ThaiDave

Hi It is not any officially issued Vietnam medal I have ever seen, or elsewhere in Indochina. It doesn't appear "official quality". Maybe it could be for an organization ? But not one that is in any of my information about Vietnam medals. Rgds Dave

Hello Dragomir This book is published by the medals department of the Secretariat of the Cabinet. They republish similar, updated, books from time to time. The second page shown is acknowledgements, or names of the committee members. The publishing information is on another page (I don't have the book handy, but I have written it down before as below). This is how I catalogued it : - สำนักเลขาธิการคณะรัฐมนตรี (Samnak Lekhathikan Khana Ratthamontri) (The Secretariat of the Cabinet), เครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์ไทย (Khruang Racha Issariyaphorn Thai) (Royal Thai Orders and Decorations), Bangkok, ศิริมิตรการพิมพ์ (Sirimit Press), 2523 (1980), 12 + 350 p., 27.3 x 25 cm, ill. col., bibl. (Thai) (Background and types of Thai Orders and Decorations, the protocol in receiving the orders and diplomas of the orders)

Hi. The regulations give the design change as 1909. In the group shown this is the pre 1909 type. The 1941 date I think came from Blass originally - I don't know where he got from, but he was not the most honest source. We see the award certificates change the form in the 1940s not 1909. And having handled several hundreds, I have found very few with such apparent age, but that's always hard to tell sometimes. We have seen a handful of pictures with the new type confirmable before 1941. Further: As for Borna Barac's "Reference Catalogue ... this is a lifted and copied work with information and pictures taken from anywhere he could get it without references to the sources he lifted from. The information is not always very accurate. Some of the pictures are even modified (one medal converted into another for example). So perhaps its useful as a (copied from other peoples works) basic information. But it certainly isn't a definite work for specialist precise details, especially over any other accurate information.

Hi nickstrenk, Giấy chứng nhận (Award Certificate) is a preliminary document given, possibly along with the medal, while waiting for the main commendation document to arrive. Except for smaller awards or titles it may be the only document. For orders & decorations, it is Giấy chứng nhận đeo Huân chương (Certificate of receiving Orders). A typical official award document for the Friendship Decoration is as below (this specific document for example was sent later via the embassy, with additional letters). The medal and suspension perhaps do not appear to be matched ? Likewise, I didn't find any way to confirm the medal number and the certificate number, and surely certificates will be matched to any medal to better sell them. I have an early working webpage on this medal at: http://www.vietnammedals.org/en/d/d-04_friendship_decoration.html (this website still under heavy construction...but this page is ok). Rgds

Hi. Its a Buddhist amulet for Luang Pu Fan Ajaro - a commemorative medal his disciple made for events. There are 7 different kinds, but this one from 2507 seem to be the most sought after. (2507 BE - 543 = 1964 AD) The obverse inscription in Thai is: Luang Pu Fan Ajaro (พระอาจารย์ฝั้น อาจาโร) The reverse inscription in Thai is: Top วัดป่าถํ้าขาม สกลนคร Wat Pa Tham Kham, Sakon Nakhon (Temple Pa Tham Kham, in Sakon Nakhon Province) Middle คาถา “หัวใจพญานกยูงทอง” (in Pali language) Golden peacock heart spell ๒๕๐๗ (2507) Bottom รุ่นแรกศิษย์ ทอ.สร้างถวาย Made by first generation disciple Rgds

Hi All Here is a "covered ear" "repro" from a European auction house some time back. The dealer was advised in advance, but sold as genuine anyway. Cheers

pics of copy 3 - seems to be one of the $30 "museum" copies coming from UK 1 out of 4 was really genuine ...

HI All Here are examples of 3 fakes and 1 genuine sold by a well known dealer. Unfortunately all were advertised as genuine. The dealer of course knew the fakes were not genuine, as the pricing was totally different. Cheers pics of copy 1 - covered ear (Laslo "Repro Type 1") pics of copy 2 - also covered ear (Laslo "Repro Type 1") - very similar to the above

Hi Nick The medal says: VÌ THẾ HỆ TRẺ = FOR THE YOUNG GENERATION ĐOÀN THANH NIÊN LAO ĐỘNG HỒ CHÍ MINH 1931-1971 = Ho Chi Minh Youth Union of Labor 1931-1971 So presumably a commemorative medal for 40 years of Ho Chi Minh Labor Youth Union. It doesn't really appear to be a medal from the period 1970s however. Presumably a later issued badge for HCM labor youth union. There are numerous such commemorative medals / badges. I have about 100 of similar modern commemorative medals (but not this one !) now in progress adding to my new SRV/DRV medals website, working pages for commemorative medals section starting here : http://www.vietnammedals.org/en/cm/index.html (warning: Its a work in progress.) Rgds Dave

Hi Ralstona I find a little more about the online BODMR. Others asked about this, and the official reply was that it cannot be made public. However, you can buy the book. Go figure... https://forum.ouvre-boite.org/t/bulletin-officiel-des-decorations-medailles-et-recompenses/271/16 So for now have to find a location that has the book. Presumable any major French library or archive. Rgds Dave 18090683053e30f485b6c4edbb3fed99a498a651.pdf

Ralstona, Its a little late to find this thread, but I'll add my 2 cents. All of these medals I found in Vietnam. So I'm more inclined to think that they are awarded in Vietnam, rather than in France and taken back. Therefore, perhaps they are from French companies which continued in Vietnam after 1954. Its interested to check the actual citation in the official journal. I will look further towards this. Then it will be clear. I see that this was started in 1951, but as yet I don't find online access. Its not in Gallica as I can see, and as per French Widipedia it is not online (but info from 2010) https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_officiel_des_décorations,_médailles_et_récompenses https://www.senat.fr/questions/base/2010/qSEQ100312713.html If existed, I think it should be here: https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/contenu/menu/publications-officielles/bulletins-officiels Therefore, one perhaps at this time needs to find a place which has a subscription to this official bulliten. Rgds Dave P/S It's my site - www.indochinamedals.com ?

Hi Micke I don't know if that is good explanation for certificates - seems odd that they would have so many extra documents printed up that they would last for another 30 years. And then the documents would get used up just the time they do a re-write of the order regulations, and coincidentally the old wisdom of the date for the type change at this time. (1941 was what I had heard decades ago as people told me also). Yes, the documents for all grades are with the highest class of the award. Have you found any new information on this ? I got a translation of the Thai government book in English and read thru again. It says as we know from the regulations the design change in 1909. But I just don't see it fully in practice, except for some pictures as have been posted. 1909 to 1941 isn't a short time, and so I would expect a lot more of the new model found in old patina and more pictures of Thais as well as foreigners - and I just don't see that much. Maybe those years the awards were few, and therefore not much around. Maybe not everyone changed to the new model, and 1941 was a hard reset to the new model. So I think it still needs more research how it played out in practice. Rgds Dave

HI Micke, (deleting my repeated discussion, which we already had over here) Rgds Dave

This is 3. Mike Shank copy - some features thicker, especially Thai characters on the reverse. The details are not as sharp. The Thai characters are all not as nice - I suppose it could have been done by a Thai, but it is not as nice. (Its not exactly how I learned to write, but some of the characters are more correct.) Some of the upper accents are very thick (flattened ? maybe it was smashed ? Maybe someone has other examples to compare)