Wessel Gordon

Are miniature copies of the MOH manufactured or are they only issued in full-size?

Daniel, 

Thanks.

Even if the research says a medal is made of pure silver or whatever metal I guess it's not safe to assume it's the only metal used hence the ''no chemistry'' comment. 

I am looking for some advice.

Some of my medals needs cleaning before they can go up for display. Is it safe to use a product that's marketed for cleaning silver safe to use on a silver medal and a brass product on a brass medal or is plain old water and a bit of soap all that's needed?

I'm a complete novice with this and obviously do not want to damage my growing collection.

ccj,

Thanks. Since no other medal outranks it it makes sense that the MOH ribbon should always be worn at the end of the top row or on top of the row beneath it if that row is already full according to the various branches' regulations.

So in practice it depends on the wearer's preference but it's ''unofficially'' understood that it should take pride of place above all others disregarding the fact that there may be 1, 2 or 3 other ribbons directly below it?

These images also begs another question: is it the only US medal that is worn together with it's ribbon as some of these pictures illustrate or is it once again personal preference?

Recently I bought two lots totaling 18 US miniatures besides the 6 I already owned.

I have a copy of the MOH with a brooch pin at the back and before buying the two lots I bought the ribbons of the 5 other medals I have. I inquired from the company that I bought the ribbons from about buying a 23 or 24 ribbon rack plus the ribbons of the medals that has yet to arrive. They advised me that the MOH is in a class all of it's own and that the ribbon is usually displayed separately.

My question to the US experts is two-fold: was that statement about it being displayed separately true and would it look odd if the MOH ribbon is spaced above the 23 others with a slight gap between them?

I have a question for the experts on the order of precedence of SADF medals.

I have both the John Chard Medal and Decoration and can get a 30 Year Service Medal. Does the regulations allow these three to be worn together? I could get a full set of 10, 20 and 30 Year Service medals but the seller informed me that the John Chards and the 10 and 20 year medals aren't allowed to be worn together.

I've decided to let this opportunity go and focus on my American collection for now.

I can get a 1986 first edition hardcover version of the above book.

Is it a good research guide worth the money?

Dmiller,

Thanks again. I have medals of all the US military branches with the exception of the navy and coastguard. I just ordered a bunch of miniatures and a US firm has posted ribbons of the medals I had at the point of ordering the ribbons so my plan is to get all my US medals together once everything arrive, order the appropriate ribbons and a ribbon mounting rack then follow strict rules of precedence.

The reason I did not order a complete ribbon rack already is that I have a copy of a Medal of Honor (Air Force) with a display box, lapel pin and ribbon and the firm that sent me the other ribbons informed me that they are forbidden by law to supply ribbons or anything to do with the Medal of Honor. Considering their main business is supplying the military with medals etc it's unfair of me to expect them to supply me with something as simple as a ribbon that they are expressly not allowed to do.

Dmiller,

Thanks for the reply. We are busy renovating the house in preparation for selling and moving to another town so with workers in and out the whole time I packed away my entire collection that's usually on full display in a nondescript box. Better safe than sorry. 

So any mounting/displaying will only be done once we're settled in the new house.

Dmiller,

Thanks for the reply.

What I've read about old ''Blood and Guts'' Patton the ''discussion'' between him and the soldier involved probably was a very colorful conversation.

I received my Congressional Medal of Honor awhile ago so I now have all the medals mentioned in the first post. We are busy renovating the house so the medals are safely stored from prying eyes and sticky fingers, not that I do not trust people but better safe than sorry.

That's a very nice display.

I have the following US medals in my collection:

1. Congressional Medal of Honor (Air force) - with ribbon bar, lapel pin and display box

2. Air Force Cross (Full Size and miniature)

3. Silver Star (Full Size and miniature)

4. Legion of Honor (Full Size - miniature on it's way)

5 Bronze Star (Full Size and miniature)

6 Purple Heart (Full size - still betting on trying to acquire the miniature)

I also have the rank insignia of a modern four-star general that I'm intending to display at one point after a house move. I like your idea of display and with your permission I would like to copy it but modify it so I can protect my medals with glass doors.

I need some advice from someone with more knowledge of SADF medals from the 1975-2003 range than I do.

