the acorn decorations on the grip. Second, the stitching on much of the leather on the one side has given way with age. Third, this is definitely an example of a mishandled blade that was not cared for. And a shame too as it has a beautiful scene engraved on each side. Again no idea if there's a way to restore this blade to more of it's original glory.

Anyhow I gave this to Kim and every time someone would come over and see the den (where she keeps it) she very proudly points out that that is one of her pieces. She's always been very happy with it, warts and all. I'd love to get her an even nicer one some day so that's yet another goal sitting around waiting to be fulfilled.

Okay, now for the other one from that group. I'm assuming this is an old hunting dagger. As with the foil there was no scabbard. What you see is what I got. Again nothing fancy... but I've always been curious to learn more about it if possible.

Hi all,

Okay... after an entire day waiting for the photos to get downloaded I've finally got what I need for this post. First up is one that I got from an ad in the paper. A lady was selling off her late husbands collection. To be honest, she didn't have anything spectacular by the look of things. A Sears .22 rifle from the 60's or 70's, a few swords and knives... which honestly looked touristy or maybe good... maybe not (hopefully we'll find out on at least a couple of them soon, and a few canes. She really seemed determined to sell them even though I told her there just wasn't much value there and most of it was really not much good for what I collected. But she was so insistant that finally I just made her an offer of $100 for the lot more or less because I thought she'd consider it too little and decide to just keep the ad in and sell to others. But she said that would be fine... so I gave her her money, loaded up the stuff and went home. I've basically had all the stuff sitting around for ages ever since.

So first off is what I'm assuming is a foil. It looks old... may be "good" or may just be tourist made... no idea. Either way, here it is:

At the time (I hope rightly) in my limited knowledge I felt that this was not proper for a German Army Officers dagger nor would it have been properly worn on the scabbard as opposed to around the grip. So I carefully removed it. I truly hope I did not do the wrong thing as then I'll feel all the worse for the entire situation.

Here are the pics of the "extra":

As you can see... other than the colors they are still very similar. Over time and with them having been out of sight out of mind for so long at the time and for whatever reason stored in different places in my den I ended up making the mistake. God how I wish I'd pulled them all out, along with the Polaroid and checked before I dove in. Even if he'd not wanted the damaged one... I'd rather have made less and still had my Uncles bring back to keep it with the rest. Lord knows enough of his stuff went to the four winds that I was supposed to inherit and place with the collection to be handed down in the family. Arrrrrgh!

Anyhow, I'm hoping perhaps you or one of the other members might be able to tell something about these other pieces. This has definitely not been an area I've even come close to specializing in or actively collecting so any knowledge will certainly be a blessing... and perhaps make me less dangerous in future.

I'm also wondering come to think of it... if there's any possibility of repairing the leather on this somehow? It's the way I got it, except for the fact that it had that old style tape wrapped around the broken ends... the kind with the stringy material in it, that all disintegrates when it gets old. I've removed all that. Again not sure if it's worth fooling with or not.

Many thanks!!!!

Dan

Okay... just got back up from the bunker, scrounging and scanning and such. Hoping this will all show up well enough to do some good. At least perhaps I'll now know what I had and if the other is of any consequence or not.

First off, one of the original pics from my Uncle showing his daggers:

And some closeups: