TacHel

WOW! This is the first time I see an original box for the Médaille de Ste Hélène! As far as minis (réductions) go, most (if not all) were made by jewelers and other non governmental sources, so sizes vary greatly. I very much doubt you'd be able to find all possible sizes.

Incredibly interesting... And at the same time... :lol:

I know the French called many of their helo units SCORPION Squadrons, saw them with SFOR. I saw many patches bearing a scorpion but must admit at not seeing an insignia such as this one.

Fascinating piece! Thanks for sharing this great piece!:jumping:

This is the first one I had ever seen up close. I was salivating profusely... The price brought me back to reality though. Then my wife looked at me, smiled and said "go for it"... I darn near fainted! I had it in my breast pocket the entire trip back refusing to pack it even in my carry on.

Very impressive rack!

Very nice award certificate for the "Médaille du maintien de l'ordre AFN" (North African medal for maintaining order).

Thanks for the link, a good start!:cheers:

Thanks gents, no sweat, like I said, I paid very little for them. Would it be possible to see pics of genuine badges with tips on what to look for? Like they say, a picture is worth 1000 words. I'm thinking of acquiring the entire set of these badges in the near future and am going in blind... And since I've seen some of them (wartime items) going for hundreds of dollars, I won't spend a cent until I learn more.

Reverse of same badge.

Reverse of the same badge.

I recently acquired 2 such badges for excellence but must admit at not knowing how to tell the difference between a genuine article and a copy. I included "rather large" pictures of both to help you in telling me whether these are genuine articles or copies. I paid very little for them so if they turn out to be copies, no big deal. I would however greatly appreciate input on what to look for in future dealings regardless of the outcome.

There's no such animal to my knowledge... Looks like a perfectly good fourragère TOE but the olive definitely doesn't go there. There is no olive worn on a fourragère TOE. TOE olives are worn on the MM, CdG and LoH fourragères.

I couldn't agree more with you Thomas. Even if meant as a simple gesture of courtesy, it was an extremely good call by whoever made it!

A simple difference in regulations?

British troops also receiving the medal... British troops NOT wearing the medal on parade on Red Square...

US troops receiving the medal from the Russian Defense Minister. US troops wearing the medal on parade on Red Square.

Thank you very much for that info Paul! I'll pass it on.

Here's a question that came up with a colleague trying to replace his grand-father's set that was lost. His grand-father was a US Army officer who received the Legion of Honnor for WW2 service. The 3rd Republic was dead (de facto) in 1940 when Marshall Pétain assumed all powers, the 4th republic only came about in 1946. Question #1: did the Free French bestow the LoH between 1940 and 1946? Question #2: Since the 4th Republic only came about in 1946, were all models bestowed in 45 and 46 3rd Republic models?

Just received these two beauties. Breast badges for "Distinguished Aviator" of the Ministry for Emergency Situations (EMERCOM). Instituted on 14 May 2002 by ministerial order 236. Awarded to military and civilian aviation personnel of EMERCOM for outstanding performance of their assigned duties whether in flying, logistics or engineering operations. A helicopter or jet transport device on the ribbon denotes work on rotary or fixed wing aircraft. I was quite surprised at their size, these are huge compared to other Russian breast badges. The pendant is 4,5cm in diameter. The whole award is 7,7cm from top to bottom. The ribbon devices aren't cheap tin but heavy metal. The entire construction is quite heavy and sturdy.

I finally found myself a nice Sacristain China 1860 medal. I'll now be able to finish my French frame. Thought I'd share this pic of my 2nd Empire items going into it.

I probably didn't explain myself very well... Still jet lagged... I'm absolutely thrilled at this model! Sacristain models are much rarer and I didn't expect as much. I was looking for a Barre model simply because it's 300 EUROs+ cheaper. When my finance minister (wife) said "go for it", I almost fainted!

I finally found one! Just returned from Paris. Finally found myself an 1860 China Expedition medal. I was looking for an MOMP "Barre" but there were none to be found. And trust me, I looked! My poor wife followed me through endless kilometers of Parisian streets and countless shops (mind you, I followed her through weeks of shopping through Europe so...). Everywhere we went it was the same song "we just sold it 1 or 2 or 3 weeks ago"... But a tip from an elderly gentleman sent me to a little shop where I found this "SACRISTAIN" model. It cost more but at this point I simply didn't care anymore. http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_06_2010/post-3030-127644892514.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_06_2010/post-3030-127644893556.jpg