1870-71 Franco - Prussian Medal

[fsee]

I have been wanting a nice example of one of these for a long time and finally scored this on eBay. One thing concerned me....While the ribbon shows its age, the medal itself looks brand new. It has the cannon inscription on the rim but the metal looks brand spanking new. Is it lacquered to prevent any patination, or is it fire gilded?

[fsee]

Reverse

The back....

[tgn]

wrong ribbon.

[fsee]

Really?

wrong ribbon.

Thanks for that info, but but can you complete your comment and educate me about what medal that ribbon might be for? Thanks.

I'm not doing very well on any of my "show and tell...."

[otter76]

I would say that's a red eagle order ribbon most likely a general honor decoration ribbon otherwise.

Do not know if those 1870 medals are faked in numbers but I prefer them worn.

Cheers, Alex

[Brian L.]

I've never heard of these being faked. These were often fire gilded especially for officers. There were privately made ones which were struck from of a lighter composite metal, always fire gilded and without "AUS EROBERTEM GESCHUETZ" impressed on the rim.

The ribbon is easy to come by as it's the same as the 1934 Hindenburg Cross.

[Jeroen P]

at first glance, your medal looks OK to me. Perhaps it has been cleaned?

Here is mine. It was probably cleaned recently, so it looks quite new. But it has little dents and scratches which testify to its age. Or could this be one of the fire gilded types?

[fsee]

Fire Gilding

at first glance, your medal looks OK to me. Perhaps it has been cleaned?

Here is mine. It was probably cleaned recently, so it looks quite new. But it has little dents and scratches which testify to its age. Or could this be one of the fire gilded types?

My vote would be fire gilding. Gold does not rust.

[Don D.]

Probably just a cleaned bronze. Bronze does not rust either.

[streptile]

The medal looks good to me. These often survived in excellent condition.

The ribbon for this medal is the same as for the Hindenburg Cross and in fact the medal served the exact same purpose as the Hindenburg Cross also: it was a participation medal (as opposed to a merit medal) for the war.

The trapezoid bar has some value in itself as a mount for an AEZ or an RAO.

[tgn]

The mounted ribbon is probably worth more than the medal.

[fsee]

The medal looks good to me. These often survived in excellent condition.

The ribbon for this medal is the same as for the Hindenburg Cross and in fact the medal served the exact same purpose as the Hindenburg Cross also: it was a participation medal (as opposed to a merit medal) for the war.

The trapezoid bar has some value in itself as a mount for an AEZ or an RAO.

The eBay seller from whom I bought this has a few Imperial medals for sale and I'm thinking that one of them went with the white and orange ribbon. It looks like an estate auction find. Their is a round silver medal, 19th century "Verdienst Um Den Staat" reverse has FWR III and a crown.

[streptile]

The eBay seller from whom I bought this has a few Imperial medals for sale and I'm thinking that one of them went with the white and orange ribbon. It looks like an estate auction find. Their is a round silver medal, 19th century "Verdienst Um Den Staat" reverse has FWR III and a crown.

That's right, that the Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen (AEZ) or General Honor Decoration.

The other one is the Roter Adler Orden (RAO) or Red Eagle Order.

Both take this ribbon.

[fsee]

Sold!

Darn, the seller sold the AEZ last night on eBay, minus my ribbon. He probably thought the 1870 War medal looked better on the trapezoid ribbon mount. I am going to try to buy the medal from the winning bidder.

[tystgaard]

Medal

Nice original medal. Ribbon will be easy to find. Hope the other ribbon
and medal will be reunited!

Here are a example I purchased a couple of days ago
and now waiting for the postman.

BR
Nicolai