Austria-Hungary Help with this 1st Class Silver Austria bravery medal

[RelicHunter]

Can anyone lend their eyes to see if this looks right?

Last photo, this shows the thickness of the Silver 1st Class (thin) versus a Silver 2nd Class I also have. (thicker).

Is this how they are supposed to be?

[paul wood]

Can anyone lend their eyes to see if this looks right?

Last photo, this shows the thickness of the Silver 1st Class (thin) versus a Silver 2nd Class I also have. (thicker).

Is this how they are supposed to be?

Can't see anything obviously wrong with it.

Paul

[marrauder]

2nd classes are thicker than 1st. Same with FJ bravery medals.

Regards

[dmiller8]

I compared with ones that I have and, other than it is the Emperor Karl version, it is identical in form to the Franz-Joseph in my collection. No evidence of naming on the rim, and as it is traditional, the wording changes from German to Latin as the monarch changes. The wording on the Franz-Joseph versions would be in German, as Karl's medals are worded in Latin. Thinner medals issued during Karl's reign might indicate wartime economy measures. A hook-and-eye fastens the tri-fold war ribbon (the design is shared among several different awards) around a Barrette a Coulisse (a metal rod to contain the medals) which is threaded through the beckets on the uniform. My source is: "A Glossary of Terms used in Phaleristics, by Alexander J. Laslo, published in 1995, ISBN 0-9617320-2-4

[Hugh]

Comparable to mine.

Hugh

[erikscollectables]

Looks like a correct Kautsch example.

Weight of the 1st and 2nd Class silver bravery medal are the same so obviously the 1st class has to be quite a bit thinner.

Should have a silver mark on the rim somewhere, sometimes hard to see but real silver examples from the war period should have this.

Regards, Erik

[erikscollectables]

Maybe interesting to share some research into numbers awarded of these and their relative scarcity compared to the German EKI and EKII. I have made this for a small article I am writing but the numbers are discutable in some regards so please view this as a comparison and not (yet) sound scientific research.

Silver Bravery Medal 1st Class Equals EKI officially but also very close in their relative number of awards, STM1 1 of every 55 people that were mobilized during the war would have one compared to 1 of every 63 men for the EKI

The Silver Bravery Medal 2nd class officially equals the the EKII but in reality was awarded relativley much less.

I just saw the pictures does not work out will change it asap

Austro Hungarian Army Number of mobilized 7.800.000 1914-1918 Award Number Perc. Op people Aw/Mil GTM 5000 0,06% 1560 STM1 143000 1,83% 55 STM2 581000 7,45% 13 BTM 1200000 15,38% 7 Total 1929000 24,73% 4 German Army Number of mobilized 13.400.000 1914-1918 Award Number Perc. Op people Aw/Mil EK1 218000 1,63% 61 EK2 5000000 37,31% 3 Total 5218000 38,94% 3

Regards, Erik

Edited May 22, 2012 by erikscollectables

[RelicHunter]

Were 1st Class Silver medals issued that were not made out of silver, and therefore do not have the silver hallmark?

[erikscollectables]

Yes but these normally would either have a mark like Bronze or would be obvious to be non silver.

This certainly looks like a real silver one.