Paul L Murphy

The type you are looking at is probably the highest grade. Am I correct in saying that the crossed picks and anchor at the top are blackened ? Value wise in the case it is about $35-40 depending on the type of metal and condition. They are scarce but not overly so. Paul

This badge comes in a number of different metals, blackened bronze, dark bronze, white metal. It was given out in the later Meiji period (very early 20th century) for contributions made to the Japanese navy and naval shipbuilding fundraising. Cheers, Paul

He certainly looks young. I would say he is in his late 20's. The Life Member rosette was at one time used to designate Special Member's as well so it may fall within that period. I am not sure on the exact dates when the Life rosette was used like this. No matter which, you would have thought that he could get the bloody thing sewn on properly for the photo !

Jerome, Excellent photo. The Golden Kite is a 5th Class since there is no rosette on the ribbon. His uniform is the service dress uniform for an officer in a mounted service, most likely cavalry. Cheers, Paul

Very interesting but I do not think that it went on pension claims. I have the medal to Frank Sheridan in my collection and he die in November 1916 from wounds received during the Rising. His medal is numbered 256. Perhaps Partridge ended up on a list of KIAs acording to the Department of Defense due to his widows intervention ? Sheridan obviously did not. Thanks for the comments on my earlier research by the way, Paul

The medal in question is a late issue piece and the ribbon is a replacement. There was replacement ribbon made in the late 80's and I suspect that is what it is. The Australian fakes do not have the correct level of detail on the reverse, especially around the letters, since they were originally made not to deceive collectors but to be hung in a frame as a replica display. I agree that by trying to make the group sound better than it is the seller is actualyl shooting himself on the foot somewhat.

Hi Stu, It has been repaired (and rather crudely at that). I would hold out for a better example unless you are getting a considerable discount on the normal price. Regards, Paul

Looks like a replacement ribbon to me. It seems to have a larger weave than the original ribbon, also the level of wear (or lack thereof) is different from the two accompanying medals.

I am drawing up a list of the items I need to make the book puurrfect in every way. As you know yourself, these little projects take longer than we first estimate. However it will happen, and it will be worht the wait

Nothing scarce here, and I am not even a collector of Dutch items, but the magpie instinct hit and I did not want to leave Amsterdam empty handed after a recent business trip. First up the beret badge and collar badges of the Mechanical Engineers. Next up the beret badge and collar badges of the Infantry corps. Next we have the Signals Corps And finally the Supply Corps Like I said, nothing rare but they are well made and colourful. I will probably try to add a few more different sets and frame them at some point in time. Paul

Hi Lilo, I will, once I get them out of the bank vault when I am next there. I am in the process of gathering together the final pieces I need to start writing a book on Japanese awards which will be far more detailed than Peterson, however do not hold your breath since it will take a while to complete given how busy I am with my day job ! Cheers, Paul

Larry's document is to a Senior Private, not a PFC. Nick Komiya's translation is correct (Nick's Japanese is a lot better than mine, his surname shoulg suggest he has a certain advantage). FJCP's small document is to a Leading Seaman for sickness is Southern China. The lage document to Murakami does not say anything about where he fell ill, it gives the sections of the legal code under which the badge was awarded. It is a standard document, akin to a medal certificate, where the name details and the dates were all that was changed. The small document was carried around and they tend to turn up seldom, and are normally worn. The large document was the award certificate for the badge. Hence, each recipient would end up with both documents and the badge. I have never been able to get the two documents to the same recipient, maybe one of these days. Paul

My latest purchases. They came with a copy diploma to a Legion officer called Guy Halftermeyer. He was a 2nd Lt in 1946 but obviously progressed after that to at least Commandant. The family still have his medals and certificates. Do any of our French members know anything about him since it is an unusual name and he may be traceable ? Given that he was wounded three times, has six citations for bravery and a Legion of Honour he must have a great story to tell. The sholderboards are from the Spencer jacket of the gala uniform.

No idea about the badge but the character on it is pronounced "Gu" and means tool, vessel, ingredients, or is the counter ordinal for armour, suits and sets of furniture. It can be used in certain compound words associated with armorers so I suspect it is used in that context here. Regards, Paul

I think this is a unit level award for the UDR or the RIR. I remember seeing it somewhere before but I cannot recall where. Is there anything on the reverse ? Paul

The sentence says "2,600th Anniversary of Imperial Rule Commemorative". It is the name of the medal in the top left.

Did you get details of the name and number ?

The normal reading of these two characters together would be Ei (as two syllables). Not sure if there is a different reading when they are combined as a name. Regards, Paul

Very sad.

I read elsewhere that it could be a 1902 pattern officer's button. Do you know waht are the differences between them and the 1854 GS button ? Paul

Within this post there are a number of serious collectors of Irish medals, myself included. The group is well worth the price it fetched at Whyte's auction and I had considered bidding on it. However I already have a number of other comparable groups in my collection and have just purchased a house and new car this year so I could not justify the extravagance to myself (ok, to my wife!). I personally know more than four serius collectors of 1916 medals who would have been interested in this group so I beleive the collecting market out there is much bigger. What you must recall is that ebay has a poor reputation for fakes and cobbled together items so some avoid it altogether for good stuff and the Whyte's auction was an auction of Irish art with a few medal lots stuck in the middle of it. Hence, I suspect a lot of collectors missed it. Paul

The smith's name is definitely Tanaka and those two characters together are not read any other way. Kanetada can be read a couple of different ways but none of them are Hirotada so I suspect one of the earlier owners of the sword got their collecting notes mixed up somewhere along the way. Beautiful sword bye the way. Paul

Hope you like them

Next we have a Diplomat. He is wearing a 6th Class Rising Sun (maybe 5th, impossible to tell the difference in a B&W photo), the 1894-95 Sino Japanese War Medal and the Red Cross Life Member Medal. His uniform suggests he is about First Secretary level since it lacks the massive amount of bullion you get on the higher ranked pieces.

Next we drop down the ranks and back in time to a 1st Class Private in the 53rd Infantry Regiment wearing the Sacred Treasure 8th Class and the Russo Japanese War Medal.