Richarddwh

Trakkles, Thank you for your help and the link the auction catalogue, it is worth me saving and printing as I've struggled to find any affordable books on the subject, I plan to get Mericka's book at some point. I'm quite shocked by the price of the medal, €250 for that medal alone makes the bar a bargain.

I recently acquired this bar, at €50 I thought it was a decent price. I've dipping my to in to Austro-Hungarian waters for a couple of years, but I don't recognise the medal on the right. Can someone put me out of my misery? Apologies of the duff photos!

Hi William, In another thread on hanseatenkreuz, I made a point regarding the suspension ring. On such crosses I always favour a flattened in profile large ring. Your Bremen cross on the right appears not to possess this. I assume the cross on the left does have this. The cross on the right looks to be of quality I believe it may be of later manunfacture possibly during the Weimar period. Just my opinion.

Looks Turkish to me.

There is a lot of detail on these that would make it difficult to do a good job of producing a convincing copy. Though I am sure someone has tried! Better pics would help, but if the detail is crisp, I'd say it is most probably good.

I was hoping to get some opinions on these two badges as to which era they date to. Any help would be appreciated.

Reverse of cap tally.

Here is another picture of the black device, its tip unscrews.

I recently purchased some Kriegsmarine items, I've not really collected this area before. I am interested to know what thay are and in particular the black device with rubber attachment is. It appears to be made of a bakelite material and unscrews at the top. My wife raised an eyebrow when she saw it and I am keen to provide a plausible reason for its fallic like appearance!

RAD tinnie

I haven't collected tinnies for a few years but picked these up with some other items.

Close up of the obverse.

Here is the reverse

I recently acquired this badge amongst a small lot. I have to confess to not being very good on Kriegsmarine items. This appears to be a Watch badge but the loops on the reverse look odd compared to the Assmann badges I have seen. Is this pre-war? Any opinions greatly appreciated!

Well done! Attention to detail was never my strong point! At least that confirms what I had hoped, it would have almost been a shame it was made of zinc.

I've checked the rim but no markings, wouldn't suprise me if it were bronze, seems pretty weighty and solidly struck.

Reverse

While I have seen many of the combatant Pro Deo Patria commemorative medals about, this is the first non-combatant once I've had. Any ideas regarding the number of non-combatant versions awarded?

It is difficult to ascertain from the image the condition of the reverse of the second Iron Cross you display. In my opinion the first would be around $20 and the second if in good condition ( the obverse looks good ) would be around $50-60. The value can differ depending on the maker, check for marks on the suspension ring. Millions were produced by a host of manufacturers and so you to do tend to get variations in crown size etc The boxed ring I am not so sure on, if it's the original box than it is a bonus as is if it made from precious metal. Otherwise around $40-50 just my guess. It appears to relate to the First World War according the black and white ribbon. the These just my approximations, the kind of prices I would expect to pay for them, ultimately and perhaps unhelpfully value is as much or as little as one is prepared to pay. Other opinions may provide a better spread of valuations.

Some of these are maker marked on the rim, worth taking a look.

Thanks for your quick response Rick. I am thinking, possbily, that the whole bar is fabricated. At least the medals are original medals.

I recently acquired this Austrian bar, it was quite reasonably priced, though unspectacular. I was wondering as to whether it is original. The white stitching and the freshness of the Jubilee medal ribbon led me to question it, know I am also thinking should there be a long service award in there also? Any opinions appreciated!

A minor observation but I would have expected the EK's ribbon to show more wear, considering the EK itself is showing its age.

Just tested it, and isn't magentic, I'm even more sceptical now. SPM I don't like the ribbon ring either.

The reverse