Have I identified this correctly as a Cross of Merit, Gold grade?
And can anyone date this for me please?
Thanks in advance.
Have I identified this correctly as a Cross of Merit, Gold grade?
And can anyone date this for me please?
Thanks in advance.
Hi Eric,
Yes, your identification is correct – 1st Class Cross of Merit. I don’t have my reference materials with me at present so cannot pin down when this one dates from. But off the cuff looks like a pre-war made example. I’ll strive to confirm this later.
Regards,
Tony
All thoughts and opinions expressed are those of my own and should not be mistaken for medical and/or legal advice.
"Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday." - John Wayne
Thanks for the help, Tony.
Hi again Eric,
After looking through my archived pics it appears that this is a post war “Bierut” type with the cut out rays. Definitely not a common variant as most post war Merit crosses did not have the manual cutting between the rays and the arms of the cross. This is one of the scarcely seen exceptions. Not as desirable as pre-war or those made for the exile armed forced during WW2, but still of considerable interest to collectors of the communist era decorations.
Regards,
Tony
All thoughts and opinions expressed are those of my own and should not be mistaken for medical and/or legal advice.
"Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday." - John Wayne
Thanks again, Tony. I appreciate the help.
Hi what do you think about that Cross of Merit miniature. What are the stamps? What is the date?
Hi, here is gold Cross of Merit, with silver suspension pin. The stamp say Spink London SILVER.Did all gold Cross of Merit where stamp Spink London SILVER?
Hi here is one more Merit Cross silver. Strangely it dose not have silver stamp, only Spink London, and suspension pin is plastic.
Hi Mariusz,
The miniature Cross of Merit is a genuine pre-war piece. The maker initials "WM" are not familiar. With that maker's mark it's obvious that the Panasiuk marked spinner is not original. The pre-war Polish silver proof marks with the "2" indicates .875 silver purity. If I am not mistaken, the "W" stands for Warsaw.
Regards,
Tony
All thoughts and opinions expressed are those of my own and should not be mistaken for medical and/or legal advice.
"Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday." - John Wayne
Hi Mariusz,
At risk of sounding like those that held up Piltdown Man as one of our ancestors, this is an interesting ‘transitional form’. And just like archaeology itself, this is less science and more digging in the dirt to come up with reasonable theories. Theories that may never be proven, and probably more like to be disproven. In any event, for what it’s worth this cross has the characteristic Spink ribbon fold of earlier production decorations, and yet has the later style pinback clasp.
It is obviously genuine, but when exactly was it made? Could this be ‘the missing link’ between wartime and QEII era production??!
Regards,
Tony
PS I’ll comment on Spink maker marks later.
All thoughts and opinions expressed are those of my own and should not be mistaken for medical and/or legal advice.
"Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday." - John Wayne
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