Paul L Murphy

I think it is a miniature. These are very hard to find and are often as expensive as the full size medal.

I think a lot of the apparent sharpness is probably a combination of toning and harsh lighting when the photo was taken. I have seen a similar effect on medals I own where they actually look a lot better than the photo. This can often happen if there is irregular toning and the photo is taken under artificial light without a flash.

Were there post-war versions with the rivets?

Yes. I think they changed the manufacturing style in the 1970s or 80s so you will still find rivets on post war items. Makes them very hard to identify when on their own.

It is probably a post war piece but it looks perfectly genuine to me.

The price is not unreasonable, however you would be much better waiting to get a full set with the breast star and case. As already noted above, that will set you back in the region of $3,000.

thanks for the info. So if the inscription is gold, it could have been before the China Incident OR after WW2?

That is correct. If you post a photo of the inscription I can try and advise which it is.

I figured there would have been one. I know Peterson makes mention of a woman's version on bow, would love to see one of these too, never have. I'd imagine this would fetch a seriously pretty penny!!!

Paul, does the document show an image of the medal at the bottom? If so, I'm wondering if an award document to a woman would show this with a bow, like say a Sacred Treasure doc. would show. (same question on the 2600th Anniversary document - I know that image is on the doc., but have never seen a document for a woman's medal - does it show a bow in the image??)

I have documents for the 1904-05 War Medal and various Red Cross awards to female recipients and none of them show the medal with a bow. I would be surprised if they did show a bow but all the certificates I have seen for these medals are to male recipients.

All that appears correct. The only thnig I would add is that his rank is sergeant.

He does not have a Sacred Treasure so he has not completed 20 years service. He must be pretty close ! That would suggest it is a 1914-20 War Medal and he served in the Siberian Expedition as a young private. A nice medal pair. I would love to get his award certificates !

Been looking for a nice one of these for a while, finally found one I liked. Case has a bit of abrading on the exterior, but the interior and the medal itself more than made up for it!

One thing I'd like to know is whether or not a document was issued with these. My guess is yes, but I've never seen one so I simply don't know. Paul? Anybody?

Yes, there was an award document. I have one in a group of medals which I have so I must get round to taking a photo of it and posting it here. It is very hard indeed to find these documents, far harder to find them than the medal.

Hi Mervyn,

Yes, the bullion on the peak is supposed to be maple leaves. It makes it quite distinctive. I suspect the belt buckle is silver gilt, the way in which it has toned is consistent with silver, but I doubt if the cap badge is. It seems to be the standard officer issue badge made from polyester and base metal that was introduced in the 1990s. I do not want to disassemble them to check for markings since the belt and cap are in lovely condition as they are.

:cheers:

The silver inscriptions were from the China Incident and WWII era. I understand that it was cheaper and quicker to produce the inscription in a silver colour rather than the normal gold colour. I believe it also used less chemicals in the manufacturing process, which would have been a factor for a country on a war footing.

And finally for today, here is a close up of the two piece belt buckle.

Here are close ups of the distinctive hanger fittings.

Here is the full dress officer's belt.

I didnt bother photographing the trousers since they are the standard blue with yellow stripe. However here is the full dress tunic.

Here is a close up of the rank badges. The button is on a long post since the tunic can also be worn with bullion dress shoulder boards depending on the order of dress.

Here is a closer picture of the 1993 pattern Officer cap badge and the peak with two rows of bullion maple leaves.

Next up is the full dress uniform of the Commissioner of Police of the RCMP. This belonged to Commissioner Murray who held the position from 1994-2000. First up is the visor cap. This piece is dated 1999 on the inside.

Nice badges, you show badges I never knew existed, the blue & white medal ribbon on some of the tunics, knoe you're saying the tunics are 1960's/70's, but is the ribbon one of the more recent NATO medals?

It is a blue and yellow ribbon and it is the RCMP Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. It is awarded for 20 years service, bars are awarded for further periods of five years each.

Paul - it certainly lives up to your descriptions. I think we should see all of the pieces before putting approx. insurance valuations. The Commissioner's will be a valuable item - does it come with cap etc.?

When I first looked at the uniforms I kept thinking what is this set of initials - GRC - suddenly remembered French is an equal language. Duh !!

You describe the officer's uniform as being for a Superintendent - is there another grade above this in Canada ? I ask, because in the UK this would be for a Chief Superintendent - a Supt. is only the Crown. The cap crown looked very interesting - are they real diamonds at the top ? If the answer is yes, then the bullion badge will be in gold thread - and valuable. Could we see a front and back close-up.

Congratulations on acquiring such an extensive collection - hope you have the room ? Mervyn

Hi Mervyn,

The cap badge is made from polyester thread, unfortunately not gold and diamonds. This type of cap badge was introduced for offiers, ie inspector and above, in the early 1990s.

With regard to the ranks, a Chief Superintendant has two pips with the crown in the RCMP. I have a set of the rank badges en route so I will post them once they arrive. The Commissioner's uniform comes with the cap so I hope to take photos of it all during the weekend.

:cheers:

There are more items on the way so I will post these when received. I also have a beautiful Police Commissioners full dress uniform and cap which I need to photograph and post. It is incredible.

As I mentioned before, if any of you specialists out there are able to put values or rarities on these I would appreciate it.

A close up of the shoulder strap. The RCMP Superintendant rank shows a crown and pip, which is different from most police forces where it is a crown only. The crown on its own signifies an Inspector in the RCMP.

This is a Superintendant's No 2 blue uniform. The shirt is dated 1996 but the tunic and trousers are undated.

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2010/post-1487-12647170515.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_01_2010/post-1487-126471707027.jpg

A close up of the shoulder straps.

This is a nice Superintendant's brown service tunic. Undated but from the 1970s.

This is a close up of the Officer's 1993 pattern cap badge.