Croatia Medal of the Crown of King Zvonimir-Silver

[Rogi]

I've found this one today at our Militaria show, would you guys break the news to me, good or bad find?

I'm Serbo-Croatian in my heritage and family history so I love that I was able to purchase this one Just not sure if its real or fake, there are a lot of fakes out there and I want to ask you guys, the experts on these medals

It has what looks like silver hallmark on the side of the medal and either BK or SK on the hallmark on the upper ring

Ring has BK

Medal itself has a bird on the side (or Helmet, depends how you look at it) I'm assuming this is a silver hallmark?

(click to expand

Thank you all for any comments, it is greatly appreciated

Igor

Edited October 26, 2013 by Rogi

[paja]

Greetings Rogi,

Great catch! Silver Medal of the Crown of King Zvonimir with Oak Leaves (Srebrna kolajna Krune kralja Zvonimira sa hrastovim grančicama). First I must point out that this is not my field, my knowledge is pretty limited when it comes to Nazi Croatia.

BK stands for Braća Knaus (Brothers Knaus), the name of the factory used from 1940 until 1948. Before that, during Kingdom of SCS and Yugoslavia, it was Griesbach and Knaus. After the communists came to power factory was nationalized and renamed IKOM.

It is interesting that BK and even GK hallmarks can be seen on some early made Partisan commemorative decorations 1941 (Partizanska spomenica).

As for the bird, at first NDH was using the same silver hallmark as Kingdom of Yugoslavia - "Rooster", and from (I think) December 1942 they introduced their own - "Goose".

TK hallmark was also used during NDH, it stands for Teodor Krivak.

The medal looks fine to me, I think that you did well, the ribbon also seems to be original. But then again I'm no expert, it would be great is someone else could confirm this...

Edited October 27, 2013 by paja

[paul wood]

Igor,

While these are frequently faked I cannot see anything obviously wrong with it, looks like you got a got buy there.

Paul

[Emanuel]

Greetings Rogi,

Authentic piece, no worries about your medal.Of course with original period Ribbon.

I like the wreath too.....

Nice find

[Rogi]

Thank you all for the help Its great to hear, was freaked out it was something else I am so relieved

How many of these were minted approximately, I know that during the start of the war Croatia minted them in silver and later on it was plated.

This one is then a early war piece because of the silver?

Igor

[paja]

Greetings Rogi,

According to some information I dug out just a bit over 500 Considering that it has that goose hallmark I would say that it was awarded post December 1942.

Edited October 28, 2013 by paja

[paja]

Actually that number is suppose to be from Boris Prister's book "Orders of Independent State of Croatia" and includes only NDH citizens. Unfortunately I was not able to find out the total number. I apologize for not giving you the complete information in my previous post.

Edited October 28, 2013 by paja

[Rogi]

That is awesome, thank you so much Paja A round about number is great too it can't be that much more for Foreign recipients (maybe 1k max more) I know that most of the other orders had more foreign recipients for NDH medals and orders, depending on the services rendered to the NDH.

[paja]

You are welcome Rogi Once again I apologize for not being able to give you more precise answers, I did some research and this is all that I could find. Unfortunately I do not own the right literature for this field.

[Rogi]

Don't worry Paja, neither do I, I was very close to leaving it, but my mum insisted. this was a spur of the moment pick up, The medal has a very artistic presence in real life, that I fail to capture on this camera, it literally "pops out" of the medal at you.

I don't condone the actions that the axis did in WW2 but it is good to remember so we can avoid it in the future. That is why we collect

Edited October 28, 2013 by Rogi

[paja]

It is great that your family supports your hobby

Looks like the medal has beautiful patina

[Rogi]

Thank you all for the comments As promised, took a while for my camera to get back but here are the close ups, definatley a Croatian silver hallmark and BK

here is what I also noticed, is this a hallmark as well? or just random ? (the number 11 looking thing )

Edited November 16, 2013 by Rogi

[paja]

Rogi thanks for great images!

Just for comparison here's my Partizanska spomenica with BK hallmark.

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_11_2013/post-7937-0-76876900-1384710185.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_11_2013/post-7937-0-63882200-1384710157.jpg

[paja]

Close-up.

[jshorter]

Hi everyone!!

Just started to dive into collecting Croatian WWII awards.  I just picked this one up and was wondering if I could get your opinions on it?  First, it was described as a bronze grade award in zinc, but I don't see any evidence of bronzing.  I'm thinking it it's an iron award in zinc.  Second, what do you think of its authenticity?  These are the only photos I have of it as it has not arrived.  Also, I'm not sure of any mint marks (if there were any in bronze/iron grade awards).  Thanks for your thoughts!!!

Jason

 

[paul wood]

Jason,

It's the Iron Medal on War Ribbon, looks a perfectly nice example to me.

Paul

[jshorter]

Paul,

Thank you for the quick reply!  I know there are a lot of reproductions of the Croatian awards, and was wondering what I should be on the lookout for for fakes?  Obviously, poor quality details on the medals would be the first thing to loom for, but anything else in particular?

Kindest regards,

Jason

[paul wood]

Jason

Having not encountered fakes of the medals difficult to comment, obviously the silver medals should be hallmarked and unmarked examples should be avoided. Your example is a nice and clear example of a medal that can suffer corrosion issues.

All the best,

Paul

[jshorter]

Paul,

As always, thank you for your advice!

Jason