Identify medal from Austrian area of Poland

Can anyone with a military history background identify the medal show in the picture below? It would have been given prior to WWI to an Austrian soldier from Galcia, Poland today. The quality of the photo is not that good, but you can clearly make out the emperor's face and moustache. Medals I seen are left or right profile. This one is more face to face.

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  Medal
  

Afraid your going to have to get a better pic than that for any hope of identification.

may want to also describe the medal, ribbon collor and size.. etc.. anything else you may know about it. how do you know it's Galicia related?

My hope is that the face to face view of the emperor is unique and may lead to a possible identification. One can get a fairly decent idea of it by clicking on the picture, saving to your desktop and then enlarging it. Every medal I've seen on the internet is profile and unfortunately, that's it. Working with a copy of a copy of a copy.

You might narrow it down by checking the guys badges of rank and then find out what that particular rank qualified for.

When you find out what medal it is... check when it was issued and that will help you determine the age of the person. If you have other details too.

The ribbon might be white, but I think it's more likely yellow.

Find out what actions took place... in the time frame.

It might not be Austrian... so double check.

Not all medals were for valour. It might be simply to recognize the new Emperor.

Lots to think about. The full photo might reveal more clues.

are you sure?? i can't tell what that is at all from that pic.. it looks like a shadow but can't ID beyond that.

i'd say your best bet would be some military history freaks forum. someone out there will know.

how do you know it's for Galicia? maybe that's "blinding" your search?

also, what's on the reverse side?

the color wheather yellow or white are purely guesses that's why i asked. it could also baby blue or some other color that is badly faded. the ribbons seem to be the best clues from my experience.

check: Austrian Franz Joseph I [medal]

A good place to look is E-bay. But be careful what you put in the search box or it will take forever

The photo is of my grandfather who came to the US between 1900 and 1910. Full photo is shown. Am told his rank is Zugsführer. I have to presume Galacia, because he said he was Polish, but lists Austria as his place of birth. Ergo, Galacia.

I have tried e-Bay sites and a Polish ebay type to no avail to find a medal with this face to face view. All others are profile.

• 
  Peter
  

"Pierogi eating champion - 1904"

( Sorry F15 - couldn't resist it ;-) )

I can't see any detail on the picture. You may want to take a look at this site Austro-Hungarian Orders and Decorations 1848-1918.

austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/decorat.htm

God will get you for that one, Szkotja. It was however, very funny.


Thanks, I had not come across this particular site before.

Wroclaw suggested eBay. Every medal that comes up on eBay is a profile of the emperor.

I don't have have the medal. Apparently, one of my father's siblings ran off with it. (And, if it was who I think it probably was, it was pawned within hours.)

Because I have the original copy that a good bit larger than the copy you see on the screen, you can just make out the image of the emperor similar to the photo below:

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  Medal
  
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  Franz Joseph
  

NCO - platoon commander/sergeant.
His rank was marked by three white celluloid stars.

I can see some sort of ghost image... the numbers 1 and 2 on the left hand-side of the medal.

Scan the picture again, but this time change the contrast. It might bring out hidden details. Do one brighter and one darker.

I'd be grateful if anyone could identify this medal:

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Clues please:
When and where do you think the pictute was taken ?

that pic is tiny man. can't tell anything

too small, it could be one of these:

Krzyz Walecznych

Order Krzyza Grunwaldu 1st or 2nd class (imo more likely than Krzyz Walcznych)

To add.
Just put the name in your search box and select images

that's not it, is it?.. it's not virtuti militari either.

The shape of the cross appears to be the same, but the picture is way too small to tell. Also the ribbon is a little out fo the ordinary for Krzyz Walecznych.

I thought you guys were joking about the size of the picture.

Just click on it and save. Then enlarge it.

Or is the joke on me ?

I did and the shape of the cross looked like Krzyz Walecznych, but it gets pixelized at higher zoom. I'm working on a 17" with 1920x1200 so things are sharp but small.

Sometimes it's easier to identify medal by the ribbon if you can't see detail. Here's a good page for the Polish Medals and Orders with ribbon chart for cross reference. If he has a better resolution picture he can find it here: medals.lava.pl/pl/

This particular one seems to be in the shape of Greek cross. There are quite a few of them in that shape but the ribbon is not matching. He might have a better luck looking through this page.

Understood.

F15 guy and Ozi Dan,

Have a look at the photo through a magnifying glass and then report back to us.
You might find a date or other info, which won't get pixelated.

But that one was for AL members and he doesn't look like one of them.

True, although the uniform itself is also similar to that of post WW2 KBW.

Still, my proposition is a bit weak now.

I don't really know how KBW uniforms looked like but they rather didn't have sabres anymore, so I would say that a picture is from between WW1 and WW2, so maybe Krzyz Walecznych... or maybe something less mainstream, maybe something given in legiony...

the ribbon is not though.. it reminds me of brit medals but PL has had a red x on a white background in it's history too.


becomes pixalated all to hell.

the uniform definitely looks pre ww2 but i am not all that militarily geeked out. :)

They did for some representational functions.
My dad was in KBW.

Anyway, we need a bigger picture.

It's Ozi's uncle. So I guess WWII [It's in his profile]

Polish Orders, Medals, Badges and Insignia Book.

This book is available at E-bay. There are no bids yet. Starting bid is 20 dollars.

seller: polishmilitaria