Zany Medal Bar

[Ralph A]

Poor thing. Upside down, reversed... and what is that thing in the middle?!?

I've never seen one, but I believe it's a commemorative issued to celebrate the 25th year of Franz Joseph's reign. I've seen 50 and 60 year versions only.

What should be there in its stead is fairly easy to discern. Want to take a crack at it?

[Ralph A]

Reverse.

Now you can see why I say it's upside down AND reversed. It's not just a matter of flipping it over - it's put together incorrectly!

I know what should go in the middle.

[Ralph A]

I know, not because it's merely obvious...

...but also because I have the award docs that came with the piece.

[Ralph A]

Here is the EK doc.

Boonzaier missed this one. I think he likes the "artsy" ones.

[Ralph A]

This was with it also:

.

[Ralph A]

"Spare parts"

...can come in handy...

[Ralph A]

Here is the offending dingus that was in the middle.

I'm fairly certain it's a Franz Joseph coronation commemorative.

[Mike Dunn]

..

[Ralph A]

Date on the back gives it away.

1848 - 1873 = 25 years. These were reissued in 1898 and 1908.

Commemorative Medal on Occasion of 50th Anniversary of Franz Joseph Reign

Commemorative Cross on Occasion of 60th Anniversary of Franz Joseph Reign

[Ralph A]

Now...

I have two of these Badener Bars. The one shown here is the first bar I ever acquired:

[Mike Dunn]

..

[Ralph A]

Here we go.

Found these on Weitze's site. He calls them "Kriegsmedaille 2.December 1873"

[John Harman]

While it was instituted on the 25th anniversary of his ascension, it was a war commemorative medal rather than a jubilee award. It was awarded for participation in any battle under his reign, i.e., since 1848, and extended to participants of the Bosnian wars of 1878-80 and 1882, and the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><ST1China</ST1</st1:country-region> expeditions in 1900-01.

[Ralph A]

Thanks for the info.

I wonder which is the correct ribbon?

[John Harman]

I wonder which is the correct ribbon?

The yellow and black "ladder" ribbon is the correct one.