achern

If anyone happens to have an early example for sale, I'm looking for one. Case, ribbon bar, and lapel pin are a bonus.

Your grand cordon star is really something!

Very nice! Where did you find these?

Yes, I have the names to most of the awards.

On 2/6/2017 at 22:05, 1sergei22 said:

Продаются?

Да, зеленые продаются. Золотые больше не доступны.

Beautiful. I wish I could get a pair of Castro's boards!

I'd like to hear from anyone where one can find good genuine SVN insignia in HCMC today. Such places tend to be discreet as SVN insignia is reportedly illegal there.

If you're after genuine current issue vietnamese insignia, the Danh Sinh market has plenty of it.

On 3/8/2014 at 13:55, notned said:

Hi Guys, just a wee bit of info, the ERII badge on the first set signifies that the wearer was Equerry to the Queen.

I have a Kings Crown set to a RNZAF Air commodore who was also an Equerry to Queen Elizabeth II, this pair i have are still attached to the Tropical Mess jacket he wore

 

Cheers

Paul

Hello Paul, thank you for your reply to this thread. I would love to see a photo of your KC set to the RNZAF AC.

Alf

On 4/18/2016 at 03:40, Michael R said:

The Following photographs are of several pattern of MRAF shoulder boards which other than first and forth photos are unique to the rank.Item 1/1 is a generic bard worn with the number 1 Home Dress uniform by Air ADC's to the Monarch having relinquished the appointment. In this case an ex Air ADC to HM King George VI. 1/2 Is a MRAF for wear with Number 1A Full Dress (greatcoat). Note the position of the Royal Cypher.  2. Is an unfinished boar of identical design to 1/2.  3. is a variation board with the Royal Cypher at the foot of the board. 4 Although far plainer than the others this MRAF board is far rarer and of pre War pattern for wear with the Full Dress greatcoat.  The board is unique to the rank however the pattern, with gold lace and brass gilded miniature eagles and crowns was common to all RAF officer ranks.  The eagles always fly toward the wearer's rear and never forward.  5 Is a pair of MRAF boards with the Royal Cypher EIIR at the foot of the board.  Once again, the eagles on the wreath always fly to the wearer's rear.  Contrary to popular belief, the rank of MRAF has not been abolished.   The correct current position for the Royal cypher is at the foot of the shoulder board.  The rank can still be awarded as a none executive honorary title.

Hope that this is of interest.

Regards  Michael R

Thanks Michael, for sharing these excellent photos of the MRAF ranks in your collection. Do you also have other Marshal-level ranks? I'd love to see photos of those too.

Alf

Thank you all for the comments. I had great fun photographing these pieces as they are near-impossible to come by these days. There are two medals I did not include in this article - the Defence Medal (yellow ribbon with stripes), and the Uniformed Services Malaysia Medal which Hugh kindly posted. 

Cazack, I know a district in Bangkok that sells practically all the Thai medals and decorations you will ever want. Modern ones of course. If you will PM me I can give you some directions.

Gents, I would like to share with you some pictures of high-ranking Cambodian ribbon bars that I picked up from a tailor in Phnom Penh through a friend.

Two of them are made from individual silk threads hand laid to form the ribbons, a practice fairly common in Thailand as well, while one of them is made from actual medal ribbons.

These are what the Syrian eagles and stars look like on a set of ranks I have.

I'm looking to buy one, if anyone has one to sell...

Gents, here are two pairs of old Mongolian full general shoulder boards for your viewing pleasure. Unfortunately, I cannot transmit also the smell of old things, which adds greatly to the flavour of these boards!

-achern

Beautiful pieces, thanks for sharing. How much would the entire set cost today?

An article about Singapore's earliest State decorations and awards until 1996, with original photographs:

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singapore-badges-of-honour

Gents,

Any idea on these DDR sport parachute badges?

I have an early pair, where the gold and silver classes have a lower count jump tag compared to a later pair, where the silver and bronze classes have up to 500 jumps.

Comments most welcome.

alf

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Thanks Paja. I see that you and Emanuel have been doing some good work on bringing to attention some fake badges in this area of collecting.

I hope that you guys will find more information about these gold Yugo badges as well. This is not my area of expertise as I collect parachute badges from every country and I cannot possibly be expert in all of them.

Not sure what Emanuel is really trying to say here, but anyway here are photos of two badges I am intending to let go, and what better place than ebay, since it has the widest audience.

As to why I have so many rare badges, well, I collect rare badges, so therefore I tend to find them.

However, after all that has been said about seeing so many of these gold Yugo badges in dealer sites, still nobody has offered any links to show where they are. After a lot of searching, I still have not managed to find any. Hopefully someone will show some evidence.

Here are the photos. One is of the 1950s 1st Class instructor badge, not in great condition, definitely well-used. The other is the mint 18K gold badge. I don't think it is a copy, unless the former owner was presented a fake by the air force.

Guys, I keep hearing about copies of this gold badge being widely available, but try as I might I can't seem to find any for sale anywhere.

Can someone post the links of these dealers who are selling the gold badges?

How do you guys even get things like these? Haven't had any luck here!

Thank you all for the information about this badge.

I got mine from the owner, so I'm assuming it's real. If other badges came from original Ikom stock that would make them originals as well.

Andre, can you link us to some dealer sites selling this gold badge? I've not found any myself even though I have been looking on the Internet.

Actually that badge for sale is mine. It's certainly not a copy - take a look at the newer photos.

Guys, the badges with the twin screws, silver front and gilded backs are the ordinary instructor badges. Some of these are worn, so the gilding on the back has gone, leaving it silver or oxidised.

My original post was about the extremely rare 18K solid gold version of the special class instructor badge awarded only to the top instructor for that year. Some years, the badge was not awarded. All of these have the unusual pin locking system as opposed to the twin screws.