Mvr's Ordernkissern on Ebay (repro!)

4 June 2005, 12:44 PM

noticed this on US Ebay, all of Richthofens medals which appeared on his velvet funeral Ordernkissern. Naturally these are repro's.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=13965&item=6537106 923&rd=1

Am I right in assuming that his Red Eagle Order 3rd class was of silver, not gold?

albatros · 4 June 2005, 04:57 PM

Twenty-grand for reproductions??!!! I'd like to find the dumkopf who pay that much and sell them a facsimile MvR autograph for $5,000. Hey!..it LOOKS like the original.

tamerlane · 4 June 2005, 07:06 PM

According to the seller, the group is a repro, not the medals. "All of the medals are WW1 period," he says. If that were the case, you could probably justify a price of $20,000, but first you have to find someone who is willing to pay that instead of buying the pieces individually.

Unfortunately, the Pour le Merite is not original. It is one of the well known copies by Rothe of Vienna.

Tim

Yeoman · 12 June 2005, 02:13 PM

The reason the some of the pictures are blurred is because the seller was laughing into his sleeve while he took the pictures ! Honestly,$20.000!bought virtually unseen ?

Oh come on..

Jim · 13 June 2005, 12:39 PM

Hi Tamerlane. I believe you that the PLM is a reproduction - but can you please teach me how to spot this repro? What is the telltale feature(s) that I should look for - other than all PLMs should be suspected of being repros until proven otherwise since there were so few originals? Many thanks!

tamerlane · 24 June 2005, 01:49 PM

Jim,

Sorry it took me so long to respond. I've been away from the forum too long.

I don't know if you can still see the photos from that auction, but the eagles on Rothe pieces are very tall and narrow, with legs that are bent so that the long lower part of the leg follows parrallel to the eagle's body, bending out only slightly where the feet meet the frame of the cross. There were a couple of variations of originals, but none of them had this style of eagle.

There is a good photo essay of original types of the Pour le Merite on the web site www.medalnet.net. While the types shown may not be completely inclusive, you will notice there are none that have that particular style of eagle.

Tim