Clasps of the WWI Commemorative Cross

It appears that there are two versions for the MĂRĂŞEŞTI clasp too. Here is MĂRĂŞEŞTI.



And here is M Ă R Ă Ş E Ş T I



This post has been edited by Carol I on November 12, 2005 10:42 am

Based on the images posted, we can update the list of clasps for this cross.

1918
1919
ARDEAL
A R D E A L
BUCUREŞTI
CARPAŢI
CERNA
DOBROGEA
DOBROGIA
DUNĂREA
ITALIA
JIU
MĂRĂŞEŞTI
M Ă R Ă Ş E Ş T I
MĂRĂŞTI
MĂRĂŞTI ◊
OITUZ
TÂRGUL-OCNA
TURTUCAIA

Of these, the ITALIA clasp has yet to be seen.

The "ITALIA" and "SIBERIA" clasps are extremely rare!

Here is one that is not on your list. 1916-1918 cross with bars 1916, Marasesti, 1918 bars. The 1916 bar I have not seen another example of and is unlisted in many books. I beleive that this bar was awarded to Romanian troops fighting along side the Imperial Russian Army inside Russia in 1916.

Some years ago there was a cross for sale on E-bay with a long ribbon and all the bars (probably a piece made for a museum). I remember it also had a "Siberia" bar.

I almost forgot about the SIBERIA clasp. I have first read about it in Traian Serendan: Mărturii despre legiunea voluntară română din Siberia [Documents on the Romanian Volunteers' Legion of Siberia] - Filatelia No. 7-8 (543-544), Jul.-Aug. 2001, pp. 14-15.

Clasps of the WWI Commemorative Cross

1916
1918
1919
ARDEAL
A R D E A L
BUCUREŞTI
CARPAŢI
CERNA
DOBROGEA
DOBROGIA
DUNĂREA
ITALIA
JIU
MĂRĂŞEŞTI
M Ă R Ă Ş E Ş T I
MĂRĂŞTI
MĂRĂŞTI ◊
OITUZ
SIBERIA
TÂRGUL-OCNA
TURTUCAIA

I also have this one on a medal bar, with clasps CERNA, JIU, CAPRATI, MARASTI and OITUZ.

On this last bar, the clasps are also mounted differently compared to other bars. The sides of the clasps were bended.

The "Oituz" clasp also seems to have two variations: OITUZ (in one pic posted by boonicootza) and O I T U Z (on my bar).

Here is a strange MARASESTI one, IIRC it was on sale on ebay.

I have also seen claps with a 'non-standard' font. Could this be a sign for privately made clasps for medal or ribbon bars?

I beleive that there were 8-10 different manufactures of the WW1 cross. There are several variations that exist of the WW1 cross and I beleive that this also applies to the clasp bars. I do not think that it is an issue of being a private purchase piece but rather a variation between manufacturers.

Thanks, but it appears that some fonts are considerably scarcer than others. Are some of the variations of the cross equally scarce?

Carol I, I do not have an answer. I would however like to know more about the Romanians in Siberia. Who knows the story ????

Thanks anyhow.

I have posted a summary of the Filatelia article mentioned above in the thread Rumunian Legion - Legiune de tragatori Transilvania-Bucovina.