Ed_Haynes

All of mine are to Indians (could you possibly have guessed that?). Mine are to Goans but in India you often see them to what may well be Hadhramautis (merchant sailors, then as now, moved about across the Arabian Sea). Mine: L. D'COSTA. S. FERNANDES To my (limited) experience, any group containing this medal is at least uncommon and always very nice.

Well, not East India Company. The date, 1295 AH, corresponds to 1878/79 CE. The Company was twenty years dead by then. I am struggling with the lower legend. Any chance of a more detailed image? Let me see what I can do. I am thinking Afghanistan . . . .

See also http://www.generals.dk/general/Popov/Marki...viet_Union.html

Tamgha-i-Khidmat 2nd class (The ?Medal of Service [Military]?, awarded for long and meritorious service of a distinguished nature. This decoration also represented somewhat of an overlap with the older, pre-1947, Order of British India and no soldier could be awarded the Tamgha-i-Khidmat who held the O.B.I. 1st class.) Tamgha-i-Khidmat 3rd class 1385 Tamgha-i-Jang (The ?1385 [A.H. = 1965 C.E.] War Medal?, awarded for general service in the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War.); Tamgha-i-Jang 1971 (The ?1971 War Medal?, awarded for general service in the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War.) Tamgha-i-Pakistan (?The Pakistan Medal?, awarded to commemorate Pakistan?s independence in 1947.); Tamgha-i-Sad Saal Jashan-i-Wiladat Quaid-i-Azam (Awarded to commemorate the birth centenary of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder and first leader of Pakistan, on 25 December 1976.); Hijri Medal (Issued to commemorate the completion of the fourteenth century of the Hijri era [22 November 1979].); Democracy Medal (Commemorates the reinstallation, however brief, of democracy in Pakistan in 1988.) Pakistan Independence Day Golden Jubilee Medal (Issued to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Pakistani independence, 14 August 1947. Awarded to those serving on 14 August 1997.); Pakistan Resolution Day Golden Jubilee Medal (Issued to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Pakistan Resolution, 24 March 1940.); Ten Year Service Medal; Twenty Year Service Medal Sadly, except for decorations, no Pakistan medals are named except the medal commemorating Independence (The Pakistan Medal). Hope that helps?

Sadly, we have two parallel, threads going here, so answers will be fragmented and disjointed. Maybe they should be combined? (Under "Italy?")

Unless someone has (and can read) the original regulations, the test may have to be a simple one of evidence. Paul's = the ANS collection, of solid provenance Dick's = ???

The estimates (usually low) are set by some often very knowledgeable staff at the auction houses. (Very different from online "auction" practices!) The actual selling price is, of course, set when the bidding takes place, set by the market, set by the competiive insanity of those bidding. Seems to me to be a fair way to establish value.

I was thinking RI = Regno d'Italia? Or, maybe, for the republic? When did the mural crown come in?

The eagle badge "feels" Italian to me.

Thanks, Dick. What is the width of the ribbon? It looks exactly -- but EXACTLY -- like the ribbon for the Briish 2nd Afghan War medal!

A nice -- if somewhat over-polished -- example of a grossly underappreciated medal. Now (or soon) the National Archives (a.k.a. PRO) will have online a range of surviving merchant seaman records, so there is hope .... maybe. Makes it easier, I guess, for the lazy reasearcher not to have to do their work where the records are?

These are not hard to find, but they're far from cheap. What is rare and very nice indeed is to get one as pristine and complete as this.

True, Chris. I think some Jordanian and Syrian ribbon bars were also of similar construction.

A good point about the naming. Officially, the medals were not named, so we are left wondering when it was added and by whom. Perhaps by the recipient himself, detailing a period "tailor's copy"? In any case, the naming is unofficial and I strongly suspect the medal is as well. This is all complicated by the suspect and dubious nature of almost everything coming out of Iraq these days.

So far, it could be almost anything (though fairly recent). The interior?

There is a very nice (PDF) table of contents compilation from the USI-I Journal (through 1970) available online. http://www.usiofindia.org/Microsoft%20Word...20Part%20-I.pdf http://www.usiofindia.org/Microsoft%20Word...%20Index-II.pdf Now, to get the PDFed Journal online . . . .

Good luck, Doc. Thoughts with you!

True. As the last edition of BB&M was being prepared, the editors were informed about WWII naming of medals to Indians (as well as a range of other India-specific errors). There had also been detailed communication on this and other issues when the 6th edition (the giant blue one) was coming together. And what do we get: "Issued unnamed to British personnel; some Stars to South African and some Australian personnel were impressed in sans serif caiptals." (BB&M, 8th ed., p. 537) Why bother . . . .

I love such attitudes. It makes WWII Indian medals especially nice. While they are officially named, almost no one in the "British" collecting crowd knows this (or much cares) and since they are to Indians, the price is doubly discounted. Sometimes, ignorance is your friend.

A few points: The obverse shows Victoria. The reverse is that allegorical scene. Erased medals are, to my experience, neither common nor desirable. They surely have zero research value. And close to that in "market value". The clasp "qualification" becomes meaningless without naming. Sorry. This is a fairly common medal, though prices have zoomed recently (as they have on all things). The standard (real) dealers have these in quantity. Consulting a standard reference book (British Battles and Medals?) is always a good idea.

Sounds like a nice group. Can you show his medals??

Me too. But mine are Indian. Boxes full. Officially named. Limited interest though?

The French medal is, I think, real (but not authorized for British wearing). The other two are commercial commemoratives, available for purchase and self-inflicted ego-inflation. All plaleristic Viagra.

That is my sense too - and nicely done. One of the nicer "Boots" jobs?

Generally they were pretty auitomatic, but for late-war entries not so sure. From what we see, I can't understand how this chap would have missed out on one, though.