# Securing orders and medals: ribbon, pin, and the question of who the piece belonged to

> Secure orders: store ribbons in the dark, note provenance, do not confuse orders from unjust regimes, as decor, with what you may own.
> Quelle: https://tresorrari.de/artikel/orden-medaillen-sichern · Stand: 2026-10-01 · Tresorrari Redaktion

An order is metal and a ribbon, and often a story that belongs to another person. The ribbon fades. The pin rusts into the case. In the overview [Security for collectors](/artikel/sicherheit-fuer-sammler), the piece sits on the line: small enough for the safe, delicate as soon as the origin or the insignia itself is a legal question.

## The law first

Some you may own and display, some you may not, depending on the insignia and on what criminal law and association law say about it. This text is not a license for prohibited insignia. If you are unsure, you ask before you buy the piece or hang it on the wall. For permitted orders: write the origin down, do not invent it.

## Theft and decay

A case in the secretary is light. Ribbons fade in the light, silk breaks, iron rusts onto leather. You store dark and dry, metal and ribbon so that the pin does not pierce the silk. Truly expensive pieces, with proof of a conferral or of a clear auction provenance, lie in the safe.

## What you write down

Designation, metal, whether the ribbon is original, origin, receipt. A photo of the front, the back, and the ribbon. The conferral document, if there is one, in the document safe, not under the order.

## Häufige Fragen

### May every order go on the wall?

No. Some insignia are prohibited. You clear that before hanging and before buying. This text does not decide it.

### Is the ribbon replaceable?

A new ribbon is a different piece. The list states whether it is original.

### Where does the document lie?

In the document safe, separate from the metal.