Red Cross medal, what is it???

[Frank Heukemes]

Dear Imperials,

could somebody please tell me what exactly this medal, apparently red cross, is? It is cased and the ribbon suggests it might have been awarded to a lady...
Nice enamel on the obverse. It would be great to know country of origin (inscription on both medal and case in Latin, designwise and culturally it seems to be German/Austrian or Western European at least), kind of award, worth.

Cheers, Frank H.

[Frank Heukemes]

another obverse shot

[Frank Heukemes]

reverse

[Frank Heukemes]

case closed

[Frank Heukemes]

case open

[Eric Stahlhut]

Hi Frank

What you have is the Austrian Honor Decoration of the Red Cross (1914-1918). Your example is the Merit Medal II Class for ladies. There were eight different levels of this award. If you'd like, I can post some examples of higher grades of this decoration.

[Frank Heukemes]

Dear Eric,

Thanks and yes, that would be great to see higher classes.
Two more questions remaining:
-worth?
-what does K.D. on the lid of the case stand for?

Cheers, Frank H.

[Eric Stahlhut]

K.D.

I do believe that it stands for war service-- the enameled green wreath denotes this. I'll post some other grades in the next day or so.

Gruss,
e-

[JensF.]

Guten Tag!

"K.D." means "Kriegsdekoration". This is the green laurel-wreath around the medal which was only awarded in wartime. Compare with the Austrian Military-Merit Cross.

Without war-decoration:
http://www.militaria-baldes.de/php/d...9ac940082dcd7c

With war-decoration:
http://www.militaria-baldes.de/php/d...9ac940082dcd7c

In peacetime these awards were awarded without laurel.

Best regards

[Frank Heukemes]

Thanks for your help gentlemen. would be great to know what this is approx. worth. I just want to know if I paid too much. I do not even seriously collect Austrian, just liked the award.

Eric, why do you think this award is 1914-18? I am asking because the dedication says 1864-1914 on the case and medal.

Cheers, Frank H.

[Eric Stahlhut]

Surprise, surprise!

The medals were easier to find than I thought, so here are a few examples of other grades. Frank, the date 1864 is when the Red Cross was founded.

Here is an example of silver and gold(1st class medal):

[Eric Stahlhut]

Cross

Here is a 2nd Class Cross w/war decoration

[Eric Stahlhut]

reverse:

[Eric Stahlhut]

Officer's Cross

Here is one that is getting very hard to find- it is seriously undervalued in my opinion. I also have the neck decoration for this award, but it must be at my bank. I'll get it later and add it to this thread.

[Frank Heukemes]

Dear Eric,

Thanks and very interesting for me! Contagious! Would 60.- Euro (approx. 57 USD) be too much for my cased one? I felt it was a bargain even if the medal does not seem to be too rare...

Cheers, Frank H.