Cased french award??

[Jon. H]

Hello Fellow collectors,

Been cleaning up my collection room today, and then i found this one.
any idea what it is? And the box can't be right?

Thanks!

DSC02138.jpg

[Jon. H]

[ATTACH]1334973[/ATTACH]

[Jon. H]

[ATTACH]1334975[/ATTACH]

[Jon. H]

[ATTACH]1334976[/ATTACH]

[Jon. H]

[ATTACH]1334978[/ATTACH]

[Mainemilitaria]

rudolf souval,
The medal is a WW1 vintage French Legion of Honor- Legionnarie (Knight)...the box is Belquim, same period....it's possible the French medal was distributed thru the Belquim maker....(but doubtful).....probably "mated" somewhere alone the line.....

The Legion of Honor is a nice original early strike....minor enamel problems (all typical for early award)....should be worth $100./150.00 retail.

The box is probably identifyable and worth "X" amount on it's own.

The French medal in this grade was widely awarded to French & Allied troops for exceptional Bravery or Service to France....this grade was for EM/ORs.
(Sgt. York, for example, was awarded the LoH (L) , Croix d. Guerre, and the Medaille Militarie by France for his MOH exploits).

John G.

[Garulfo]

The box could be for a belgium order of Leopold ("L" and crown on the cover).

A French (whatever his rank) is first awarded a knight legion of honour, then officer, commander, grand officer and finally grand cross. You can't earn an officer cross if you are not before a knight. The rank is only a hierarchy and does not reflect the act for what it was awarded (not like the Iron cross).

For a foreigner (who just received the medal but is not member of the Legion), the degree of the order corresponds to his rank. A junior officer would receive a knight class, a colonel a commander class and a general a grand officer or grand cross class. An EM/NCO a médaille militaire and rarely a LoH.

Sgt York received a LoH only because of his MoH, but the legion of honour wasn't widely awarded during the war and is a very rare for an EM/NCO or junior officer.
Instead of the LoH, an EM/NCO would receive the "medaille militaire" (who was designed for them only) and the LoH only for an exceptional act of bravery.

The LoH is awarded to both military and civilian and you can understand the frustration of someone who received it for bravery (or a civilian for live saving) to see a singer or footbal player with the same medal...

[Tim B.]

I cannot see any PICS. Only empty boxes with red X's.
Tim

[Jon. H]

Thank you guys!!


Tim, hmm. That's strange, i can post them again and se if you can se them then?

[Jon. H]

[ATTACH]1335977[/ATTACH]

[Jon. H]

[ATTACH]1335978[/ATTACH]

[Jon. H]

[ATTACH]1335979[/ATTACH]

[Jon. H]

[ATTACH]1335980[/ATTACH]

[Jon. H]

[ATTACH]1335981[/ATTACH]

[Garulfo]

No red x for me, everyhing is fine.