Albania The Decorations of Socialist Albania by Eric Schena

[Ed_Haynes]

For the second edition, see:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=9708

[Christophe]

Bryan,

Look at the section on the top of the page :

"Pinned: The Decorations of Socialist Albania 2nd Edition".

Cheers.

Ch.

[Bryan]

All right! Merci Christophe.

[Bryan]

Wow this is a very nice introductory guide and making it free for the forum members is something that I really respect! Thank you very much Eric!

[Bob]

Eric, in the first edition you also quoted number of awards struck by the mint or issued In the 2nd you didn't

Amounts from 1st were not reliabe?

[Eric Schena]

Eric, in the first edition you also quoted number of awards struck by the mint or issued In the 2nd you didn't

Amounts from 1st were not reliabe?

Hi Bob:

I could not independently verify any of those supposed award numbers nor can I find any solid governmental source with any good numbers. In addition, many of the awards we are seeing coming out of the Balkans appear to have come from unawarded stocks left over in the Office of the President after the awards were completely swept away in 1996, so that also adds another vairable into the equation. Since I could not trust those numbers, I decided to remove them from the (infinitely better but still not quite "there") second edition. My advice at this point is to completely disregard those numbers in the 1st edition.

Cheers,

Eric

[Lukasz Gaszewski]

Beautiful photos!

BTW: this is the second type of the order, issued under the Italian occupation (1940-43). While the badge remained basically the same as before the war, it has the distinctive 'love knots' (you can see them also in the Italian Orders of Annunciation and of the Crown of Italy), with letters 'FERT' and crossed fasces below. Also the Albanian crown in the medallion has been turned so that it faces East rather than West.

[Bob]

Looking forward to (maybe?) a third edition - many new pieces of information now available - from numbered awards, documents to pins.

Not in the least, the "mystery" of the Laureat of Albania prize... apparently verified to exist (eyewitness reports) but no photograph yet available.

On a sidenote, I understand work is underway on a new book on Albanian awards to be publised in Albania and to coincide with an exhibition in Tirana... may have to plan vacations appropriately

[Zaim Qyteza]

Hi Bob:

The Order of the Black Eagle was created by Wilhelm of Wied in March 1914 in 5 classes (Grand Cross, Grand Officer, Commander, Officer, and Knight) and three classes of an adjunct medal in gold, silver, and bronze. The order was made by the German jeweller Paul Telge (if I recall correctly), while the medal was struck by Arthus Bertrand et Cie in Paris. I was talking to someone about this order and the original purchase orders still exist for the medal. 250 of the silver class were prepared, however only some 14 are believed to have been awarded. It should be noted that Wilhelm continued to assert his claim to the Albanian throne up until Ahmed Bej Zogu became president (and later king), and, in the capacity of a monarch in exile, Wilhelm may have continued to hand out the order and medal. Interestingly, the silver class is the more common of the three classes - bronze medals show up from time to time, but I've not seen a gold medal.

Oh, to bring this a litle more on topic , the second edition is complete, so look for it here sometime real soon! I will add this comment: in the short time since I wrapped up the 2nd edition, I did get a few more pictures and some additional info that I'll include for the next version which I may actually submit for publishing. More on that later...

Cheers,

Eric

Dear Eric,

Is impossible for Paul Telge to be the author of the Medal of the Black Eagle. Telge dead in 1909, instead the Black Eagle was produced in 1914.

Besides this, I thing that this medal is not struck in “Bertrand et Cie Paris”, because the box of this medal has the stamp of “Willibald Kluge Berlin”.

Regards,

Artan

[Eric Schena]

Dear Eric,

Is impossible for Paul Telge to be the author of the Medal of the Black Eagle. Telge dead in 1909, instead the Black Eagle was produced in 1914.

Besides this, I thing that this medal is not struck in “Bertrand et Cie Paris”, because the box of this medal has the stamp of “Willibald Kluge Berlin”.

Regards,

Artan

Hi Artan:

Bob and I were just discussing this yesterday in the Albanian Links thread: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=42222. The attribution to Paul Telge came from an incorrect listing in a commonly used reference that has since been confirmed as incorrect. Willibald Kluge was the principle maker as you note. I have heard that Wilhelm awarded medals in exile and apparently Bertrand was contracted to make some of them, but most weren't delivered.

It would be great to assemble all the experts here at GMIC and elsewhere and create an encyclopedia of Albanian phaleristics! Check out the Albanian Links thread Bob started - your input would be invaluable!

Cheers,

Eric