Brian Wolfe

The KS98 private purchase is extremely, etremely close to the issue one inevery respect, quality included... except the groove a a fraction of a MM smaller... you cant see it with the eye, unless the two are together.

I can only think it was done on purpose, maybe only issue bayonets for issue rifles...

I've had time to think about this a bit more since I replied to your post and I believe I had a German dress bayonet that actually had no attachment slot. I recall that when I attempted to fit the bayonet such as you have to the rifles in my collection that it would not fit and I said, "[censored, censored and censored ]"! I'm much more mellow now and seldom say ["censored"]. I would guess this was done so as to eliminate the possibility that the dress bayonet would end up being attached to a rifle.

Imagine how that would spoil a photo of a dress parade. You know how we Germans (ancestors) love our uniformity.

Regards

Brian

In my past life (pre-divorce) I was into bayonets,edged weapons and firearms quite heavily and had a couple of these dress bayonets. Both, if my memory serves me correctly, were only made for show, as Chip has pointed out, and didn't fit any of the German rifles that I knew of or had in the collection.

Regards

Brian

That's a great find Chris, congratulations.

Regards

Brian

Thank you Jim, but unfortunately i have no gun oil..

As Dan has pointed out the brand 3 in 1 is a light machine oil. If you don't have that brand then go to a store that sells sewing machines and they will be able to provide you with a good light oil. I use my wife's sewing machine oil when I need a light oil. Again, to echo others, use only the smallest amount and that will be enough.

Good luck.

Regards

Brian

Oh yes, you are probably correct, the problem may be the humidity in your country.

Hello Markus,

I can see why you have added these to your collection, very beautiful indeed.

The range of these badges is quite large, as you probably now, and well worth collecting, in my opinion.

Thank you for posting them. I hope you can add more to your collection and this post as time goes by.

Regards

Brian

If you have a Canadian one, compare thickness - The British cupro-nickle one is thicker.

I once had a British/Canadian mixed group, and the Defence and War were Canadian issues. I'm still not sure whether he "upgraded" while in the Canadian Army, or whether he received them from Canada rather than Britain.

Good eye Michael. The medal is .5mm thinner than the cupro-nickle specimen in my collection making this a Canadian issue.

Well done sir.

Regards

Brian

That Defence Medal looks awfully shiny; is it a Canadian one?

Hi Micheal,

Yes it is quite shinny and I had to go down to the collection to look at it once again. It actually looks as if it could be Canadian but it came from the UK so I'm going to say that it is probably British but in very good condition.

Regards

Brian

There is a Tom William H. Jackson shown as born about 1893, son of Septimus and Sarah, Hartshill Warwickshire. Died 1971 Darwen District Lancashire. His MIC contains no other information other than confirming his pair.

Thank you very much for that information Michael.

Now I have something to put in that file folder...I hate empty folders.

Thanks again.

Regards

Brian

Here are the three badges I have for this constabulary so far.

There is the helmet plate, officer's hat badge and the PC's hat badge.

Hello Everyone,

I've just got this hat badge in last week and wanted to post it along with the other hat badge and helmet plate I already had in the collection. The badge was made FIRMIN of London and this is stamped on the badge's slide.

A short history first.

Staffordshire County Constabulary and Stoke-on-Trent City Police combined their forces on 1 January 1968 to become the Staffordshire County and Stoke-on-Trent Constabulary.

This force lost areas in 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, to the new West Midlands Police and adopted the shorter name of the Staffordshire Police on 1 April 1974.

Hello Everyone,

This group just arrived the other day and I thought I would share it with you.

The WWI medals are named to: 116090 DVR. T.W.H. JACKSON, R.A.

The Defence Medal is, as usual, unnamed.

The Special Constabulary Medal is named to: Tom Jackson.

This is all of the information I have to date but I think this is a nice grouping to a soldier who served in the Great War and continued to serve his nation and community during the Second World War.

Thanks for taking a look, I hope you like the group.

Regards

Brian

Very nice additions to your collection.

Regards

Brian

Interesting little group, thanks for posting them.

I was under the impression that the Red Cross Medal was not to be worn with the war medals but worn alone.

Is this correct, or am I wrong? I know that in a lot of cases the veterans did what they wanted with the order of medals and the choice of what medals were to be worn together.

Perhaps one of the members with more knowledge of the regulations regarding the wearing of the Red Cross Medal will voice an opinion.

Thanks again for posting this group.

Regards

Brian

Hello Everyone,

Tim brought up a good question on another post and since some may not have seen it and I think it is a topic well worth delving into so I am posting it here for discussion.

There seems to be a lot of mint or near mint contition Japanese medals and equally mint boxes offered to the collector and this begs the question as to why. Were the medals awarded and then left behind with family? Did the servicemen wear a ribbon bar rather than their medals for the most part?

