numis

Who was behind , or ran, this Relief Bureau ?

Would anyone have any information about this recipient ( Chas Cornes, 91st Regt ; whose surname might also be spelt CORNS )? He is on the roll for the 1846-7 and 1850-3 Wars

I have recently acquired a " SPERANZA " striking of the Italian CAMPAGNE D'AFRICA Medal with 2 silver bars/clasps inscribed " CAMPAGNA 1895-96 " and " CAMPAGNA D'AFRICA 1897 " . I do no know much about this medal so would be please to receive any comments that anyone make like to make about this . Are these clasps scarce or common ? And the combination ? The campaign covered by the 1895-6 bar apparently included the Battle of Adua where the Italians were decisively defeated by the Ethiopians

My gut feel after studying the available information is that the most likely to be original contemporary awarded specimens are those which have the combination of Obverse die 1 and Reverse die 3 and which are named to recipients with indigenous sounding names So far I have recorded 4 in this category . These are those awarded / named to : Piet Jan Cornelis : disc only ( lacking supension ) .Amathole Museum David Faroe : disc only ( lacking suspension ) .Was in the PE Museum in 2018 .Is it still ? Hendrick Ferara . Complete with suspension .Genadendal Museum Girt Roots : disc only ( lacking suspension) ; previously had a ( now removed ) brooch-pin suspension attached to the reverse In a private collection

OR proved to me a German Jew who migrated to S.Africa circa 1936 and who was stripped of German citizenship in 1939 on the grounds of being Jewish

The following is a quote from the C.P. Brownlee book " Reminiscences of Kafir Life and History " (page 286 2nd edition 1916 😞 "During the whole of the war , from December 1850 to March 1853 , Fundi and the twentyfour men of the police force who remained faithful to the Government , rendered valuable service .One of them was killed , two others were wounded , and in consideration of his gallant conduct HE WAS AWARDED ONE OF TWELVE MEDALS GRANTED BY SIR HARRY SMITH TO MEN WHO HAD DISTINGUISHED THEMSELVES IN THE FIELD " ( NB Capitals are mine ) The reference is to FUNDI who was orderly to Commandant Davis of the Native Police , HQ'd at Fort Hare , which had an enrollment of 250 in 1846, most of whom later deserted in 1850

The Honeyman collection specimen is still there but they cannot provide scans until Fall 2024 The RE Museum can provide scans of the ( probably wonky ) Dunning Medal but will levy a charge for a scan for own use and a higher charge for a scan for posting online. My meagre research budget and the hassles and costs of obtaining foreign currency ( using overdevalued ZAR ) and sending a bank draft have dissuaded me from following up with them on this

There is , or was , an unnamed specimen of the SHS Medal in the Honeyman Collection at the Natural History Museum, Los Angeles .Refer the published catalogue of this collection

i am wanting to acquire one of these but would like to know whether I should be looking for any accompanying documentation ( eg a named award certificate ) as well. Can anyone advise please?

OFFICIAL NATURE OF THIS MEDAL Wikipedia ( when last seen ) and others have categorized this medal as being " unofficial " I disagree Sir H.Smith was the Governor of ( Queen's representative in ), and Commander-in-Chief in , the Cape Colony . After post facto investigation , the War Office in London accepted the bona fides of the medal and authorised it's costs being charged to Colonial Funds and the Secretary of State for the Colonies apparently accorded The aforementioned make it an " official " award in my eyes ACTUAL NUMBER AWARDED G.Everson in an article on this medal stated that Charles Brownlee in " Reminiscences of Kaffir Life and History " had stated that TWELVE SHS Medals had been awarded to troops who distinguished themselves Is it not possible that Brownlee was accurate ? If yes, known medals in excess of this number can perhaps be attributed to less being awarded than originally had been struck and also to later restrikes from the dies ( which are know to have survived ) with some fraudulent naming up of some of these medals

This medal has been written up in the OMSA Journal years ago I collect these myself but only have one so far

A belated thank you to Rusty for all this additional , excellent , information and analysis Rusty's observational skills are far beyond mine so I am doubtful that i can add anything useful to his excellent analysis I do think that the Roots medal is a reverse die 3 as is Ferara's It is a great pity that those who own or have details of other SHS Medals have not yet posted them onto this thread as every additional photo of good quality could potentially add something of value to this study . Numis

Thank you Rusty for the further very valuable research and information since my last thank you to you What would you think about my contention that ( based on the similar double strikings around the rims ) the Roets and Ferara medals are both from the same striking batch ? Numis

Many thanks Rusty for your much appreciated further contributions since my last thank you to you Numis

Thank you for the responses above