Paul L Murphy

Greetings all, this might be a long shot but here goes....... One of the items in my collection is a WWII era US Naval Officer's visor cap with one row of bullion which I understand is worn by officers from the rank of Lt Commander up to Captain. It is named on the liner to "H.E. Anderson" (or possibly H.E. Anders since the "on" is almost invisible and could be my imagination playing tricks ! Can anyone point me in the direction of a good online resource where I can find out who he was and what he did ? Cheers in advance :cheers:

Japan seems to be one of the few countries where the price of medals has either remained stable or dropped. The same is true for Japanese coins and banknotes which have gone south since the bubble burst in 1991. Given the scarcity of some of the better Japanese and Manchurian items when compared with numbers of medals awarded in other countries my view is that they are now underpriced and could start to rise in price again soon. In particular I think the documents are undervalued (and long may that remain the case while I continue to build my collection of them !).

It is a very badly damaged Japanese Fire Brigade long service badge from the 1980s or 1990s.

As Jeff has already replied, it is an MBE. The Defense Medal does fit, she could have got it if she did home front related work with the Order of St John.

The last medal is the Service Medal of the Order of St John. Originally awarded for 15 years service (less if overseas) it is now awarded for 12 years service and each bar represents a further 5 years service.

And do you have back numbers ????

This is useful. These maker marks do seem to keep occuring on Red Cross medals. I have also found the Katakana "Su" character as a maker mark on these but it seems to occur less often than the others.

It looks like an attachment to be worn on a key fob. Items like this were often produced commercially and sold through the regimental "foyer" (the PX store).

He needs his head examined !

What time does the exhibition start on Saturday ?

My intention is to have a chapter on each medal or order and show the obverse and reverse of the item (with variations from different time periods for the orders) as well as all the stuff that is missing from Peterson such as the cases of issue, the certificates (and variations where these exist) as well as related items such as rosettes etc. I am in the process of collating together in one place all the information I have from my various Japanese sources including stuff as varied as the corralation between ranks of nobility and military ranks, the payment levels for Golden Kite pensions over the years, numbers awarded etc. There is a lot of information to put together and I am still missing some of the certificates so it will take a while to complete. :cheers:

All of these differences you highlighted, and others that you have not noticed, will be explained in detail in my book on Japanese medals (I have started writing it so watch this space....)

Alex, This is an excellent medal to have in your collection, especially in the case of issue. :cheers:

And of course the Sacred Crown, which is always on a bow (apart from the 1st class) since it is only awarded to women. This is the 5th Class.

Lady's 7th class Sacred Treasure. You can see the larger box of issue as well.

Here is a 3rd Class Sacred Treasure on a lady's bow ribbon.

Here is the female version of the Taisho Enthronement Medal, very difficult to find.

My own theory on these is that the manufacturers of the rosettes made the usual eight types, forgetting that the Golden Kite only has seven classes, and some people bought the rosette for the lowest class, ending up with a non existent 8th class Golden Kite style rosette.

I think the rosettes are a private purchase item. I also know at least one dealer in Japan who directly knows the company who supplies them so he basically has a large box full of them, all classes and all orders. They are not scarce and, while nice to have, they should not add significantly to the value of a cased medal.

The rosettes are new because, with the exception of the Golden Kite, all of these orders are still being awarded and hence there is a need for new rosettes for living recipients who want them.

What Tim said on rosettes is correct. The thinner stripes seem to indicate earlier made pieces. Part of the problem in trying to reach conclusions on issues like this is the extent to which Japanese dealers mix & match so you need to get pieces that have good provenance to support any theory like this.

You got a bargain. At the moment in Japan these are fetching about $600 cased and in good condition.

Considering that it is cased that was a reasonable price. The 6th class is a lot harder to find than the 7th class (it is even harder to find than the 5th class). The documents are a lot scarcer than the medals but the medals tend to make a higher price.

In Irish Republican history they are called the Manchester Martyrs. They have been eulogised in song and story ever since. Their names were William O'Mera Allen, Michael Larkin and Michael O'Brien. The most popular song about them is called "God save Ireland" and starts off "High upon the gallows tree, swung the noble hearted three, by the vengeful tyrants stricken in their bloom." You can probably guess that it is not exactly a balanced account of what happened !

I paid just under $600 equivalent for a 4th Class 2nd Empire version in gold about 3 years ago so I think his reserve is too high. If it was a 1st Empire version then it would be worth about this (with the original ribbon) but the 1st Empire orders do not have eagles in the crown.