It seems to me that the boxes, either black lacquer or plain wood, would be battered and broken if they were carried around with the soldier as he was on campaign. If the servicemen carried the medal in leather case then wouldn't we see a lot of these cases available on the merket? Also why do we not see more medal groups offered on the market, or am I just "shopping" in the wrong place?

If we see a German First Class Iron Cross in a case that is too "minty" we start to have doubts and I can tell you when I see a WWII Japanese sword in perfect condition and originating from China I pass it by without a second glance. This is not to say that the medals we see in mint condition are anything but genuine, however, it is food for thought and I hope discussion.

What are the members views on this topic?

Regards

Brian

PS: Thanks again to Tim for being the inspiration for this post.

Hi Brian,

I guess I have to ask; did you find my last comments or questions somehow derogatory to the issue? They sure were not meant that way.

Tim

Hi Tim,

No, not in the least.

No problems what-so-ever.

Regards

Brian

Hi Rich,

Okay, something (another thing ) I didn't know on Japanese ODM's.

So, then these marked leather cases were procurred separately just to carry the medals, if the member decided he wanted to purchase one of these privately?

I guess I don't understand the "shame" part in purchasing an additional award if someone was already entitled to (wear) it. We clearly see an authorized aftermarket for replacement awards in other countries. What specifics of documentation required for purchase is beyond me and probably depended on the source of procurement but, I can understand if the Japanese goverment forbid the outside sale as a general policy.

Considering that we see so many mint/near mint cased examples available on the market today and if true that unlike countries like Germany, Japan did not mass produce these ODM's in quantity but rather as needed, then I would assume most members must not have taken their awards with them once awarded? That would make these leather cases that much more scarce.

Thanks again!

Tim

Hi Tim,

While I should probably not weigh in on this issue I will throw caution to the winds and simply wade in.

One must be careful not to try to relate the views and attitudes of one culture to our own.

Not to sound critical, however, at times it seems that rules and regulations in our Western culture are treated as though they; do not apply to me, are there to be broken or there to be followed as long as it's convenient to do so.

I say this knowing full well that I am guilty of all three of the about attitudes toward rules and regulation at one time or another.

I too have wondered why there are so many mint and near mint specimens on the market as compaired with British and German for example. It would be good to hear from other collectors in this area regarding this question. Perhaps another thread should be started to discuss these questions in depth? What do you think?

Regards

Brian

The last two photos are of the suspension section featuring the Green Paulonia Leaves, with the hope that this may assist in the dating of the piece.

I also purchased a 6th class Order of the Rising Sun in the original box that I am confident is of the Showa era. I'll post that another time along with this one again, but for now I'll just deal with this one.

Thanks again for any direction you can give me.

Regards

Brian

This is the view of the mark which may be a mint mark. The mark may not be the correct way up, sorry if I have made an error on the orientation.

I've also tried to show the bent suspender. It can be seen where the suspender meets the medal (nearest the table).

Next the reverse.

These are photos of the medal.

First the obverse.

This is the Order in the leather case with the case opened.

Hello Everyone,

As mentioned in a previous post regarding the 6th class Order of the Rising Sun, I have just purchased this example in a leather case. I've been told that the leather cases were to allow the Order to be transported more safely and since they take up much less room than the wooden black enameled boxes I am assuming this was another advantage of the leather case. Comments regading this are most welcomed.

Is there a way to place this Order in a particular era? I have included photos with the hope that if there is a way to determine this that someone will be able to help me.

There is a mint mark that looks like the kanji for the number ten (more or less like a plus mark "+"). This is located where you would normally find the "M" mint mark for the Osaka Mint. There has also been some damage as the hanger has been bent near the medal and ths has damaged the enamel. It looks like someone might have fallen while wearing the Order and the medal part swung upwards and this has caused the bending and loss of enamel.

If anyone could help me with these questions it would, as always, be most appreciated.

Regards

Brian

They must be worth that much as the seller is a "Top Rated Seller".

Unless this is a typo the seller surely qualifies for the "Knob of the Month" award.

I was going to be a wise guy and ask if anyone wanted to purchase some swamp land, then I remembered that I work for a Conservation Authority. So, anyone have some swamp land for sale?

Regards

Brian

Hi Brian, Staffordshire issued a full set of WW11 lapel badges. SC, PR, PAMS & WAPC Ian

Hi Ian,

I really don't know what I was thinking as I know better.

Examaples of the SC and the PR badges are presently in my collection.

Oh well, I guess my error won't bring the collecting world crashing down around us.

Regards

Brian

Hello Mervyn,

The item just arrived and I posted it straight away, so I have had no time to research.

The dates of the wood working medal (1915) and the Geo VI Specials medal would certainly place him in the correct time period for war service (I think). If and when I find that information I'll add it to the post.

Regards

Brian