Railway badges and Wilhelm II commemorative coin?

Discussion in 'Militaria' started by Barn Owl, Feb 22, 2019.

  1. Barn Owl

    Barn Owl Well-Known Member

    I picked up these items at the flea market. The coin is rather large, and although I've searched extensively online, I can't find other coins matching its bust.

    The four badges are in a paper mache box with a silk liner. I think they might be Imperial German, but I'm not sure. I believe they are railway badges.

    20190222_180417.jpg 20190222_180431.jpg 20190222_180602.jpg 20190222_180537-1-1.jpg
     
    i need help and Any Jewelry like this.
  2. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    There is no value on it, and it seems to be plated, so maybe commemorative rather than a coin?
     
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  3. Barn Owl

    Barn Owl Well-Known Member

    Yeah, I figured it was a commemorative coin. I guess I should call it a medal, but I've always imagined medals to have an eyelet.
     
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  4. daveydempsey

    daveydempsey Moderator Moderator

    Its a Prussian commemorative medal, not a coin.
    Many thousands were struck.
     
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  5. evelyb30

    evelyb30 Well-Known Member

    I suspect military on the wheels - all those arrows. Then again, with a militaristic bunch, who knows. They appear to have been hat or cap badges.
     
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  6. Barn Owl

    Barn Owl Well-Known Member

    i need help likes this.
  7. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

  8. evelyb30

    evelyb30 Well-Known Member

    Sure looks like them!
     
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  9. Barn Owl

    Barn Owl Well-Known Member

    Bronwen likes this.
  10. springfld.arsenal

    springfld.arsenal Store: http://www.springfieldarsenal.net/

    “Rather large...”. Hmmm, that sounds like about 6 feet across, that IS large. I’d do some searching but without knowing the real size, I wouldn’t have a chance.

    I’d call it a medallion
     
  11. Fid

    Fid Well-Known Member

    every village festivity had medals made of Willi dem Hundskrüppel.
    badges with winged wheels: used all over Europe by the different railway companies (except the UK that didn't belong to Europe). the railways of the different kingdoms in the Reich had sometimes crowns, sometimes not - remember that Germany was only united in 1871 in ... Versailles... so Bavaria, Baden etc. might have had a crown till 1918 when they finally disappeared (same btw for certain military stuff).

    badges with winged wheels and thunderbolts: electrically driven railways, ticker services on the railroad (military etc.) or simple tramways in the big cities. first trials in 1903.

    when in the same box most probaly before 1919. after 1933 practically all German badges etc. had a swastika integrated.
     
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  12. afantiques

    afantiques Well-Known Member

    The general term for your commemorative piece is a medallion.
    A medal is usually awarded. It may or may not have a suspension loop although I wonder why the Dicken Medal for brave animals would have one, I have never seen a dog or a pigeon wearing a medal.
     
  13. Fid

    Fid Well-Known Member

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_pigeon

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergeant_Stubby

    you're as usual being forgiven for your poor knowledge of the German language. Hundskrüppel is an expression that is widely known, especially in Southern Germany, Bavaria and Switzerland.
     
  14. evelyb30

    evelyb30 Well-Known Member

    It's not a term of endearment. I'm not sure if it's a crippled dog or someone who maims dogs, probably the latter.
     
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  15. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    Neither.:) It used to refer to unruly children or even illegitimate children. Now it is often used in a more general sense, a bit like SOB or bastard in English. It is not as bad as it sounds.
    I think in this case Krüppel refers to Krippe, a crib. The el ending makes it diminutive, so a small crib.
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2019
  16. Fid

    Fid Well-Known Member

    the only ones that liked him besides the Germans were probably those that allowed him to take asylum...
    Hunds- used as an adjective is always negative, comparable to the also widely used Huren-.
    with Wilhelm cripple is fitting because he had a crippled arm.
     
  17. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    There was only one person who granted him asylum, and she didn't like him. He entered her country illegally, and she suffered his presence. She refused to see him, which she wouldn't have done had she liked him.;)
    She never funded Germany's war effort, btw, not in any war.
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2019
  18. evelyb30

    evelyb30 Well-Known Member

    IIRC even his own cousins weren't too fond, and after he went to war with them the welcome mat was NOT being rolled out. Nicholas was dead by then and George didn't take too kindly to having his people shot and killed.
     
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  19. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

    'Token' is another word used in the numismatics world for some items that look like coins but are neither coins nor awards.
     
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  20. springfld.arsenal

    springfld.arsenal Store: http://www.springfieldarsenal.net/

    How about “exonumia.” “Token” must be used with great care these days; not here, we know what you mean, but celebrities and politicians have to avoid using it in reference to individuals due to all the people out there just waiting to pounce on them and use their words to label them as racists.
     
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