Greece-Balkan State Medal Collection

[Emanuel]

Greetings,

I open this topic in order to show you some pieces of my collection.

I will add in time new images,as clear and close as possible.

I collect all kind of medals ,but this part will be as it states from Balkan and Greece.

Users of the forum can see and be more familiar in the future with some awards from these countries,recognize them and most of all compare them and avoid copies.

I have to say that this is not only a gallery,but also a place for discussion,so feel free to post any comment you like.

Thank you all in advance for looking ;)

[Emanuel]

GREECE- War Military Cross 1916-1917

Issued for soldiers and Officers that participate in WW 1 and the Minor Asia Campain in 1922.

Relative rare awarded medal with high collectable value.

The sword is part of the cross,very interesting design.

I do not have an original ribbon which is black with dark blue strips on both sides.

[Emanuel]

GREECE- 2nd Balkan War Medal 1913

A medal issued for the needs of 2nd Balkan War when Greece was in war with Serbia against Bulgaria.

On obverse you can see King Constantine A' ,who was Prince back then and Field Marshal of Greek forces.

On reverse Byzantine Emperor Vasilios B' who mostly was in war with Bulgaria Kingdom when he was the Emperor and this gave the idea to put both men in this medal.

Ribbon is sky blue,white with red thin strip.

Obverse

Reverse

Edited April 5, 2009 by Emanuel

[Emanuel]

GREECE-Medal of Military merit 1916-1917 3rd Class

Instituted 28 Feb 1917, awarded to soldiers for heroism.

This example is in it's original blue box in a very good condition with original yellow ribbon with black stripes.

[Emanuel]

Close up of the medal

[Emanuel]

GREECE-Medal for 10 YEARS MILITARY SERVICES 1937-BRONZ -Army version in it's original box.

GREECE-Medal for 15 YEARS MILITARY SERVICE 1937-SILVER-Army version

GREECE-MEDAL For 20 YEARS MILITARY SERVICE 1937-GOLD- Army version.

In all 3 medals with King George B',Navy and Air force had different ribbon colors.

[SasaYU]

Nice collection Emanuel.

Here is my addition to your Greece collection. Can you tell me something about it ?

Edited April 5, 2009 by SasaYU

[Emanuel]

Nice Order you got there,

Of course I can Sasa and thank you first of all for your contribution.

You have here the Order of the Redeemer (Saviour)and it is the first distinguished Hellenic Order.

It was established in 1829 and bears the name of the Redeemer in reminiscence of the fact that the Greek nation was re-born thanks to the Lord's divine assistance. The Order was first conferred by King Otto in 1833.

The degrees of the Order of the Redeemer are awarded to distinguished Greek citizens who have defended the interests of our country in time of war or, who have rendered highly exceptional social services in Greece or abroad.

The Order is also conferred upon eminent personalities who are not Greek citizens.

One of them as you can see from the photo below is Czar Nikolaj II.

The obverse of the Star and the Cross bears a portrait of the Redeemer in enamel with the legend:

IN YOUR RIGHT HAND, LORD, THE POWER AND THE GLORY.

It comes with sky blue ribbon with white stripes on the edges.

The reverse of the Cross bears the Greek cross with the legend THE IVth NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE HELLENES AT ARGOS - 1829.

The Order consists of 5 grades or classes.

[SasaYU]

Emanuel, thank you for your answer.

Can you tell me what is a correct ribbon for my order?

[Emanuel]

As I told you ,it is sky-light blue with 2 stripes on both sides.

I search in Wiki and I found it,you have the ribbon on the right side with more details for the 5 grades.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Redeemer

Hope it helps ;)

Edited April 5, 2009 by Emanuel

[SasaYU]

Thank you :beer:

[Emanuel]

SERBIA - Albanian Campain Commemorative medal- 1915

Another one piece from my collection, a Serbian medal from the historical retreat of Serbian forces through Albania to Greece and the island of Corfus.

It was a hard task with a lot of loses but was proven to be a wise military decision as these forces during World War I and to be precise in Saloniki Front, they made a breakthrough and defeat Austrian-Bulgarian forces.

Here is the medal in astonishing MINT condition.Photos do not justify the quality, weather was cloudy when I shoot.

[Emanuel]

Close up from Obverse and Reverse of the medal:

[Kev in Deva]

Hallo Emanuel,

and welcome to the G.M.I.C. Form.

You have some nice items and in particular with regards

Greek Military Medals in my opinion an often neglected

area of military Medal collecting.

Thanks for showing and please feel free to add more as you obtain them.

Kevin in Deva.

[Megan]

These are beautiful pieces, Emanuel, thank you for sharing them.

Where do you live in Greece? I think it's a beautiful country and have designs on retiring there... I'm learning to speak Greek already!

[Emanuel]

Thank you both for your kind words.

Ken,

I have more pieces,I just found now time to slowly take some pictures of them and yes I will add more in time.

Megan,

I live in the island of Crete it's south Greece, you might know the place you might not, but I am sure you do because it is a must destination for British citizens

I visited your nice site that you maintain, you done a good job so far and please feel free to use any image you like, especially the War Cross you see is very rare even to see on an auction site so it's good to have a close up photo as reference for your visitors ;)

[Megan]

Haven't been to Crete yet, but will let you know when - buy you a beer & talk medals.

Thank you for your generous offer, I'll add your images to the archive & put them in (attributed of course) in time.

[Emanuel]

GREECE - NAVY MARITIME CROSS WW2 -1940

Greetings to all with another one piece of my collection, Navy issue this time from WW 2.

Bronze Navy cross made by Spink-London in extra fine condition with original time blue-yellow ribon in it's box.

Hope you'll like it

[SasaYU]

Beautifull item Emanuel.

Greece has so many beautifull orders and medals.

[Emanuel]

Thank you Sasa,

just for you I made a shooting today as the weather was great for it.

SERBIA-YUGOSLAVIA KINGDOM - ORDER OF SAINT SAVA -Huguenin mm

Astonishing, MINT quality as you see from the photos below, this St.Sava Order from the Kingdom of Serbia and later Yugoslavia.

Made by Huguenin from Switzerland in mint condition with Gold finish.

I might let it go this in the future, I don't know, but it's one of the best Orders I ever had....

Enjoy the pics

Edited May 10, 2009 by Emanuel

[Emanuel]

The neccesary close ups as always....

[Emanuel]

What can we say about these details, pictures talking for themselves without doubt....

[SasaYU]

Beautiful photographs. Thank you Emanuel.

[Emanuel]

Another one medal from my collection.

MEDAL FOR A' BALKAN WAR 1912

Medal awarded for the war against the Turks and the liberation of Northern Greece (Macedonia,Epirus,Aegean Islands)

Original ribbon for Compatants.

Thanks for looking

[Emanuel]

Greetings to collector family,

It was a great shiny day today and I manage to take some pictures of my Serbian Medal Bar of a very Brave guy.

The Elite of all Brave awards in Serbia Kingdom , Karadjordje Gold Star of Bravery 1914-1916, dominate in this Bar , made from Arthus Bertrand.

Also among the medals, a rare example of Military Merit medal made by Mark maker Christlbauer ( 5th from the left).

I hope you like this very rare medal Bar