Bundesrepublik My West German and 57 awards collection... Part 2:

[Hauptmann]

This is one of my favorites. I found it on Ebay many moons ago. At the time I thought it was an unfinished repro of the 36 version. I wrote and brought this to the attention of the seller who was also not sure. He decided to pull it and offered it to me for the minimum bid which I believe was $40 and I took the chance. I then did some research and discovered that they had indeed reissued these in 57! Needless to say I was ecstatic! Especially since I'm fortunate enough to own an original 36 Olympics torch holder along with several other pieces from those games. So it definitely fits with the rest.

As you can see the construction is similar to the original, but at least compared with copies I have of the 1st and 2nd classes of this decoration it is not concave but more flat in design. Also if you look carefully you'll see that the rings are "slightly" off center. But I love it just the same.

More to come...

Dan

[Grant Broadhurst]

Thanks for showing her here Dan ,

I have one of these beauties but i need a piece of ribbon for her

Personally i think this is one award that looks better as a 1957 piece as the eagle,s on the third reich one,s look awful to me !

[Hauptmann]

Thanks for showing her here Dan ,

I have one of these beauties but i need a piece of ribbon for her

Personally i think this is one award that looks better as a 1957 piece as the eagle,s on the third reich one,s look awful to me !

Oooh, praise for my precious! Myyyyyy precious! Oops... sorry, wrong movie.

I do so love this one... actually like the original issues as well although I agree they do look a bit like cheap repo's. In fact first one I saw was a copy and I thought it must just be made cheap. Then I saw several of Jack Angolia's on one of our visits to his home in Kansas and they're basically the same. I was amazed!

I have to mention here that I've found another one I love that I'd highly recommend... but I've never seen a real one and have no earthly idea what they run. I've only seen it in a reference (another Ebay find... Ribbons and Medals by H. Taprell Dorling, new for .50 cents U.S.). It's on page 189 and is a black and white pic. Here's the description quoted from the book:

"Olympic Cross of Merit

This was instituted in 1952 in two classes, for services in connection with the 15th Olympiad in Finland.

The 1st Class badge, worn at the neck, is a five-armed gold cross, enamelled white, with stylized spruce twigs in the four upper angles, and the Finnish lion between the two lower arms of the cross. Across the centre are the five Olympic rings in gold and above the cross is the Olympic flame. The 2nd Class is similar but smaller and is worn on the left breast."

Sound familiar? Even the ribbon looks the same... except instead of the orange color with white stripes it's blue with white stripes... and the stripes are identical!

It's kind of like what the 36 could/should have been... but wasn't... close but no banana!

But basically I had to at least have decent copies (only the 36 1st & 2nd are copies) of them to go with my torch holder, bell and other goodies in my Olympics collection. What I'm hoping for now is to be able to get a full set of decent copy cases for these. I know a place but all told they're going to run me like $200 some odd so that's been on hold for quite some time.

On ribbon... we might be able to work something out. Normally with stuff like Russian Front or Luftschutz ribbon I could just give you a hunk... but the Olympic seems to be a bit tougher to come by as you've probably realized by now. No idea what it would be worth to you either in $$'s or trade (open to either... ) but here's what I can do:

Check out this pic of my Olympic awards.

At the top you'll note the copy of the 1st class with a ribbon that is a bit darker than normal. I also happen to have a 2'3" (roughly) piece in the normal color. Now, I can either work something with you on the slightly darker piece or I can cut off a suitable sized piece (you need to decide if you need short or standard length) from my long piece.

I paid around $45 for the copy (one reason I was willing to go for the 57 before I knew what it was... seems to be what the copies run) and no idea how much just the ribbon would be worth. Can't remember for sure but know the long piece of ribbon weren't too cheap.

No idea what one or the other would be worth to you... I'd always thought I'd keep it in reserve in case I got another copy or 57 that was missing one. But doing this would still leave me extra and I feel the least I can do for a fellow member is make the offer if it would help. I'd feel more willing to let the darker one go as I like the brighter color but figured I'd give you the choice.

I used to keep a fairly large stockpile of Imperial German and TR ribbons but they've gone like so many other things. I still have a good bit of the others I mentioned above and some Knight's Cross ribbon but that's about it nowadays.

I've not done the UV test on these... be happy to if it's important but for a 57 I'm not sure if it really matters. But let me know.

Anyhow feel free to either PM me or send me an E and I'm sure we can work something out if you're intro'd.

