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Dragomoir, I agree it is from Morocco. Its identity is a mystery. I attach a similar image but the award is in its case. I also attach another unknown Moroccan award. Regards, Owain

Jeff, As Paul notes "Independence" - it would appear for reasons of economy or speed the old Order of Glory award was used and just the centre changed. The star you illustrate has a somewhat different design to the more commonly seen versions of the order - see attached. Regards, Owain

Well done Will - a very good find. I am assuming it is unnamed. Owain

Dragomir, An educated guess, from the design and style of the crown, is that they are Jordanian but the images are not detailed enough to allow close inspection of the stars or badges. Any idea from which website these came from? Regards, Owain

Paul, Unfortunately to date I have been unable to identify the ribbon. I have a number of PDRY unidentified ribbons but no evidence as to what medals they are for. Regards, Owain

Ilja, This is a PDRY Shooting Superiority Medal - nice condition and if I recall correctly went for over $100. I attach an image of the one I have - unfortunately no ribbon. Mine has an outer red surround - pehaps there are different grades of this medal? Regards, Owain

Ilja, In haste - it appears to be a covering letter confirming the award of the medal commemorating the 25th anniversary of the 1962 Revolution to a Vladimir Milanok. Nice find, Regards,Owain

Will, As advised a very scarce piece. On looking at my records the last one I have seen publically sold was in the Spink Numismatic Cirular in November 1992 for GBP200. Instituted by the Khedive Abbas Hilmi in May 1913 but with his deposition on 19 December 1914 it became obsolete. It was, I believe, replaced by the gold and silver Medals for Bravery of the Order of Mohammed Ali instituted on 4 April 1915 by Sultan Hussein Kamel. These are also incredibly scarce - I have only ever seen one for sale. Kind regards, Owain

Nice one Will! Abbas Hilmi Bravery medal instituted 1913. Plain pale blue ribbon. Yours is the second full size one I have ever seen and I bet yours was cheaper than mine! I attach images of a miniature M&E sold some time ago. Regards, Owain

Gentlemen, Further to recent correspondence from Peter Liversidge, I detail below his comments. My thanks to Peter for is input. Kind regards, Owai It was awarded by the Sultan to local troops (his own and those of the East Africa Protectorate's forces, essentially) and to a handful to British officers, for putting down insurrections against the Sultan in his territorial possessions on the East African mainland in the first half of the 1890s. It was generally given in conjunction with the East & West Africa Medal for Witu and Mwele. It seems that local troops got it unnamed (as they did the E&W medal), and subsequently some of those who continued serving with the East Africa Rifles (later 3 KAR) had their medals named along with their unnamed AGS medals for Jubaland, in the typical local crude style using hand punches. I know of about half a dozen named examples to native troops, all done in the local style, most of them in groups with E&W and AGS medals and sometimes other more exotic things; a few went on to get First World War trios or pairs. There are no surviving rolls for the Sultan's medal or the E&W medal to local troops, which is a pity. Your example to Surur Feraji is, unfortunately, part of a very broken group (Surur, by the way, is not a rank but the first half of his name). 678 Surur Feraj was an EA Rifles/3 KAR soldier. I know from the later rolls that he received a three-clasp AGS and also a trio, the last named to a reserve number since he presumably re-enlisted in 1914 and was give a new number with the prefix 'R'. He would almost certainly have had an E&W Africa for Mwele and/or Witu. It appears that the group was broken up before 1982 when some (but not all) his campaign medals were sold by Hamiltons and are goodness only knows where now. I think I know where one medal is, in a private collection, but the other survivors haven't been seen since the early 1980s. I suppose that they will pop up again one day.

Dear Lion101, The Arabic is unclear but something along the lines of "The Third Arab Yemen Socialist General Congress/Meeting?", but I need to get this checked. Regards, Owain

Ilja, The Arabic is very difficult to read - very stylised script, but I can read that the Order of the Republic 3rd Class was bestowed by President Gamal Abdul Nasser. I suspect that the Russian translation will be easier to translate into English. Regards, Owain

Ilja, Interesting pieces - are they the obverse and reverse of the same medal? 1st Image "Farouk the First" :1937 - 1355" 2nd Image "Centenary (Festival) of the Ministry of General Education" "1937" Regards, Owain

Ilja, Nice piece and an uncommon one too - if you have a spare let me know! Obverse - "Al Riyadiyah" (The Sport) Reverse - Jumhouriyah Masr" (Republic of Egypt) - "Nowt Al Riyadiyah" (Decoration of Sport) and the dates 1953 - 1373. Kind regards, Owain

Gentlemen, See plaque below - 255 Signal Squadron Bahrain. Regards, Owain

Steve, I suspect its scarcity will not have a great impact on its value as there are not may collectors of such awards - I think I have mine insured for $100. Regards, Owain

Ilja, This is the PDRY Order of Nationalisation and relates to the nationalisation of the economy and agrarian reforms that took place in PDRY in early 1970 - the order was probably instituted an a later date. Regards, Owain

James, This is a good example of how lack of agreement on something relatively simple makes Arab agreement on any of the more important issues in tthe Middle East infinitely more difficult! Kind regards, Owain

James, An interesting idea but the last word very clearly does not include the Arabic letter "M' and I would note that a number of my Arab (Saudi, Algerian, Yemeni, Lebanese) staff all agree the Arabic is very clear and well executed - indeed even with my limited Arabic the meaning is clear. Many Morroccan awards have poor Arabic inscriptions - no doubt a result of art work being poorly executed by the manufacturing jewellers. I suspect the mystery will remain.........there is an Arabic phrase "as saber al muftah al faraj" (patience is the key to success) and with all of us on the task I hope that sooner or later we will discover the truth behind this elusive award. Kind regards, Owain

Mark, Well done & many thanks for resolving this issue. A good piece of detective work. Again thank you. Kind regards, Owain

Antonio, I am away from my research files but believe I summarised these medals in my fairly recent 4 part article in JOMSA on the awards of the UAE. I will be back in Riyadh by the end of the month so will be able to give details. Regards, Owain

Antonio, Very interesting. I was unaware that Ajman, one of the smallest Emirates, had instituted any awards. Many thanks for posting this. Kind regards, Owain

As Emmanuel notes it is in the book but the Museum has been unable to locate any ordinances instituting the award or anyone who received the award - nonetheless a scarce item. Regards, Owain,

Antomio, Nice list which starts with the Collars of the Republic and of Honour. I am currently on leave and will endeavour to provide a full translation upon my return to Riyadh. Kind regards, Owain P.S. The second list is the series of ranks in the Sudan military.

Steve, This is the medal issued by the United Arab Emirates in 1972 to commemorate the First Anniversary of the Establishment of the UAE. The obverse inscription reads, "His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan President of the State of the United Arab Emirates". The reverse reads, "To Commemorate the establishment of the United Arab Emirates". Until some 5 years ago I did not know this medal existed and indeed no mention is made of the medal in any of the UAE medal ordinances. I obtained my exmple from the UAE and it appears that whilst the medal was manufactured and despatched to the UAE it was not awarded. The ribbon a combination of seven equal stripes of red, white, green, white, black, white and red and is sometimes available on E-bay from a British seller. As he sourced the ribbon in the UK it is more than likely that the medal was manufactured in the UK - it may well be by Spink who manufactured most of the medals of this period for the region but I have no firm evidence to support this supposition. Kind regards, Owain