The Militarist with Fred Borgmann

The Sudetenland Bow Shaped Ribbon
Posted by Fred

Once in a while a military medal will show up with a ribbon in the shape of a bow. This almost always indicates that the medal was awarded to a woman. Illustrated below is the German Sudetenland Occupation Medal with the Prague Bar. The bow shaped ribbon means that this medal was awarded to a woman. My guess would be that she was a nurse or member of some sort of support unit. What really makes this medal interesting is that it commemorates one of the most important events in the history of the 20th century. The Sudetenland was the German speaking part of western Czechoslovakia, a country with unnatural borders cobbled together after the First World War. The province had rugged terrain and was well fortified. It would have been a tough nut to crack for the German military had Hitler ordered an invasion. Unfortunately for Czechoslovakia, there was a conference in Munich from which the Czechs were excluded. At this conference England, France and Italy agreed to give the Sudetenland to Germany! Most of Europe breathed a sigh of relief thinking that war had been averted. Hitler was seen by the Germans and many others as an invincible genius. Privately however Hitler was resentful and felt that he had been deprived of a glorious military victory! From this point on nothing could stop Hitler from becoming the Pied Piper of Death.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 3:35:16 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

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Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Prusso-German Campaign Medals
Posted by Fred

I may have been collecting too long. Medals that I have always considered common and under priced now frequently send me into sticker shock when I see them offered on the various internet sites. To make matters worse many of the medals offered are only copies, not even originals! Case in point is the German Franco Prussian War service medal. If you have to pay 40.00 or more dollars for one you should at least get an original! As with all the Prussian medals and crosses from 1864-1870, the thick loop on top should have two grooves, one on each side. Even the later official issues of the 1870 medal without the edge inscription still have a grooved loop. The only exception to this rule that I have ever seen is an original medal with a replacement wire loop. How do I know it is an original medal? It has the edge inscription and it is well struck. All the original medals and crosses are very well struck since they are mint products. Most of the copies are weaker strikes, some so weak that there even missing lines in the designs and the lettering looks shallow or faint. With the crosses the edges must be clean cut and straight. The edges on most copies look to be sloped or cut on a slant. The rims often range from high to subsurface on the same cross. The above mentioned copies are contemporary replacement pieces or wearing copies and as such are still collectible and often found in genuine groups but since they are only copies a collector should not pay full price for them. The scan below includes an 1866 cross, an early issue 1870 medal with edge inscription and the later version without the edge inscription. All are genuine.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 6:57:20 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

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Sunday, January 17, 2010

Blinding Hatred
Posted by Fred

The blinding hatred of politics never ceases to amaze me. I generally avoid talking about politics because I usually get both sides mad at me and nothing constructive comes of it. This time I will make an exception. Since Pres. Obama’s election I have seen an endless torrent of forwarded emails blaming the new president for everything; from his inherited economic problems to global warming itself. The latest one states that he has ordered the post office to issue an offensive Arabic language postage stamp and includes such a stamp design taken from the zazzle.com site. This is a site as I understand it, where a private person can have personalized postage stamps printed up with their own pictures or designs for an additional fee. The US Post Office has also issued an Arabic language holiday stamp in several different denominations for many years now. As a matter of fact the first such designs on stamps were issued as far back as 2001 which was many years before Pres. Obama took up residence in the White House. Don't believe me? Check this out: ( http://www.snopes.com/politics/stamps/eidstamp.asp ) Not being a stamp collector I may have just had an old new idea but I think now would be a good time for a series of postage stamps honoring the innocent victims of 911. Let us make the stamps bi-lingual and use both English and Arabic on every stamp. If you like this idea please pass it on, you need not even give me credit for it. My main reason for airing this is to call attention to all the BS being passed around the internet. The anti Target Stores is another example of the lies that never die on the net. I also included the snopes.com link in the hope that readers would go there to check things out before forwarding them. If as a country we let ourselves become so gullible that we believe these lies and attack innocent people and corporations we will have lost our ability to recognize our true enemies and defend ourselves properly. At that point we are doomed.

Sunday, January 17, 2010 7:04:05 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

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Wednesday, January 13, 2010

A Polite Purchase
Posted by Fred

A Regiments Thaler is not a military item. The word “Regiments” as used here is a German term referring to government. Regiments Thalers usually have one side devoted to the coats of arms of city government officials. In this case a Ravensburg Regiments Thaler was sent to me as a what-is-it back in the mid 1970’s. It was worn, looped and valued at 10,000 by an owner who didn’t know what it was. I wrote it up for him right down to the names of the officials which is not hard to do if you have the right books, and sent it back insured as instructed. My estimate of it’s value was $1,500 max. The coin was reported stolen in a coin shop burglary shortly there after. About a year later the coin showed up illustrated in an auction catalog of my former employer and friend who has long since retired. A quick phone call got the coin yanked and returned to it’s rightful owner who didn’t seem too thrilled and never even said thank you. My guess is that he was very happy with his $10,000 insurance claim and really didn’t want the coin back. Unfortunately the FBI could not trace the coin back to the original burglars. What brings this memory back to me is a polite purchase that I made in Giessen Germany about five years ago. We visited a friend of a friend who was a vest pocket coin dealer and one of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet. He brought out tray after tray of old European and German coins and I was starting to feel really guilty because I couldn’t find any that I needed or wanted. He didn’t have much in medals or tokens but when he brought out this spectacular nonmilitary medal I couldn’t say yes fast enough. It is not military or even German but it was love at first sight. Seventeen coats of arms on one medal issued by the City and Guilds of London Institute Department of Technology. Enjoy the eye candy below because next week will be much more military in nature

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 5:14:22 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

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Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Miniatures
Posted by Fred

Miniatures exist for nearly every medal or decoration ever issued by any government and private society. They are rarely government or official issue. Most often they are privately manufactured and sold to anyone willing to buy. Miniature medals are usually worn by veterans on their civilian clothing or on dress uniforms by career military personnel on formal occasions. Mini’s are also popular with many collectors. I prefer the miniature medals of state issued medals more than any others but the really interesting ones are those of international societies. When a group of these comes up they can be very eye catching. For example check out the group of seven below. On the far right we have the Sons of Union Veterans membership medal and their Iron Brigade sub-division. As a Wisconsin collector the Iron Brigade miniature medal instantly caught my eye. The rest of the medals are all international society orders or awards. These groups are all sponsors of various charities and charitable institutions. The Iron Brigade medal is marked “ESCO” which is the Erffmeyer & Son Company of Milwaukee, established in 1934. The last two medals are hereditary membership groups. So how does one get the first five? By spending lots of money in the form of donations! The original owner may have been an attorney in South-Eastern Wisconsin so he probably had enough money to decorate himself with this splendid little bar and in doing so he made the world a better place for many in need.

Wednesday, January 06, 2010 5:01:06 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)

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