Thinking about collecting some medals....

[PlaceOfBayonets]

Due to a lay off I was thinking about collecting some of the lower end medals out there but I don't know much about what is out there. I can decorate all my helmets stands with some of them I figured.

I did a search and found that Prussia had two main medals. The Iron Cross and the Blue max?

What was the Blue Max issued for? Was this an air service medal? I am guessing they are pretty pricy?

Also I see the Hindenburg Cross on ebay a lot. Was this issued after the war ended or during? I saw that it had 1914 and 1918 on it.

Are there any other affordable medals I should look at from the other German states?

So far I've collected two EK second class examples.

Wilhelm

[Steve Campbell]

The Blue Max is a rare and very expensive medal. I believe the Knight's Cross of 1939 was intended to be the same level of award, although available to more people. I don't know much, but it appears the Blue Max, which is only the nickname of that medal was awarded to pilots, generals, royalty, uboat commanders etc. This is not anywhre near the same award as the Hindenburg cross, which is a very common medal. This was instituted in 1934 as an official award of the Third Reich to honor anyone who contributed to Germany's war effort in WW1. There are versions with and without swords and a black version for widows or next of kin. The WW1 wound badge is a nice item which you can get cheap also. A two place medal bar with a Iron Cross and a Hindenburg cross can be had cheap and would look good in a display.

[gregM]

William,
There are many many Imperial medals to choose from. Just do a
forum search on "medal bar" and you will see what I mean.

Here is a link to a great website that shows a lot of the different awards
given by the different states.---------

http://home.att.net/~david.danner/militaria/states.htm

and here is a link to a discussion about some other awards for bravery given out
by the German states.

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=226593

happy hunting

[paddywhack]

as well because there was many differnet german states there plenty of other fairly cheap yet still beatiful awards you can get to!!

[Carl Christense]

Starter Medal

A good starter medal is the Bavarian War Merit Cross 3rd Class. It is affordable, common, and looks good.

Regards

Carl C

[PlaceOfBayonets]

What are medal bars? I've seen them but do not understand say the difference between an iron cross standing alone and one on a medal bar?

W.

[Wild Card]

Hello PlaceOfBayonets,

Briefly, the Blue Max (proper name, Orden Pour le Merite) was awarded to officers only for any number of reasons - a single heroic event, a given number of aircraft downed, command of a successful battle/campaign, etc. Genuine PLM’s start in price around $10,000; a cased piece with oakleaves and provenance sold at auction earlier this month for about $36,000. Good fakes and copies are generally available for $100 to over $10,000, so be careful. The PLM equivalent for enlisted men is the Golden Military Merit Cross. These are now selling for over $5,000.

Your thought of “Iron Cross equivalents” is a good one in that it opens up a wide field of examples which are still offered at affordable prices. Remember that there are upwards of 3,000 different Imperial German orders and decorations - something for everyone. Carl C’s suggestion, “A good starter medal is the Bavarian War Merit Cross 3rd Class. It is affordable, common, and looks good” is an excellent recommendation worth consideration.

Best wishes,

Wild Card

[PlaceOfBayonets]

Thanks for the advice and info guys. I've seen some pretty high priced stuff while surfing. One medal was 15,000 dollars. Wow.

Well I've went on an ebay rampage and taken some loot down. Post the photos here. Please review and check me if I've gotten anything bad. First one Hindy cross w/o swords.

Wilhelm

[PlaceOfBayonets]

Back side CW maker mark

[PlaceOfBayonets]

Hindy with swords and a merit cross. Can anyone tell me is the Merit cross was the type only issued to civilians or is this a medal that went to the armed forces?

[PlaceOfBayonets]

back sides

[Claudius]

Hello PlaceOfBayonets;

And since I didn't say it before -Welcome to Imperial German Medal collecting!

The Hindys look great. As you would imagine, the without swords Hindy is a non-combatant version of the with swords.

The Prussian War Merit Cross was awarded to civilians as well as the armed forces. Usually they participated in the war effort, but not directly to earn an Iron Cross 2nd Class. I have one on bar from a 19th century solder who was too old to service in front line capacity, but was likely helping with rear line duties like POW guard.

Nice cross.

[PlaceOfBayonets]

Darn! I assumed that the cross without swords was just a different version. Now I've made an ass out of me and myself LOL

I don't know if I'd have wanted it had I known.

Anyways I am glad the merit cross went to the armed forces.

I found a bavarian cross I have posted about in another thread. Need some advice on it.

W.