Brian Wolfe

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

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

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

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 Tim, No, not in the least. No problems what-so-ever. Regards Brian

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 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

Absolutely stunning. Regards Brian

The last photo is of the original box. It has seen better days but then so have I. Regards Brian

Here is a closer view of the competition medal.