[Grant Broadhurst]

Hi Dan ,

Thanks for the offer mate but i just can't see you go hacking at those lovely awards !

Also i,ve spotted a guy on the militariaweb website that is selling length,s of the neck ribbon so i,ll give him a try as i want a nice long piece !!

There is a case maker in england called Tony Yeoman i think ? and i know he does exact copies of all 3 grades of Olympic cases as i asked about getting the neck cross case for mine , so he might be worth a shot if your after cases sorry but i can't remember his website address , but i,m sure someone on the site will know .

Cheers

Grant

[Hauptmann]

Hi Dan ,

Thanks for the offer mate but i just can't see you go hacking at those lovely awards !

Also i,ve spotted a guy on the militariaweb website that is selling length,s of the neck ribbon so i,ll give him a try as i want a nice long piece !!

There is a case maker in england called Tony Yeoman i think ? and i know he does exact copies of all 3 grades of Olympic cases as i asked about getting the neck cross case for mine , so he might be worth a shot if your after cases sorry but i can't remember his website address , but i,m sure someone on the site will know .

Cheers

Grant

Hi Grant,

Hey, not a problem... if things don't work out with the other guy let me know and I'm sure we can work something out. The darker one I wouldn't have to cut of course and the other I think is plenty long enough to make two... at least I hope my neck never gets quite that big not that I wear the thing anyhow.

I think the guy I'm thinking of is the same guy and I believe I have his site saved in my favorites somewhere... I'll have to dig a bit. But as with so many things it's all on hold while I try to get a few more Soviet pieces I still need on my now extremely limited budget. One of the ones driving me nuts is a Stalingrad. They were soooo cheap when I started out and it's one of those that for some odd reason have taken off. Perhaps it was Enemy At The Gates getting everyones interest up or something. Keep hoping I'll find one for a "song". As it is I've already resigned myself that on certain of the medals and orders I'll probably have to go with decent copies if and when they turn up cheap enough. Just don't have the budget to romp with the big kids. I've also gotten to the point over the years where I can't stand seeing a ton of money sitting there collecting dust much of the time. I do make exceptions for exceptional pieces but for the most part I'd rather put it into other things. And with those few pricey medals in the capture, liberation and defense catagories... for the most part they're not lookers to begin with. No fancy enamel... just plain Janes. So for my needs a few good copies for cheap will do the trick and in a case will look just as good to 99% of the folks here who'd see them.

Anyhow the ribbons not going anywhere so if you find you're still in need let me know and we'll go from there. I'd be happy to help out if I can.

Thanks,

Dan

[Grant Broadhurst]

And i sold my Russian awards last year which included a Stalingrad which i sold for ?10 .

[Hauptmann]

And i sold my Russian awards last year which included a Stalingrad which i sold for ?10 .

That's me... a day late and a dollar short, 99.999999 times out of a hundred! Sigh.

But not unlike the Fed. Merit crosses, I know if I wait long enough I'll find one. If nothing else though, if I've got the $$'s burning a hole in my pocket and can find one "reasonable" for a buy it now I may grab it.

God has a tendency to take good care of me when I least expect it. Things drop into my lap more than I probably even admit to myself. But I have certainly been blessed.

My father gave me my 36 torch holder along with a ton of other very rare pieces from all periods. I found a society medal once in a shop in a small riker covered in dust. Got it for around $30 if memory serves. Love the green enamel and the gold... and I suspect that may be solid. Turns out it's an Society of the Army of Santiago... I don't know a ton about it but from what I understand it was made by Bailey, Banks and Biddle who were up there with Tiffany in those days, medals wise, if I understand correctly. This is the highest level award in an organization that included Gen. Leonard Wood and Teddy Roosevelt as a couple of their top members! I was told they went for around $700-800 range and didn't believe it... until I saw one with damage and no ribbon go but that was engraved go for that and another of the lower grade pieces went for the same $800 some odd figure! It blew me away. I absolutely love the piece (will likely be posting it so stay tuned) and it goes well with my documented piece of metal from the battleship U.S.S. Maine.

I've had a ton of things like that happen... the 57 Olympic 1st for $40 some odd is another example. So I know I'm in good hands. When He's ready for me to have one He will provide.

Thanks,

Dan

[Stogieman]

Hi Dan, I didn't realize they had re-issued these post '57. Very nice find and great presentation!