TracA

Hello Vince, Thanks for your reply. The two prongs are round, not flat, but they are bent on the ribbon all of the way. I am a bit loath to bend them back so that I can remove the OakLeaves. Tracy

Greetings, I am reviving this approximately 11 ½ year old thread because I just purchased an 1870 EK II with 25th Jubilee Oak Leaves and I cannot pin down the variant. In addition, Komtur is still active on this forum and I was hoping that he had some updates. The 25th Oak Leaves below is approximately 19 mm high by 25 mm wide. Looking through this thread the 2 comes close to Variant 3, however my 2 is slimmer, but the stems do not quite match. I also considered Variant 14, again based upon the 2. Any opinions/insight into the variant will be most welcome. Thank you. Tracy

Hello Azyeoman, Agreed, 100%. I am quickly coming to a point where I have to decide if I want to pay for Ancestry or Find My Past, I am also taking your warning to heart, but I fear that it might be too late. All the best, Tracy

Greetings, I have decided to post in this thread again because I learned something in the past week, and thought that I would mark it here as a reminder to myself. I am sure that all of you experienced members might chuckle at my revelation: If you look your man up on the medal roll, go all of the way and look at every page of the roll. The seller provided a paper copy of WO 100/26, p. 161 and there I stopped. Last week while looking through WO 100/26 for someone else’s name, I found Pte Patrick O’brien two other times. He is listed a second time on p. 182 and a third time on p. 196. On p. 182 is his full regiment number, 2534, whereas all that I could see on p. 161 was an incomplete number. In addition, pages 179 to 182 are clearly a section of the roll listing the 4th Regiment’s dead (a complete listing? I know not), and next to Pte Patrick O’brien’s name is the day and month of his death. The date is there as well, but it is obscured by the incomplete digitization of the roll’s gutter. On p. 161 my only clue to the fact that Pte Patrick O’brien had died was the “W.O.” next to his name. On p. 182 was the conclusive evidence that he had in fact died. The other fact that I learned from p. 182 was his definitive entitlement to the Sebastopol clasp, as that entitlement is covered from p. 164 to 182. Page 196 is a reiteration of Pte Patrick O’brien’s entitlement to the Alma and Inkerman clasps, in a section of the medal roll that appears to be a running count of the total number of Alma and Inkerman clasps awarded to members of the 4th Regiment (pages 190 to 199). Once again, here “W.O.” is annotated next to his name with the date which looks to me to be 7/4/57. Note to self: although it might be time consuming and tedious, look at every page of the medal roll. All the best, Tracy

Hello No One, Thank you for following up with this. Yes, a bit disappointing, but at least it is some sort of answer. I will add this to my overall documentation. Hope that you are doing well. All the best, Tracy

No One, Nice one! I hope that you have been well. Tracy

It has been just under three months since I posted in this thread. I recently filled a hole in my collection by purchasing an Order of the Sacred Treasure 4th Class with the two screw reverse. I figured that there would be a hallmark on the reverse of the ball and yes, yes there was. The mark is NK and although Medals of Asia does not have this specific two-letter mark, it does have an NE and an NL, September 30, 1992 and April 29, 1993, respectively. A well known user on War Relics Forum believes that on JapanX’s list the first letter is likely the year of manufacture and the second letter/digit is likely some sort of lot number designation. At first I assumed that was a reasonable interpretation, and it might very well be true, but on JapanX’s list there are a lot of first position alpha characters that cross years: for example, A is from 1979 to 1981; B is from 1980 to 1981, but there is also an entry for 2007; C is from 1981 to 1982, but there is an entry for 1985, 1986, 1989, and 2008. What I can say about the date of this piece is to repeat what JapanX has posted here on GMIC: two screw reverses date from 1982/83 to 2003. See https://gmic.co.uk/topic/58229-sacred-treasures-with-flat-reversetwo-screws-reverse-when-this-change-occurred/?_fromLogin=1. It is a beautiful piece and I paid extra for it because there is almost no tarnish to the gilt, especially on the reverse. Unfortunately my cell phone darkened all of the images because I took the photos head-on and the piece is so shiny that it reflects my black cell phone. The ribbon is a beautiful very pale blue. Enjoy. Tracy Obverse with rosette. There are no markings on the rosette: Reverse, much, much darker than it is. In hand it is very shiny gilt. NK close-up: Case lid. Picture taken at an angle to minimize reflection:

