Hauptmann

Hi Joel,

Hope you're having a very Merry Christmas and hoping also that you got another box full of IC's. If not... hoping you at least got some neat militaria goodies!

Dan

Hi all,

Hope no one minds me popping this in here but as I think it will be of interest to those in this section I thought I'd go ahead. Was afraid many might not see it down in the Cinema section. I don't have a specific link... but you might want to check out the trailer for the new Clint Eastwood movie coming out. It's the sequel to Flags Of Our Fathers and is called Letters From Iwo Jima. It's the battle seen from the eyes of the Japanese, both an officer and an enlisted man and from what I can see it's going to be in Japanese for the most part with sub titles. Looks good from what I've seen.

I saw it on the main MSN page which has all the news and such. Go to the entertainment section, click on the first article and then look to the right of that page that comes up and you should see some trailers, one of which will hopefully be for this one depending on when you look. Or do a general search for Letters From Iwo Jima trailer and hopefully you'll luck out.

I haven't see the first one yet but definitely want to... especially as I definitely want to see this one.

Dan

Good question Dan, I`ve seen Lima half crowns for between ?15 & ?40. Couldn`t say for full crowns, as I`ve never seen any for sale. The Vigo type again, I`ve only ever seen a half crown and that was for nearly ?300 if I recall correctly! Hope this helps.

Gordon.

Hi Gordon,

Many thanks! Might be able to afford one of the half crowns in that range... at least down the road (knock on wood) but methinks the others will be a bit out of my range. Of course one never knows what might crawl out of the woodwork some day.

Merry Christmas!

Dan

Hi all,

Just wondered what examples of some of these might run? I know it probably can vary by dates and definitely by condition but just a rough idea if possible.

Thanks,

Dan

And last but not least... one of my favorite parts of the entire design:

I'd love to see other examples.

Dan

Hi all,

Here's another on I figured I'd redo with scans since I got the scanner after I'd posted this one. Again it's one of my favorites due to it's design elements. Just has it all.

Historical relevance is something I was thinking about when I picked this up. It has only come out of the box once(to see how it worked). It will never come out again, other than as a conversation piece. I quit smoking last year anyway!

Hi Paul,

Very interesting piece. Ugly but a piece of history nonetheless.

On another topic, congrats on quitting smoking! I'm always overjoyed when I hear that someone has... especially folks I care about. My dad smoked from the time he was 12 with few breaks until his death a few years back. He died from N stage lung disease. I grew up in a virtual cloud of smoke... him and most of my relatives and his friends all puffing away with absolutely no concern about how it might affect anyone much less a young child. Today I have asthma which they now feel might be brought on by being around smokers when you're young. Joy!

Believe you me, this is one of the best things you ever could have done. I pray it adds many years to your life and that you'll be happier as a result. Not to mention all the money you save to invest in other things... say militaria.

Dan

Hi all,

Number one, this is all exactly like the gun laws. It seems it's already confusing enough and no one really seems to know exactly what it all means. What this means is, it can be interpreted... or misinterpreted at will by any idiot government official or law enforcement official... many of whom are dumber than a bag of hammers.

I mean, look at one gun law as a for instance. Try asking just about anyone, in the know or otherwise, if it's legal to put a bayonet on an SKS rifle. You'll get a different answer or interpretation of the law from everyone you ask. Believe me, I've tried. I finally decided it's not worth the hassle or the risk. I have a Chinese SKS as well as both types of bayos. The bayos stay separate from the gun. It ticks me off royally as the folding bayo was one of the things I really liked about the SKS. Only way around it is to spend yet more money I don't have to buy one on which it's legal to put on the bayo. Arrrrrgh!!!! Either that or I have to spend more to replace at least ten parts on it with U.S. made equivalents in order for it not to be considered an imported gun. Double arrrrrgh! They get you coming, going or standing still. I mean, for crying out loud, an SKS is an SKS. What earthly difference does it make where it was made or when or whether it was made for civilians or the military? It's the same exact rifle!!!! And Lord knows that one can kill a whole lot more people with the bayonet attached to the end of it than you can with several full magazines loaded to the brim! Insanity!!!!

All this is going to do is cause alot of confusion and alot of heart ache to a bunch of innocent people and the ones that it's meant to stop will figure some way to get around it. And there were so few of them to begin with it's not funny.

Number two, I hate to see anyone say they don't collect US so it doesn't concern them. I heard the same thing from some friends in Florida who are hunters... they felt the gun laws would not affect their hunting guns. Think again! They will keep going until it's illegal to breath! At least unless you pay heavy taxes on it and buy permits and licenses, etc.

My family has fought for freedom both in and out of the military going back to the Revolution. We've fought political idiocy and have also fought very hard against the anti-gunners pushing for more and more stupid, confusing laws. In fact we nearly went bankrupt doing just that.

And guess what... no parades, no fireworks... no one cares. After a while one gets tired of it all. We fight, nothing changes, or it does for a short time until it all starts all over again.

