The Order of Poland Restored (Polonia Restituta)

[3mk]

Nice cross Janek

I really like the patina on the reverse side of the cross.

[prezesdel]

Hi Everyone!

Just would like to show you my latest purchase. It is the first issue of the Grand Cross of The Order of Poland Restored. Strangely enough, this case has also got a Japanease inscription ! It is saying: 'Polish Order of Poland Restored established in 1918 in the seventh year of Taishō era'. Unfortunately, it does not give any specific names... I've done some resarch and the only Japanease person awarded this order on the 7th of August 1925 was Admiral Heihachirō Tōgō 東郷平八郎. Please help me to identify who might have been awarded this order. According to Heihachirō Tōgō museum in Kagoshima, all orders are there, but they are not certain whether there are copies or not...

[andrzejku98]

Hi Prezesdel,

I also could only find Admiral Heihachiro Togo awarded the Grand Cross on the 7 Sierpien (August) 1925, I have also attached a photo of the Admiral for you to view.



Best wishes

Andrzjku

[dastier]

That would be quite the coup acquiring the case for The Order of Poland Restored (Polonia Restituta) awarded to Admiral Heihachirō Tōgō.

I believe he was the most revered admiral of the old Imperial Japanese Navy and the author of the great Japanese naval victories by the IJN over the Tsar's navy during the Russo Japanese War.

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Michael, superb acquisition! Congratulations to you Please keep us posted with the results of your continuing research.

Cheers,
Tony

[A.J. Zawadzki]

A variant of the 3rd Class Cross from an unknown maker first posted here:
polonia restituta commander



Comparison of center disc to a Gontarczyk made 3rd Class cross.



Also worth noting is the intermediate suspension ring is smaller on this cross than those found on the Gontarczyk products.

Regards,
Tony

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Recently on the auction market, but unsold at a hefty starting price of 4000PLN. A third class cross the seller attributes to French manufacture by virtue of the dog's / wolf's head hallmarks. One mark is located on the suspension ear and the other on the ribbon ring. A quick check revealed that the French used this mark to denote products made using platinum. Regardless, an interesting variation of the cross. Thanks to the seller's reasonable good photographs they are useful for including in this thread:

Cheers,
Tony

[LwowAK]

As Tony says at the start of this thread, there is a strong collector following. However, it seems to me that the economics of these decorations do not match that sentiment. Why do I say this? Just look at prices vs. rarity. If the table below is to be believed (taken from the Prof who is known to be wrong), there were in total less PRs issued during the IIRP than VMs - in the grand scheme, significantly less when compared at each grade.

That being said, the prices of any of the grades does not seem to match the "supply" side of the equation. A pre-war VM 5th class where +8,000 were issued retails for $1,000, which is the same as for the PR star where only 300 were issued. Are the stats wrong or is the demand just that much higher for VMs?

Also, the availability seems to be much higher. The PR 3rd class can be found in relative abundance, even though 500 less of them were supposedly issued when compared to the IC w/Swords. How often does an IC w/Swords come up? Not very often and the price blows the PR out of the water.

Even the diplomas seem to be relatively cheap. I recently saw the diploma of the PR 2nd class where only 241 were issued sell for $250. Please tell me how such a rare document can fetch such a paltry sum when legytmacja for regimental badges can easily retail for double or triple that and thousands were issued.

All in all, the PR has always seemed to me to be an enigma decoration.

1st Class, Grand Cross 79
2nd Class, Commander with Star 241
3rd Class, Commander 1,370
4th Class, Officers 2,729
5th Class, Cavalier 2,465

[jaxmon]

Here is mine. Unknown manufacture, possibly French. Superimposed eagle and date plates. Size: 56.76 mm.

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Worthy of adding to this thread is a seldom seen Wabinski made version of the 5th Class cross with case:

(click on pics to enlarge)






(pictures from Allegro auction)
Regards,
Tony