My cased Red Cross medal

[Hauptmann]

Hi all,

Here's the rest of my Japanese medal collection... at least for now. I do hope to add more in future but seems the ones I've run across in my time have been a bit on the pricey side of things.

I liked this one due to it being cased as I tend to be a sucker for gold, enamel and cased awards... so this definitely fit the last bill. And it was surprisingly cheap for the quality of the case alone.

Again no idea of class or what it says, either on the case or the medal. Also, please ignore that kind of milky look on the scan or the lines as it's the scan, not the case. The case is a beautiful gloss black deep enough to swim in. And has no imperfections. I think the reflections caused a problem and probably need to clean my glass again.

First the case. Full front:

[attachmentid=55628]

Full back:

[attachmentid=55629]

Closeup of the inscription on the back:

[attachmentid=55630]

Full interior:

[attachmentid=55631]

Edited October 2, 2006 by Hauptman

[Hauptmann]

And the medal itself. Obverse:

[attachmentid=55632]

Reverse:

[attachmentid=55633]

Dan

[Paul L Murphy]

Dan,

This is the basic men's membership medal for the Japanese Red Cross. The case, however, is for the Special Membership Medal which would be the same medal only with a rosette in the ribbon colours on the ribbon. The reverse inscription on the case is the name of the company which manufactured it, which is itself unusual since most of these are found without such a manufacturer's name.

If you have a copy of my book there is a chapter on Red Cross awards. The basic hierarchy is as follows : -

Member's Medal (what you have)

Special Member's Medal

Life Member's Medal

Special Member's Medal in Gold (instituted in the 1950's and only has gold highlights to the design. Always made from aluminium.)

Honorary Member's Medal (almost never awarded, I have never seen one for sale)

Silver Merit Cross

Gold Merit Cross

These came in both male and female versions.

The only medals still awarded in medallic form are the Honorary Medal and the Gold Merit Cross.

Regards,

Paul

Edited October 2, 2006 by Paul L Murphy

[Hauptmann]

Dan,

This is the basic men's membership medal for the Japanese Red Cross. The case, however, is for the Special Membership Medal which would be the same medal only with a rosette in the ribbon colours on the ribbon. The reverse inscription on the case is the name of the company which manufactured it, which is itself unusual since most of these are found without such a manufacturer's name.

If you have a copy of my book there is a chapter on Red Cross awards. The basic hierarchy is as follows : -

Member's Medal (what you have)

Special Member's Medal

Life Member's Medal

Special Member's Medal in Gold (instituted in the 1950's and only has gold highlights to the design. Always made from aluminium.)

Honorary Member's Medal (almost never awarded, I have never seen one for sale)

Silver Merit Cross

Gold Merit Cross

These came in both male and female versions.

The only medals still awarded in medallic form are the Honorary Medal and the Gold Merit Cross.

Regards,

Paul

Hi Paul,

Many thanks for all this additional info. Hate to say it but I don't have your book. I have the U.S. government publication on Japanese forces from WWII, a book on Japanese armies again mostly on WWII and a few generalized books on awards some of which cover those of Japan. But that's about it.

I'd love to learn more and hope to add more medals to my collection at some point. But most likely it'll have to wait for a few other projects before I can concentrate on a new area.

Thanks much,

Dan