Don't get me wrong... I really hope this can all be worked out so it will "only" effect the ones who were really trying to steal honor... but that it won't hurt legitimate, honest and law abiding collectors, dealers, historians, vets, families of vets, etc.

But short of writing letters to congressmen, etc, the only other thing to do is vote out the morons who do these things and vote in some who hopefully won't. And to my way of thinking anymore, all politicians are crooked as a dogs hind leg. Party doesn't matter... they want power and money and don't care a bit about "We The People". Far too many attorneys running our country and it's been that way for a long time. How about some common, down to earth blokes who aren't multi millionaires getting a crack at it? How about folks who feel it's a dirty job but someone has to do it and they feel they might be able to make a difference. No... we get rich, fat cat attorneys and those who have made a family career out of serving... er, living... off the government and the people in this country. Nothing changes. More and more stupid, senseless and unnecessary laws keep getting passed and no one is held accountable.

Well, they want my stuff... same as Rick... they can come pry it from my cold dead hands!

Sorry for the rant, but like many others this has really touched a sensitive nerve in me.

But I will say... I do hope I've not offended or insulted any of my fellow members as that is definitely not my intention. But when I saw this I simply had to speak my mind... of course that and five bucks might get me a cup of coffee. But at least I feel a bit better now. At least for now we still have freedom of speech over here in the good old US of A... at least until they figure out how to put a stop to that too.

Dan

Hi all,

Here's my contribution... Mecklenburg-Schwerin: Friedrich Franz Military Merit Cross 1.kl/2.kl.

And my original post for anyone interested... I've redone scans as I didn't have my scanner at the time I originally posted these. And I discovered that somehow the part of the post I'd done on the 1.kl had disappeared.

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=8419...mp;#entry133088

Dan

And last but not least a group shot:

Thanks for looking,

Dan

First Class:

The ring in closeup to show marks:

Hi all,

Was checking this post I'd done to grab pics to use in another newer post and discovered that somehow my pics and info on my First Class have disappeared. No idea if it's due to the upgrade or what. I know I'd posted the First and had even gotten comments on it.

Anyhow since I did the pics before I got my scanner I figured I'd use this opportunity to redo and repost scans of these... so without further ado:

Second Class:

Thanks Gents! Nice to have a confirmation that it's actually a good piece. I didn't pay much for it which I guess is why I figured it might be a copy. And then once I got the red bible and it didn't seem to have the most complete maker markings on the ring as shown in the book that there was still a chance of that. But after being a numismatist for most of my life I know how often things can go awry at the mint with things not being stamped right or at all and that often quality control can be a bit lacking.

Many thanks for the help on this one. Guess I'll have to post her in the regular Soviet section.

Dan

I agree! Very impressive collection!! I love the cased badge!

Hi Paul,

Thank you very much! I'm especially glad that you also like the cased award. Again I've had these forever and a day and although I never specialized in HJ (or any one thing or area as I'm sure everyone can tell from the wide variety of items I've posted over time. ) I really do love this grouping. The dagger always fascinated me due to the pressed paper used to simulate leather for the strap and such. I've shown that to so many people and they're always amazed that paper could be used in that way and would actually work much less survive for such a long time under Lord knows what kind of conditions and use. They really came up with some ingenious ersatz items in both wars. But as they say necessity is the mother of invention.

Again many thanks for your kind words and praise. Really helps to start the day off just right.

Dan

Hi, the Bann appears to be Aachen-Stadt (Bann 25). This Bann belonged to Gebiet 11 K?ln-Aachen. The word under the Bann number is 'Verwaltung' which means administration so I think your box probably held documets and paperwork for someone involved in running the Bann. Might have been the Bannf?hrer himself, who knows

Hi Xen,

Many thanks for this additional info. Glad to finally get it a bit more narrowed down. Shame the entire box didn't survive intact but I'm glad to at least have this small piece of it.

Dan

I saw this guy on ebay, curious about the awards and uniform. They said it was early 30's

Hi Sal,

Believe he's an Austrian. Will have to leave it to more expert eyes to tell you more.

Dan

And a closer shot of the first one:

Can't figure out how this new software layout works with pics yet. Tried to put both shots in one but for some reason it wouldn't let me.

Anyhow here's the other shot:

Oh, and no idea what the blue marks are... can't see them except in the scan.

Here's some additional closeup shots of the ring. Seems one side has the makers mark letters but not the other... which may mean it wasn't stamped or was poorly stamped... or that it is indeed a copy and not an original. Really need an opinion on this one one way or the other.

Hi Andreas,

Many thanks for sharing another example. I noticed that yours seems to have more detail than mine and I believe many copies are like mine, having less detail so they're easier to see for what they are.

Dan

beautiful pieces!

Many thanks! Was overjoyed when I received the package and saw all this great stuff. Three cheers (and perhaps a ten gun salute) to Charles! Just a terrific gift and I'm most grateful.

Dan

Hi all,

Got this early on as a "wearing copy"... ie: a copy:

[attachmentid=63235]

[attachmentid=63236]

Dan