numis

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 

Years ago I acquired the following as a pair on a postal auction in Cape Town:

WW1 Iron Cross 2nd Class + War Honour Cross 1914-8 with Swords.

The latter has a certificate ( # 13693/35 issued on 14-3-35 by the Chief of Police of D-H )  named to Oskar Rosenthal , a Kaufman in Duisburg-Hamborn .

Is there any way of verifying that O.Rosenthal was awarded the IC2 ?

Also: is there way of establishing whether  or not OR was a Jewish refugee to Cape Town as there was a   migration there in the late 1930s of German Jews escaping Nazism?

As a collector of all the awards of all of the Allied Countries of WW2 I would like to include the Colonial Medal with relevant bars / clasps to my collection .

I would like to have specimens that were actually awarded / issued to recipients and not later restrikes .

Can anyone provide suggestions  on what to look out for and what to avoid 

A first and basic question is as to whether contemporary Colonial Medals and bars ( for WW2 non-Vichy  services ) should be in silver or not .

I have just seen a large offering which includes many medals and bars ( relating to WW2 )  in base metal , sometimes with a mixture on the same medal ( ie medal in silver and bar not ; or vice versa ) 

Thanks RG for your latest contribution

My feeling is that the Roots medal is the reverse die 3 striking and that the full stop has been obliterated by the brooch attachment ( now removed )  .This medal has the same type of double struck rim as the medal to H Ferara  which has a good provenance and is die 3.  A photo of the HF medal is in the published history of Genadendal

It is to be hoped that more good photos of extant medals will come out in the future and anyone who knows of a surviving medal is asked to please contribute images thereof for this study 

Suspension details are also of importance to the sudy but unfortunately a few of the survors have been dismounted and the waters muddied in one or two cases by replacement suspensions being added.I know that a Capetonian  museum commissioned a replacement suspender from a local jeweller for a SHS Medal ( reportedly an unnamed die crack specimen ) 

In my mind there is no valid date succession in the numerical categorization   between reverse dies 1 and 3 which I would at present give first priority to as being original  contemporary specimens .The H Ferara die 3 specimen has the best provenance known to me at present 

Thank you Rusty for this information re the Meades medal

PS Badge is Gilt and Chrome

Can anyone tell me anything about this SOUTH AFRICAN DEFENCE FORCE badge .No photo available.

The designation comes from the manufacturer as the badge seen is attached to  a card with the manufacturer's stamps and seals 

Thanks for the posting above re Skead 

Thank you JapanX for your posting and the interesting photos

Thank you for the additional information posted above

I would be interested to know whether the Western Front Army was composed mainly of troops who had already served on the Eastern front or whether there was either fresh recruitment of men who had not yet served in action and not been on the Eastern front 

I am more interested in the awards received by the lower ranks than by the senior officers .

In terms of what I might collect personally , I would be interested to collect only awards to persons who had ONLY served on the Western front against the Nazis 

Was there any anti-fascist resistance in Romania 1941-4 and , if yes, how were they eventually rewarded for such activities , if they were rewarded?

I have seen stated that circa 2000 of these were awarded circa 1941-7

As far as i am aware Mongolia was only actively engaged against  Japan in late 1945

What were awards up until then awarded for as no fighting seems to have been going on until then ?

How many were actually awarded for fighting Japan in 1945?

Thanks for responses so far

How about retrospective awards for WW2 service after Rumania became communist ?

Was there not a campaign medal ( and any document with it ) ? And any other ?

Were there participants who had awards for fighting for ( ie Crusade against communism medal ) and later against Germany ?

What Soviet  Russian ( and Czech? ) awards were made to the Rumanians ? (Were any of the Russian campaign medals included ? )

What was the status exactly of Monarchial era awards in Communist Rumania ? 

Was any distinction made between those awarded for fighting against Germany with Russia and others ?

I have none  so far but am interested in acquiring Mongolian awards for WW2 and the pre-war clashes with Japan

I see various single awards on the market but wish to consider whether there is any standard group of awards to one recipient that one should look out for 

(eg including contemporary plus the later anniversary awards ) 

Besides the Mongolian " We have won " medal , did Mongolians also receive the Russian War against Japan Medal ?

Can anyone advise ?

I have none , but am interested in acquiring ,awards to the Romanian forces which fought against Germany in the latter stages of World War Two

My reference books do not cover this specifically 

What were the awards ( and related documents / certificates etc ) that applied ?

Is there any standard group of awards to a recipient who participated that one should look out for ?