Freikorps Oberland / Medallion of the Silesian Eagle

[M Hunter]

Gentlemen,

I have seen a few of these on eBay of late and wondered if they are actual official period awards (at the time the Silesian Eagle was made an official award)?

I personally have never seen this type before. I have seen many varients of the Silesian Eagle first and second class but never a medallion like this.

The examples I have seen seem to be well made and do look period.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Thank you

Matt

[M Hunter]

And the reverse.

[M Hunter]

And another one.

[M Hunter]

Reverse.

[Naxos]

I don't know if the examples above are original pieces - but the Gedenkmünze existed, it was given to former members of Freikorps Oberland.

Gedenkmünze für Oberschlesien des Freikorps Oberland 1926

Edited October 3, 2010 by Naxos

[larsb001]

Hi Matt.

I do not know about the full size medals but I bought the corresponding miniature a few years ago. After I bought this one I noted that the same dealer had many more of these, also that the same dealer distributes the majority of the fake Imperial Russian miniature medals that appears on the German eBay site - this is normally a bad sign. So I'm quite convinced that this miniature is a modern production. But if anybody knows for sure I'm interested in the answer as well. Have you noted if the full size medals is beeing sold by the same dealer again and again?

But it could be a good sign that the full size medals don't have the spelling mistake on the front

Cheers, Lars

Edited October 3, 2010 by larsb001

[VtwinVince]

Pure fantasy item.

[Brian Wolfe]

Hello Fellows,

I don't have the years of collecting to speak with any authority, however, I've searched through the internet as well as dealer's website and I've never seen these offered for sale.

I have only one publication dealing with the FreiKorps and it shows what I believe is pretty well the whole range of "official" awards and this was not among them.

Regards

Brian

[Naxos]

Hello Fellows,

I don't have the years of collecting to speak with any authority, however, I've searched through the internet as well as dealer's website and I've never seen these offered for sale.

I have only one publication dealing with the FreiKorps and it shows what I believe is pretty well the whole range of "official" awards and this was not among them.

Regards

Brian

The mini above with the spelling mistake is like Vince said "pure fantasy".

The veteran medal however really existed, instituted in 1926 called: Gedenkmünze für Oberschlesien des Freikorps Oberland.

.

Edited October 4, 2010 by Naxos

[Brian Wolfe]

The mini above with the spelling mistake is like Vince said "pure fantasy".

The veteran medal however really existed, instituted in 1926 called: Gedenkmünze für Oberschlesien des Freikorps Oberland.

.

Hi Hardy,

Thanks for the information.

Now there is something else to watch for.

Regards

Brian

[M Hunter]

The mini above with the spelling mistake is like Vince said "pure fantasy".

The veteran medal however really existed, instituted in 1926 called: Gedenkmünze für Oberschlesien des Freikorps Oberland.

.

Many thanks for clearing this up Naxos!

And well done to you and Vince for naming out the fake miniature. As Brian says, another thing to watch for.

Best wishes

Matt

[Elsadeni]

Hello,

I'm sorry to say that the "full size" Oberland medal is in my opinion a copy(too). This fake is very often to find on german ebay, distributed by the so callled "raritätensammlerclub".

best wishes

Elsadeni

[Chris Boonzaier]

Raritätensammlerclub is a well known name :-)

What I dont understand... the Oberland guys got the regular eagle... I have no doubt these were given out... but why, if the person already had the Silesian eagle?

Why is there no mention of Oberland on the medal?

[bolewts58]

Raritätensammlerclub is a well known name :-)

What I dont understand... the Oberland guys got the regular eagle... I have no doubt these were given out... but why, if the person already had the Silesian eagle?

Why is there no mention of Oberland on the medal?

If there was an opportunity for more bling on their vet tunics, they always went for it. However, genuine versions of this medal are extremely rare. Supposedly, there were only 600 of these given out. Oberland also had an even rarer award the "Adler des Tiroler Sturmzuges Oberland" - a Tirol Eagle in red enamel with a copper-gilt cartouche with "IM KAMPFE FÜR OBERSCHLESIEN" on its chest. The reverse was plain black lacquer. I had genuine examples of both of these 30 years ago. But, with the repros of the oval medal, I wouldn't bother to find a genuine one again - just too difficult.

[Eric Stahlhut]

If there was an opportunity for more bling on their vet tunics, they always went for it. However, genuine versions of this medal are extremely rare. Supposedly, there were only 600 of these given out. Oberland also had an even rarer award the "Adler des Tiroler Sturmzuges Oberland" - a Tirol Eagle in red enamel with a copper-gilt cartouche with "IM KAMPFE FÜR OBERSCHLESIEN" on its chest. The reverse was plain black lacquer. I had genuine examples of both of these 30 years ago. But, with the repros of the oval medal, I wouldn't bother to find a genuine one again - just too difficult.

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/31179-freikorps-oberland/

[bolewts58]

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/31179-freikorps-oberland/

Thanks for the link. I'm curious where you got it because it looks like the exact one I had. My original Freikorps collection was sold in the mid-90s by Chuck Scaglione in Buffalo and this medal was part of that collection, which I sadly wish I still had.

[bolewts58]

The ribbon on that Adler des Tiroler Sturmzuges Oberland isn't correct. It is supposed to be hunter green with 2 white stripes.

[Alex Sammler]

Hello!

I have got this medal from a one old collection,from 1950-60th.

[bolewts58]

This medal was awarded in 1926 only to members of Sturmfahne Teja of Freikorps Oberland and is actually quite rare. Very high-quality fakes from Russia have flooded the market in recent years and thus have caused most collectors to steer clear of this medal as it's too difficult to tell fakes from originals. I think this one is ok. But, unfortunately, it would be difficult to sell for the actual value of the medal.

Edited October 11, 2018 by bolewts58