Graf, You have an amazingly beautiful collection of French medals. All the best, Tracy

DRB 1643, Beautiful Kite. All the best, Tracy

Tom and No One, Thank you for the compliments. I was very happy to add this wonderful Kite to my collection. I am thinking that this is as high in grade that I will go. All the best, Tracy

Greetings, The opportunity arose, I was able to make the price work, and so I brought a wonderful Order of the Golden Kite 3rd Class into my collection. I never really thought that I would obtain one, but lucky I am. For a history of the Golden Kite, see the excellent “Story of the Golden Kite” by Nick Komiya on the WRF at https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/japanese-militaria/story-golden-kite-671453/. For outstanding classification and statistical work, of course see JapanX’s four Golden Kite threads pinned here at GMIC on the Japan forum. For my purposes I relied on the thread related to the 3rd and 2nd class Kites. After quickly reading over JapanX’s thread I simply assumed that this was a Showa Kite, and that my only work would be to determine if it was a Showa 3.1 or 3.2. I did not think that I might possess a rarer Kite variation than the “often encountered” Showa variation. However, I read JapanX’s thread closer, several times, and came to the conclusion that my Kite is a Meiji Late - Taisho Early 2.2. The shape of the Kite on my 3rd Class matches that of the Meiji Late - Taisho Early 2.2, and the color of the enamel on the sword scabbard and lower part of the harnesses matches that of the Meiji Late - Taisho Early 2.2 as opposed to the 2.1. On my Kite the 12h ray is part of the ring through which the cravat loop is threaded, which holds true for all of the Kites discussed in the above referenced thread, with the exception of the Showa 3.1. The clincher, however, is the fact that on my Kite the 12h beam at the top is recurved, a characteristic per JapanX that only Meiji Late - Taisho Early 2.2s have. I note one difference related to my 3rd Class versus all of the examples that JapanX displays in his thread: each of his examples have two flag fasteners on the left side flag but mine only has one. I really do not know if this would be enough to qualify for a sub-variation, but I mention it nonetheless. It is a beautiful 3rd Class Kite and is a centerpiece of my collection. Enjoy, Tracy Obverse: Close-up of the Kite. Notice how the 12h ray is part of the ring through which the cravat loop is threaded. Also notice the flag fasteners. Both sides have only a single fastener. Scabbard and harness close up: Notice that the 12h beam at the top is recurved: Reverse: The case lid, with seven gold kanji and the Showa stylization of 勲 (kun). I would expect the case lid to have only six kanji, so I assume that the Kite and the case could be a put together.

Ahhh, yes. Now I understand. It failed to register with me that 30 g would imply a table medal rather than a medal attached to a ribbon for wear. Very interesting piece. All the best, Tracy

Hello, Are you asking if the medal is authentic or if it can be traced to a recipient or both? Without an inscription I do not see how it can be traced. Per British Battles and Medals, 7th edition, the diameter is correct. Unfortunately no weight is given. The steel clip and ring are missing. If the medal is in your possession, then can you tell if a clip was ever attached to the medal? Tracy

No One, I should not have missed the kanji for "father". 😞 Thank you, as always, for your assistance. Another reason why I always verify the seller's translation, if provided: they can be wrong. The seller stated that the badge went to the Corporal's son. Clearly not. All the best, Tracy

I have recently obtained another Military Bereaved Family Badge. I purchased this one because neatly folded inside the wooden box was the award document. This badge is much more substantial and heavier than the other two that I own. I verified the seller’s translation of the pertinent sections of the first page of the award document: Showa 13 (1938) September 20. “Deceased Army Infantry Corporal Okemoto ??, Okemoto Kokuchi.” The seller states that the Corporal’s given name is Iyoshi, but I have to admit that I just cannot see it. Am I missing something? I also do not see an indication of Okemoto Kokuchi’s relation to Corporal Okemoto, but I assume that it is his son. All the best, Tracy Obverse: Reverse: Box lid: Award document page 1: