December 10, 2019 Edged Weapon, Armor & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/10/2019
Consists of: (A) US Army Distinguished Service Cross, Robbins contract, slot brooch, officially named on the reverse "Russel E. Laford". Purple Heart, slot brooch, officially named on the reverse Russell E. Laford. Officially re-issued pair, original pair was misspelled. Private Russell E LaFord received the Distinguished Service Cross while serving with Company K, 108th Infantry, 27th Division, A.E.F., east of Ronssoy, France, 29 September 1918. CONDITION: Excellent showing no wear. (B) British World War I Service Medal Trio, 1914-1915 Star, 1914-1918 Service Medal and Victory Medal. All officially named "12576 PTE E.W. STANDEN R.A.M.C.", and contained within their original custom made velvet-lined leather-covered case. Included is a World War I British Medical Corps shoulder flash, boxed British Red Cross Society For War Service 1914-1918 medal, the book "A Short History of The Royal Army Medical Corps" printed in 1929 and a photo postcard showing Private Standen. CONDITION: Very good with ribbons showing minor soiling, box with edge and surface wear, Red Cross medal box with broken sides, book with moderate wear. (C) Two pairs of dog tags purported to be members of the OSS. This is a very unique pair of United States Army dog tags from World War II of enlisted men whose next-of-kin is Baroness Maria Reitzes. The two tags are for Franz Taussig and Octavio Alvarez. Even with the names being completely different, the tags show the same serial number. It's very odd because the serial number traces to Octavio Alvarez. He was a non-US citizen when he joined the Army and he was an artist with four years of college living in New York City. The Baroness Marie Reitzes von Marienwert was born in Austria in 1892 and was a frequent world traveler based in New York with a Lichtenstein passport. One set reads "Franz H Taussig, 32294569 T-42, Maria Reitzes, Savoy Plaza Hotel, New York, N.Y.", the second set reads "Octavio J Alvarez, 32294569 T-42, Baroness M Reitzes, Savoy Plaza Hotel, New York, N.Y." CONDITION: Very good showing minor wear.
Condition: (Very Good - Excellent).