I have the opportunity to buy a set of 10, 20 and 30 year service medals as a set. However I do have a John Chard medal and a John Chard Decoration. Would it look strange if I buy the set and include them with the John Chards or should I only buy the 30 year medal since I'm not aware of another medal in the 1975-2003 set that denotes 30 years service.?

Regards,

Wessel

Yesterday I bought the insignia of a full general in the UK Army (crown, pip and crossed sword/baton). Each piece was unattached so the effect is that I bought the six pieces that signify a general but I'm not sure if I should try and find the shoulder boards to mount them on to or if it would be acceptable to affix them to a piece of cloth as part of a display of my British medal collection.

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

According to Wikipedia approximately 1,910,162 Purple Hearts was awarded up to June 5, 2010. Add the intervening 9 years and my guess is that total shoots up to over or close to 2 000 000. 

From the other comments it seems there was several manufacturers over the years and if you add the chaos of Two World Wars when they were presumably manufactured by the thousands weekly, poor record keeping, the damage that time cause on paperwork and my opinion would be that you're very lucky to have three that is indeed numbered.

I prefer shoulderboards.

My SADF collection includes the shoulder boards of a full colonel, the US collection has the four stars of a full general that could be worn on either the lapels or shoulders and I'm working on buying a UK general's insignia which from what I've seen of British uniforms are displayed on the shoulders as well.

Sandro,

Thanks for the links.

I know for a fact it's a copy...it was advertised as such and I bought it with the full knowledge it didn't hang around some guy's neck in 19-whatever. However if someone with an interest in military history sees it displayed in my house he might think ''Looks interesting...I wonder what the history behind the real medal is''. And as far as my research and Graham's post indicates the PLM was last rewarded in 1918...hence the fact I'm looking for the insignia of around that year.

I know I am in the minority but I buy medals that catches my eye and although it has a massive impact on the financial value of my collection I do not mind owning copies of medals I really like such as the PLM.

To me it's about the thrill of having a copy of a medal I always wanted to own and although it would be awesome to have genuine medals with their full history having the story behind a genuine medal isn't the deciding factor in owning it.

In my SADF collection I have 10 full-sized medals all stamped with serial numbers and they were confirmed by a person more knowledgeable than me as genuine SADF issue and that fact alone is enough for me.

The other factor that influence my decision to buy well-made copies is that they display better than a faded real medal and all my medals I eventually intend to display.

I'm sure this isn't the right forum but the ''Classifieds'' section seems to have some issues so please excuse me if this post is in an inappropriate thread.

I am looking for the insignia of a Prussian/German officer to accompany my Pour le Merite but can't seem to find it on any site. Does somebody perhaps know where I can find some even if it's replica items?

Does anybody have any idea where I can find Prussian/German rank insignia dated around the end of WW1?

I checked Ebay but most of those items are either WW2 or East/West Germany so it's obviously not going to work with a PLM of 1918.

Graham,

Thanks again.

Laurentius,

My apologies.

Graham,

Thanks for the exhaustive list.

I notice that among the recipients of the PLM with Oak Leaves after 22 September 1918 there are several lieutenants. Do you perhaps have an idea what would warrant what seems to be a fairly senior award to a junior officer like a lieutenant at a time when hostilities was calming down after World War 1? Was it belated recognition of actions involving the necessary merit/gallantry during the war?

I have no knowledge of Prussian/German awards so all the medals and abbreviations used in this thread is a completely alien language to me but the restored bar look stunning. All I know of German awards is that Iron Crosses was awarded during the World Wars so I assume that's the medal referred to in this thread as a EK...am I correct?

The only thing even remotely close to that in my collection is a copy of a Pour le Merite without Oak Leaves that I bought on impulse because I loved the shade of blue and the way the gray and black of the ribbon combined with the medal itself.

I have also seen some copies on Ebay of the Blue Max of which the medal itself was any color under the sun but blue. I don't know how you German collectors feel but in my opinion that's just plain wrong and should be punishable. If you're going to the trouble of copying a medal at least try and make it resemble the original as close as possible.

As an example of what I said above see the link below.

https://www.google.com/search?q=pour+le+merite+images&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjX5N3stoDkAhVRMewKHRR0BjsQ4216BAgJECM&biw=800&bih=394#imgrc=R-7KsH4Z_jUMcM:

I'm under the impression that the PLM (Blue Max) was from the design stage meant to be blue so if the other colors in the link above denotes various classes or ranks please feel free to correct me.