DutchBoy

Damn, that's one sweet collection! Do you own all of these???

Very nice SAMedals! I can't get enough of these homelands medals. But the correct ribbon for the Bop gallantry cross is a bright scarlett red (similar to the Legion d'Honneur). And I think the two medals in post number 7 are from Botswana, not from Bophuthatswana.

Ed, That is simply nuts. I'd prefer a Rolls Royce or a nice condo for that money...

Hi Gents, I haven't paid attention to the Soviet market for a few years now. I bought alot of pieces 4-6 years ago, and have recently compared prices with what they cost today. Needless to say I am shocked! I'm sure this topic gets lots of play here on the forum, but I was so shocked I had to post this. I see Red Banners going for $450-$500 on eBay and more at dealers, when I paid $45 for mine 5 years ago. Here's some other prices I paid: Friendship of Peoples: $200 Alexander Nevsky (deep dish variation): $600 October Revolution: $110 Labour Glory 2nd: $240 Lenin type 5.2: $640 The crab: $180 Again, I'm sure this forum sees a lot of bellyaching about Soviet prices, but I just felt like I had to post this to come to terms with it myself! Actually, if I were ever inclined to sell these I would be sitting pretty...will never happen though!

#1: Stunning piece! The one time when that damage might actually improve the value, if it was dropped by the "man" himself....

I think it may be a different order. I don't see those scratches on the first photo and the screwplate is definitely different. But the angle of his picture and yours is different so maybe the different glare is doing that?

Hi Stephen, I have some pics on my colector's showcase: Collector's Showcase Transkei medals are actually quite hard to find, and I have only one of them. I have quite some homelands stuff, but have not had the opportunity to post them.

Lilo, Thanks for starting this thread. I've been wanting to buy this order for a long time but never got around to it. I have Oranje-Nassau and Militaire Willemsorde in various grades, but not the Nederlandse Leeuw yet. I hope we can get more tips here on dating and perhaps authenticity?

Hi Walter, Quite a comprehensive collection! I particularly like your camera work...very good looking pictures!

I read this article. Trees and machinery getting hero stars...what a country! I can only imagine all those brave horses in the Crimean war receiving their well-earned Victoria Crosses from the hand of the Queen... And in WW1 there was a VERY brave handgranade that should have received a bronze star... I guess they will never receive their due!

Nee, ek het nie die poster gekoop nie. Looked cool though! I have a lot of new homelands medals to put up but no time to get them photographed. Some good stuff though... How's your collection?

I heard from my cousin (her husband's relative had one awarded to him) that upon the death of the recipient, the family can now keep the piece by paying a token sum to the Chancellery...

SICKENING!!

That's a lovely piece! Congrats!

Reverse:

Haven't posted my new items in a while, so here's the first installment of some new South African stuff. Here quite a rare decoration that came in today, the National Intelligence Service Decoration in bronze. It was issued to foreign intelligence operatives allied to the NIS for services rendered to South African intelligence. I've never seen another one for sale so I'm assuming it's quite rare.

Hi Ulsterman, Sounds interesting. Could you post a scan of the cover? Thanks, Matt.

Hi 922F, Holy Moly, that's quite a story! Fascinating info, and much of it straight from the sources! Have you travelled around Africa some official capacity? Did you also manage to pick up a few of these awards while you were there? I'd never heard of that French book, and I will check it out if I find one. Thanks!

Hi Ivan, There is very little info out there on African ODM , with the exception of South Africa as Ed mentions. OMSA does sell a book on CD called: "Orders, Decorations, and Medals of the French Overseas and The Post-Colonial Periods" by Edward J. Emering. This book includes awards from some former African colonies, but I've never seen the book itself so I'm not sure what's in it or how extensive it is. There is also a set of two books published by Burke's Peerage called: "World Orders of Knighthood & Merit." It is very large, very heavy, and very expensive, but it contains photos and descriptions of many African nations' orders of merit (no real coverage for medals though). I own a copy of this set and it's pretty impressive. On a semi-regular basis, decorations from sub-Saharan Africa do appear on eBay, and when they do I sometimes save their pictures and whatever (meager) description is provided. Africa is really an area where so much research can be done! Hope you find this useful.

Very interesting Megan! How often do you see an award from such an overlooked country? It reminds me a lot of the South African Armed forces service medals. My guess is it was also struck and possibly designed by the RSA mint as they did, and do, a lot of work for other african countries in terms of both medals and currency.

Thanks Roeland, The box is original but it's from a later period than the order, so the two don't go together. 1100 euro is roughly the figure that I paid ($1,500), so I don't feel too bad now. Matthijs.

Personally I think the outer ring around the centre medallion (the one with the evenly spaced raised dots) may look a little crude. The raised dots don't look that even, and the ring itself looks damaged in a strange way. I think it may show signs of casting. I'm no expert so don't take my word for it, but it's just an observation.

Hi Jacky, Thanks for the reply! It looks like a nice one to me. The box is a post-war type, blue cover with just a gilded crown. I have the same box style for my Oranje-Nassau grand cross from the 70s. Not having been sure how much an MWO was worth, I bid too much! Erik Muller tells me it should have gone for considerably less. He has been very helpful with this item over pm's. They should be worth (I just found out) around $800-$900 or something around that. Thijs.

Gentlemen, Does anyone know whether there are any fakes of this order? Does this pre-war example look alright to you?

Known in Dutch as the Militaire Willemsorde. The order was founded in 1815 by King William I mainly for acts of bravery in the face of the enemy. It is the Netherlands' highest award, in 4 classes awarded according to military rank. All four grades outrank all other awards in the awards system of the Netherlands, and has been awarded quite sparingly for most of its existence. Let me open this thread by posting some pics from the official Dutch website. The grades are: Grootkruis (Grand Cross), Commandeur (Commander), Officier (Officer), and Ridder (Knight).