Fun Medal Bar Quiz from Saxony!

[stogieman]

Today's Fun Quiz boys and girls! Here is a 1600- Euro bar from Germany, for a box of 1000-year old eggs, direct from the markets of Canton, is it real, or is it something else??

[stogieman]

First Clue!

Here's clue number one! Up close and personal with the first part of the bar!

[stogieman]

And here's clue #2

Here's clue #2. Old Hands, give the grasshoppers a chance to figure this out before you lead them out of the wilderness.

[WNickel]

Hi Rick,

a beautiful bar - and the wearer got the officers cross of the Albrecht-order and some neck orders more... An soldiers who got the Friedrich-August-medal didn't get the Albrechtr cross 1 . class....

Forget it......

[stogieman]

Werner is getting warm!

C'mon guys, for that juicy prize, what's wrong with this bar. Be specific. I really wanted it to be right, but no matter how I tried to twist reality, nothing about this bar is correct. Who can explain??

[McCulloh]

well, basically if you follow the "story" of this bar-one has a career Gefreiter/Unteroffizier in 1914 (who has already been in the Saxon army since 1897: minimum 36 years old in 1915), winning the Gold St Henrys' medal (isn't that a 'wearing copy'?) and then being promoted at lightning speed through all class & educational barriers to Hauptman aD. in time to win no less than 2 Albrecht orders for bravery im Feld (swords). This is without winning ANY other states' awards too, not even the ubiquitous Saxe Mein war cross (for officers i assume). I assume that's a XV Long service NCO's cross-and not an XXV, which would confirm the silliness.
Also, the rear is a classic "tightly sewn, neo-bavarian style mount with a catch that looks a bit clipped.

[stogieman]

And there was much rejoicing...

... in the State of Maine, where one Jeff McC. has won the package of thousand-year old eggs! Yep, no matter how bad Herr stogiemeister wanted this to be real, not a chance this could ever happen. No super-private promotions in the German (Saxon) Army! Deep sigh And yes, that is a bronze-gilt St. henry. The disgusting thing is, every ribbon and medal looks real, so somebody screwed around big-time to make this puppy!
PS: St. Henry Medal would be in first-place. Always & Ever!

[McCulloh]

Instead of the eggs, may I have my pick of your photo album PLEASE?
Jemc
However, for another odd thing look above (in 2 minutes).
p.s. RE: St. Henry in 1st place: Not always. pp. 151, Dittrich, Walter (Lt. Jagdstaffel 1) in Ehrenbuch: der Inhaber der Sachs. Goldinen Militair St. Heinrichs usw...1936.

[stogieman]

You are correct... for

post 1918 Germany. regulations were precedence of award, although things were moved around to suit the owner's taste quite a bit. pre-Armistace, a Saxon would have deferred to his own Kingdom's rules and the Saint Henry was KING!

[Rick Research]

Typical example of the flat bottom, currently mass produced FRAUD bars (for an original, see "Types Of Medal Bars" thread).

Jeff got it:

The "story" this combination tells is idiotic AND impossible, of a career NCO still a Gefreiter after 18+ years but then flying up through the ranks to Hauptmann in the next 4, and THEN massively mismounting his awards after 1920.

If the cretinous butcher who threw this Frankenstein original awards parts monstrosity together had had the brains to make TWO bars out of this, we'd have more of a problem.

As it is, this is an extremely expensive piece of utter crap.

[Christian L]

nice bar

but stogieman you have to forgive the seller - he says in the description, that he is not really familiar with the arangement of saxonien decorations.
i would have selled it in single once if i had no knowledge - so no one can make me out as an "idiot"
christian

[stogieman]

Re: The seller

Hi Christian, I don't think anyone is saying that the seller himself is an "idiot", but rather whoever it was that took good historical items and created this monstrosity of a bar. The individual pieces all look real to me, including the bronze-gilded GSHM, but to make this bar out of these is a true injustice! Unless he made it, his only error is in wanting 1600- Euro for it.

[Klaus O.]

Stogie,

I must also say that I wouldn't be totally happy with the way how the ribbons are sewn on the bar, without the bottom part of the ribbon... What a waste of time and money!

Ciao,

Claudio

[Rick Research]

It never ceases to amaze me how greedy crooks will take something real worth X amount of money and RUIN it, making it worth X -Y while trying to get X +Z for it. moremad

[stogieman]

Here's a proper Saxon Medal bar!

A peek in my display case and what do we see???