JapanX Posted June 23, 2012 Posted June 23, 2012 Very often these rare beauties are confused with Red Cross medals and orders that were issued by Manchukuo (because of the same ribbon colors and general similarity). Sometimes they are labeled as “Red Cross medals of china puppet government”. I wonder what government they are referring to... Hubei government? Nanking government? Go figure … Well, let’s take a look at these medals and orders and discuss their variations.
JapanX Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 Medals Full member medal variation 1 This is the earliest piece that I saw. Obverse
JapanX Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 According to the auction house info the edge of this medal engraved “Capt. G. C. Darwall. Assistant Postal Commissioner Manchuria 1911”
JapanX Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 Full member medal variation 2 A perfect example of late (?) type of full member medal (it has pronounced characteristics of japanese medals and could be manufactured in Japan). Usually the diameter of these medals is approximately 30 mm.
JapanX Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 Here we have another example of this full member medal, but this time on the chain (probably owner replaced ribbon with the chain (?) ) Obverse
JapanX Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 Special member medal These are the same in design as full member medals variation 2 except they are gold gilded (at least they appear to be) and have additional hieroglyph on reverse. Obverse
JapanX Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 Another example (note the suspension ball form )
JapanX Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 It is obvious that the ribbons for this medals have pronounced characteristics of japanese ribbons and I believe that they could be manufactured in Japan (together with medals ). The only question when does this happened. When 1st variation was replaced by 2nd? Maybe 2nd variation was indeed issued by Chinese puppet governments?! In this case this variation became issued no earlier than in 1938… And another thing... Check out this specimen Obverse (exactly the same obverse as we see with previous specimens - only form of suspension is slightly different)
JapanX Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 Commemorative medal of 1913 A very interesting medal that was issued in 1913 most likely by Fengtian branch of Red Cross. Unfortunately we have only obverse photo (and the info about the year and place of issue originates from reverse inscription). Obverse
JapanX Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 Orders Well or special merit medals if you wish… Order of merit variation 1 Obverse
JapanX Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 Order of merit variation 2 Obviously this is a direct copy from japanese order of red cross (even the style of inscription on reverse is very japanese) Obverse
JapanX Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 Comparison of reverse inscriptions Variation 1 vs. Variation 2 (on the right)
JapanX Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 Order of merit variation 3 Slightly modified variation 1. Obverse
JapanX Posted June 23, 2012 Author Posted June 23, 2012 Comparison of reverse inscriptions Variation 1 vs. Variation 2 vs. Variation 3
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now