Nick

I have looked into stocking ribbon for a ribbon bank at GMIC not just for British Medals, but which would include sourced original as well as reproduction. I have previously spoken with several manufacturers about this including Toyne Kenning and Spence, but I never took it forward as I didn't want a lot of expense for few sales. If it is something that is a demand I can chase things up again out of interest.

Steve Paul is right please post some images, as without them it is impossible to assess what you have got, and it would be nice to see some Olympic medals.

Mike They are not officially permitted to be worn on Queen's uniform Military or Police. The official designation is 'ribbons' which is cloth material not enamelled metal. I personally dislike them as it encourages individuals to attach them to articles of uniform which are non regulation for the wearing of ribbons. i.e. I have seen police walking the streets wearing them on uniform jumpers which are non regulation items for the wearing of ribbons. I can understand some of the frustrations though as todays military and even more so the police, rarely get to wear tunics, so the opportunity to wear ribbons or medals is limited. However there is now within certain Civil orders a miniature badge being officially issued which can now be worn in a non dress state in certain circumstances.

Unfortunately (perhaps some would argue rightly so) people always seem suspicious of good intentions. The internet is always decreed as a foreboding place for the unwary and although there are a lot of charlatans they are the minority with the majority of folk being honest and open.

There are now lots of modern enamelled British Ribbon bars especially with the Queens Diamond, Golden Jubilee medals, and long service awards, seems especially prevalent with the Police & Fire Service (look at ebay.uk). They are unofficial and not authorised for wear on uniforms, but with the demise of Tunics and No1 dress I can see why they are worn. But I do not particularly like them. I would guess that like todays modern versions they are unofficial items which were worn on civilian dress. As to whether they go as far back as Victorian times it would interesting to see.

It is difficult to see from photographs but one of two things is happening here. Either as you say the white metal has been painted with a gold type paint which has only been done superficially to the exposed parts or the reverse has happened and through the application of polish the base metal (which is brass) has been exposed by polishing off the white metal which was originally plated on to the brass. If it is the former i.e. gold paint on to white metal then in theory you could strip it off, but it is likely to cause damage to the helmet surface unless it is done very painstakingly and carefully and you are not guaranteed on what the final finish would be like. If it is the latter (which I suspect is the case) and the base (brass) metal has been exposed by over polishing, the only way to treat it would be by electroplating and that would require removal of all the fitments from the helmet. I personally would leave it as is....

I always have found these non portable German awards to be very interesting items both in design and quality. I have had a few of these from the Weimar Period onwards. They are often underrated pieces.

Greta stuff lets see more of it in separate topics !

I think you will find Pun is a common Gurkha name.

Really nice work thanks for showing your efforts.

Thanks for posting. Good to see !

The sharp eyed amongst you would have noticed that a few forums have disappeared. Just to let you know that over the last few weeks and in the weeks ahead myself and the hard working volunteers that keep this forum running, have been/will be moving posts around and decommissioning several forums. No topics other than a few totally empty or worthless topics have been deleted and over the coming weeks they will all be integrated into the restructured forums. I want GMIC to be a lot easier to navigate to stop some of the confusion of the past as to where is the best place to post new topics. To that end other than some of the specialist forums all topics need to be posted under their respective country categories. Another update I am working hard on is images. One of the most complaints I get, is about the difficulty to upload images. I have posted a comprehensive guide on how to do it here. But for some of you that do not use regular imaging software this is still causing you issues. I have also quietly updated the size allowance which differs dependent on membership. I am also working on a more long term solution which utilises the ability of the software to adjust any size image automatically. But this has a few issues that come with it, mainly software compatibility and loss of quality which I still need to overcome. But dont forget GMIC still offers free membership and free uploads which some forums do not give you !

What award is that on ?

Cheers Micha Thought it was Ok just needed some reassurance as not really my collecting area.

I am endeavouring to re organise this section by better use of tags and prefixes. Therefore I am organising prefixes to include some of the larger organisations and using tags to identify whether they are tinnies or badges. Please try and use the most appropriate prefix and tag when posting and if you feel that a tag or prefix is missing please post here in this topic.

Frank Very nice presentation case, binder and I really like the lapel pin, is there any criteria for when the lapel pin is worn . What was the criteria for the Canadian Medal? The British medal came in a small box and was given out to all those with 5 years military (or police or other emergency services) service or more. It came in a small box with no certificate or lapel pin.

Cheers John Not normally my collecting field. But I had a look at this last week as part of a collection being sold. I am sorely tempted....

Any thoughts on this. Marked W.Deumer.

Slight bend to arm hence kink. I don't like this cross but any thoughts appreciated.

Any thoughts on this Ek1 screw back ?

Purist will say that they devalue a group and to a certain extent that might be the case. But if the group is special, rare or has gallantry awards attached I would say that it matters not.

The maximum file size for your membership per image is 350kb.

As a compromise I have split the two sections, lets see what the posting volume is to support it.

To support the server upgrade and to acknowledge some of the great photos that were submitted in both the 2011 and 2012 photography competitions, I have commissioned a limited edition 2013 GMIC Calendar. It is a spiral wire bound A4 size wall Calendar. This is a first for GMIC and I hope that many of you support the forum and grab an edition quickly as it is a limited print run. My thanks to the members that contributed their photos, making this all possible. I have previewed some of the pages to give you an idea of the content. Price will be £8 for a Calendar plus postage costs which will be dependent on location. Ordering for the calendar will go live this weekend in the members store and through an updated link which will appear on this page.

I am glad to announce that the GMIC 2012 Photographic Competition Results are now out. Congratulations to all the winners and my thanks to all members who entered the competition. My thanks also to the panel of independent judges who had a difficult task as well as to Mervyn who makes all this possible. I will be making a further announcement later with regards the special Chairmans Award and the GMIC 2013 Calendar. To view the winning photos go http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/gallery/category/45-2012-photographic-competition-winners/