Paul L Murphy

What a coincidence, I am reading that at the moment. I presume you are referring to the photo of RSM Carter of the 1st Bn Coldstreams ? It is a pity that it is a B&W photo since these Victoria era badges are very impressive when seen in colour. I have heard a rumour that they are introducing a new badge for the Garrison Sergeant Major which will be the RSM badge on 4 gold chevrons. Hopefully it is true since it would be nice to see the badge come back.

The uniform style was not Japanese, it was copied by them from the uniform style in use in Europe and US at the time. The rank markings are similar to Japanese badges but the use of stars and bars on a coloured cloth background was not unique to Japan in Asia.

Definitely not Japanese. This is most likely a warlord era Chinese uniform but I am not sure which particular period or group. The medals are not Japanese, they appear to be Chinese but it is too small to identify them clearly.

Here is my first King's Crown RSM badge. This is a very nice pair of metal badges for wear in shirt sleeve order on a leather wrist band. One still has the metal backing plate. A little bit of wear from being polished when in use but that adds to the character and they have toned lovely.

Let's just say I managed to get an absolute bargain :whistle:

The Pakistani copies lack the proper level of detail and shape around the faces of the heraldric animals, and also the quality of the thread is poorer. This is especially noticable in areas such as the silver thread base on which the motto is written. However it should be noted that the current MOD issue bullion badges are no longer made in England, they are now made in Pakistan. As for stopping..... NEVER !! Now to get more of the smaller badges for the different regiments and corps and then move back in time to King's Crown pieces etc.

The rank badge would make him a staff sergeant if this is a Japanese uniform, however the branch badges on the collar are not Japanese. Do you have a photo of the uniform in its entirity ?

At last, I have managed to get one of the full dress RSM badges for the Guards. This is the rank badge worn by some of the scariest RSMs of the lot, and is also one of the most impressive rank badges in the world. Enjoy

Here are two more items I have recently acquired that fit this theme. The first is a participants badge for a military arts festival which took place in Moscow in 1958. The next is a badge for a festival of Azeri literature which took place in Moscow in 1959.

Yano is the most likely family name. I hate translating Japanese given names so I also normally ask my wife, apart from the common ones, since the pronounciation used is so individualistic. It takes a fiendish mind to design a language where one character can be pronounced up to 8 or 9 ways depending on where it finds itself and in a totally arbitrary manner ! Yano is a full 7th class order of honour, which means if he is in the army he is a captain. Regards, Paul

Army Infantry 1st Class Sergeant is the literal translation. The good thing about Meiji era certs is that they give the corps of the recipient as well as the rank.

Post a picture of the full document here and I will let you know the details of the recipient. :cheers:

Not so, the role was the same as the Secretary for Defense in US. The government only had one Army Minister and one Navy Minister at any particular time. They were normally retired generals and admirals respectively. The recipient of your medal is not the minister, the medal is awarded in his name.

The "rank" of Rikugun Daijin is not a rank, it is the title of the Army Minister and was a government post. Japan had a Naval Minister and an Army Minister as members of the government cabinet. They are basically the awarding authority for many of the campaign medals. You read the number correctly. No idea the logic behind the different number style. The highest number I have seen on a 1894-95 certificate is 253,508 and the highest on the 1904-05 certificate is 1,262,963 so there were a lot of them awarded.

A lovely piece. I love a story with a happy ending :cheers:

I have seen regilded 7th class medals for sale in Japan (about twice from memory). They look very much like the first photo you posted in this thread, too uniform and the hilts are gilded over. The reason it is done is simple, profit. In Japan the 6th class medals sell for about 2.5 - 3 times the price of a 7th class.

I know, I am working on that at the moment. There are currently two versions of the red bullion version. The MOD provided piece has a horrible lion's face, he looks more like a grinning Cheshire Cat ! The Guards have contracted to buy their own version which is better made. Fingers crossed I will be able to get one of each in a while and share them with you.

Alex, The medal itself is real, what is questionable is the class. After seeing these photos there are three possibilities. Firstly it is a 7th class with heavy patina (similar to Dick's); secondly there is a heavy patina on the hilts and they are actually silver underneath; or thirdly it is a 7th class that was gilded to make it look like a 6th class. In order to eliminate the first two possibilities I suggest you wash it in warm soapy water (take care not to wet the ribbon) using a soft toothbrush (or a brush with natural bristles, not nylon). If it is a thick patina then this will clean it. If the medal is still gilt everywhere then I think it has been gilded and is actually a 7th class (the fact that the scratches on the reverse continue to show what appears to be gilt underneath supports this). Regards, Paul

The quality of the originals is extremely high so hopefully it will mean that fakes (if they emerge) are easily spotted.

Alex, In 20 years of collecting Japanese medals I have never seen a 6th class kite with gold hilts, nor have I ever heard of one. Even if there were other markers of the order, which there is no evidence to support of which I am aware, they would have had to follow the manufacturing standards laid down. This would have required silver hilts. As Tim points out, the gilding was applied to a silver bade metal so it is not a matter of the hilts wearing down to their base colour since the base colour is silver. You say there are a number of scratches etc on the medal. If it was a genuine Meiji 7th class then these could be present. If you examine the scrathes can you see any silver coming through ? If there are any deep scratches and there is no sign of silver coming through the gilding then it is a strong sign that it has been regilded since you would expect to see wear to the gilding on a marked genuine piece. The regilding might only be a few microns thick so it would not effect the clarity of the design. If yuou can post un-enhanced photos and also some close up photos of the area around some of the scratches that could be helpful. Best regards, Paul

And now for the mother of all rank badges ! I finally managed to get an original example of the "Big Badge" which is worn on the upper arm by Guards RSMs. This example is an obsolete pattern which was worn a few years ago. The Guards did not like it since the lion etc are in yellow so they had their own examples made, which are currently worn, where the lion etc is in beige. It is a nicer badge. Unfortunately the MOD have ordered yellow badges for the new F.A.D. uniforms so it will be interesting to see what happens with these. I suspect the Guards will go out and get their own in beige again. This is a whopping 16 cms x 13.5 cms in size !

Here is an example of the smaller badge worn on mess dress. This one is on a beige backing cloth but I forget which regiment/corps this represents.

You dated them correctly, well done. The 6th class should have silver hilts. If these are gilt, as they are on your example, I would be concerned that somebody has taken a 7th class piece and gilded it in order to turn it into a 6th class.

The Pillars of State is actually harder to find, even though it is the junior of the two. Peterson claims there were 701 of the 3rd class Auspicious Clouds awarded up to 1940, but only 260 of the Pillars of State. Hence I would expect it to be more expensive notwithstanding its lower status.

These are not British (wrong type of crowns and cyphers). Could they be Bulgarian ?