hc8604

Hi Nick, doing well, you? I was trying to find the pictures of the newer ones, but I never saved them. It will probably be posted again later. ~Hsin

The 7th class never existed as a breast badge. Right now, the fakers have released the correct version. It looks almost real.. but not silver or have a ribbon. I tried to explain it to the main history guy from the Flying Tiger Historical Organization and he insists it exists (even though I have seen him sell the same medals on ebay and his buying history shows he bought many from China lol). I told him to post his Chinese medals on OMSA forum, but he says he is "too busy." Speaking of.. anybody heard of that organization before?

I have seen that set, but I have no idea on those medals. What basis are they from? If those ribbons are fake... where can I get some? I need some for some of my medals that are missing those ribbons. The medals seem to have better qualities than the typical fakes. This one has painted enamel, but the paint job is not that bad. The middle one seem to have silver toning on the edge. I have never seen it on the fakes like that. But the color on it is a bit grey and silver is suppose to be whiter. They should test it for silver.. it maybe possible! :whistle:

I guess it came from word of mouth then...do they even have his name? I have seen the lower class medal once on ebay. I can't remember at what price it ended at.

Thanks for posting the pictures jcwater :)

That one is still numbered, but the latch thing covers it at an angle. I have always seen this one on ebay and never realized it until now, that it is missing the red/blue layer! It is also the Taiwan version. The seller is offering fakes, but this and another one is real.. but both are too expensive. http://www.ebay.com/itm/190509563386?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

I would assume a lot of high ranking officials gave the good medal to themselves or gave it to others for the heck of it (or for other medals in return or favors). It would also be difficult for some regular citizen to earn a medal. For example, many 1-3rd classes of Cloud and Banners were given to US generals and admirals during WWII and up to Vietnam. But rarely would any lower classes be given out to a lets say, a sergeant or corporal, unless they did something spectacular and everybody knows about it. My uncle solved a very big case and was awarded 9th class. I don't know how long he was in the police force, but in his 30s or so, he was probably a couple years into it. Now if he was police chief he would have got the top 3 class. So, big name/high position = you have a better chance of getting a nice shiny medal. But.. that is just my view :)

I am not sure if they reset the serial number or if it continued on since 1949. It is something I would like to know.

Thanks drclaw, Well he is not related to me, but he is my aunt's husband (my dad's brother in law)... I think it is still called uncle.. right? lol He gave me one of his other medals, it is not as good as the Brilliant Star, but just the civil service medal and certificate. He has all three I think, and gave me the first class. It was nice of him to do that.

Also, good picture to show with mini and full size in the box. Silk lining is stained, but I guess the humidity over there does not help in keeping the box and medal in good condition.

The medal is very tarnished, used to be gold now more black color. No cracks in the enamel, but a small chip in one of the rays. Also comes with the mini.

Him in the award ceremony; first one in the top picture and him getting pinned with the medal in bottom

Picture of box

Hi Nick, The serial number is in the 370s

Hi Nick, <p>The serial number is in the 370s

Hi Nick, The high ranking awards were nicer than the common awards. The common ones were just crappy, aluminum and painted. Even the common American medals are not that nice (quality wise), unless it mostly the better ranking ones. The box is similar to the 9th grade Brilliant Star that was awarded to my uncle in 1973. Today, some of the common medals are better made now with glass enamel instead of painted on I believe... some are actually silver made too. Silver is still silver and they didn't want the communists to get any of it. So, it was not made in France then... but just an stamp placed there by customs? Then this medal was found in France and awarded by Taiwan to a French official then.

jcwater messaged me to help him to write it out and basically said that he has never seen or heard of a French version of this medal. I told him that you guys were discussing that it was French made and he did not see that part. There were only three versions made as he said above. First two were from the mainland and the 3rd one is on Taiwan. From 1949 to 1980, Taiwan had enough medals made before 1949 to distribute. Not until 1970s they started to make the medals. This is true since I have a 1960s period awarded Cloud and Banner made before 1949, refurbished and awarded in a wooden box and newer type ribbon bar. I don't see a reason why Taiwan would have somebody else make the medals for them since they should have the ability to make their own medals. As jcwater said, he has not heard of any medals being made in France.

The government could have ordered many medals and awarded these later on. The only way to check the date is to ask if there are still records of it or if the certificate still exist. I have not see any published source on serial numbers for these medals.

Post-1950 Taiwan period? I have seen this from somewhere before...

This is not ivory. It is made out of bone.

Really...?! only 750................ I would have expected way more than that. But it must been have an obscure auction house. I would estimate non-ebay auction of 2000-3000USD in the larger auctions. I would have gladly reached deeply in my wallet :cheeky:

Did you win it?

No, Most of those medals are fake. There is a big difference between the real ones and fakes/fantasies. The one listed under Rustyknight's website, most are fake; I only see about 5 that are real. From the dealer site, it is fake, 30 Euros is a ripoff. Even dealers can be wrong at times... Also, there were a lot of less seen Nationalist badges that were copied and put with a red ribbon.

There are a few real badges that have paint enamel.... but the tricky part is to identify whether it is real or not. ;)

Fake