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The Lowdown on the Low Country

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  • Registered Users Posts: 178 ✭✭Milsey


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  • Registered Users Posts: 178 ✭✭Milsey


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  • Registered Users Posts: 178 ✭✭Milsey


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  • Registered Users Posts: 783 ✭✭✭HerrScheisse


    That is a very nice set Milsey!

    Might I ask where you picked them up? Do you know what happened to the Leopold II Order or the Order of the Crown?


  • Registered Users Posts: 178 ✭✭Milsey


    Thanks very much. Im af
    That is a very nice set Milsey!

    Might I ask where you picked them up? Do you know what happened to the Leopold II Order or the Order of the Crown?
    I picked it up on ebay about 5 years ago. I don't know where the other medals are gone. There was never a mention of them. I pressume they were sold seperate as they would make more money sold seperate. I like the fact that they're all attributable to the one guy.


  • Registered Users Posts: 783 ✭✭✭HerrScheisse


    I am very pleased to have this rarity - the Iron Cross second class from 1830, awarded to the fighters of the revolution against Dutch rule that led to the independence of Belgium.

    But it does not look like a cross? The first class version is a cross, similar to many I have already posted with gilt arms and a black enameled centre bearing the lion and the year 1830.

    The second class of this iron cross is the version you see below, a medal that could not be worn. The awardees were very angry about this and shortly thereafter it was replaced by a silver version of the previously mentioned cross.

    This medal is thus the first Belgian award. It is made of iron and magnetic.
    On the rear are the coats of arms of the 9 provinces (modern Belgium has 10 provinces) and the year of independence 1830. I find it amazing to hold this item that was issued just 15 years after the battle of Waterloo.

    There are a couple of small surface rust tarnish spots, if anyone has any advice on treating them I would appreciate it. Otherwise it is being placed in a container with a bag of silica gel.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 783 ✭✭✭HerrScheisse


    Here is the highest award of the civil cross, previously I had posted the second class silver version.

    Awarded for 25 years civil service.

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  • Registered Users Posts: 783 ✭✭✭HerrScheisse


    Here is an oldie, the veterans medal of Leopold II second class in silver. The first class is identical but gold coloured.

    The front bears the profile of Leopold, the rear the years of his reign from succession to the throne in 1865, and his death in 1909.

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  • Registered Users Posts: 783 ✭✭✭HerrScheisse


    Issued in 1924, on the anniversary of the first postal stamp issued in Belgium, and awarded to postal workers with 25 years service.

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  • Registered Users Posts: 783 ✭✭✭HerrScheisse


    This is awarded to the elite of industry in recognition of their knowledge, skill and dedication. This particular model is from 1948.

    I picked this up in a market in an area where there were previously a lot of coal mines, and coincidentally there were plenty of labour awards to be found on the stalls. Oddly enough, lots of carved ivory could also be purchased at this market, and I did also come across a genuine human skull minus a jawbone, mounted neatly upon a plinth. And no, I did not buy the skull :pac:

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  • Registered Users Posts: 783 ✭✭✭HerrScheisse


    Bronze medal for courage and dedication:

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  • Registered Users Posts: 783 ✭✭✭HerrScheisse


    Fort Breendonk is a military base but was used as a detention camp during WW2, holding politcal opponents, POWs, Jews etc prior to shipment to more dedicated concentration or death camps. Essentially it was a transit camp.

    Nevertheless people were murdered here, and the daily regime was extremely harsh with beatings and forced labour.

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    And a photo of the same angle I made some time ago.

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    The rear features the layout of the camp.


  • Registered Users Posts: 783 ✭✭✭HerrScheisse


    An anniversary medal celebrating 50 years of liberation. It is a good solid piece, both languages are included, and the shields of nine provinces on the rear. There is a pin attached but I do not know if it had a ribbon or some other method of attachment.

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    It appears to be made pure silver, as the text 999 (or 99.9% = fine silver) and "1 silver ounce" is included on the design.

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    Also there is an indent of the symbol "AG" for silver:

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  • Registered Users Posts: 184 ✭✭MedalFuhrer


    The Laureat one looks cheap and tackier than a DDR piece. A strange and ugly looking piece, but yet I like it! Very usual but from an aesthetics point of view it looks awful.


  • Registered Users Posts: 783 ✭✭✭HerrScheisse


    I can understand your point on that as it is a little garish. But...the symbology is wonderful - the hammer symbolising work under a crown. Working for the benefit of the kingdom!

    And it is a very prestigious award and the enamel work is some of the best I have ever seen, each individual leaf is enameled with a high quality feel in the hand.

    It is like a vagina, it looks terrible but feels great.


  • Registered Users Posts: 783 ✭✭✭HerrScheisse


    Here is a rarity, the very first type of the Congo Service Star and an award with a black history.

    It was first awarded in 1889 and continually through to 1910, when the design of the award was changed. In 1908, the Belgian government took control of Congo from Leopold II, who until then used Congo as his own personal fiefdom.

    The bar on the ribbon denotes three years of loyal service. Since it was awarded during the period when there was no government control, I really wonder what the original owner did to receive it. Note that the rear contains only French language text, as this was the language of the elite, and the Flemish were the underclass at that time. Translated it means "work and progress".

    I also imagine what Congo must have been like back then, a savage land with no roads or dirt tracks, but unexplored jungles and undiscovered tribes.

    The book Heart of Darkness took its inspiration from this dark period of colonial history, whilst Coppolla paid sly tribute but shifted the location to Vietnam in Apocalypse Now.

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  • Registered Users Posts: 184 ✭✭MedalFuhrer


    .........an award with a black history.

    Excuse the pun! :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 783 ✭✭✭HerrScheisse


    Oh behave :pac:


  • Registered Users Posts: 184 ✭✭MedalFuhrer


    It is like a vagina, it looks terrible but feels great.

    Description of the year! I need a drink after that! ;)


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  • Registered Users Posts: 783 ✭✭✭HerrScheisse


    I had the chance to pick up a second Congo star and could not resist. These are the first type, and measure 30mm from ball to ball on the cross arm of the star. Later editions from 1910 onwards measure 40mm.

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