JapanX

Check out this Gent!

Signaller 1st class

Exellent photo!

Colonel (after 1938)

Nice illustration

My guess is that these melainotypes (more info about these can be found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintype ) were used to ruduce the costs of production. Another possible variant - these photos made awards more personalized.

As we know "people's best friends and servants" always prefer to put their own images on anything that come to hand (especially their own awards )

And you are of course right about the case - these are very rare!

100% original medal in original case.

Made in silver.

If I remember correctly obverse inscription reads

"Awarded by General Wu Pei Fu, 3rd Division Commander, Chief Officer for Inspections and Patrols, Hunan and Hupeh Provinces"

Reverse inscription reads

"For unselfish Service"

I see..

Turn. O backsliding children!

+ some info about 1918-1919 events

Original (in Czech)

http://www.valka.cz/clanek_11033.html

Translated

http://www.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.valka.cz%2Fclanek_11033.html&sandbox=1

Official name of this cross is "Pamětní odznak Čs. dobrovolce z let 1918-1919"

Reverse of this cross inscribed "V těžkých dobách "/ "In hard times"

You will find additional info here

Original (in Czech)

http://forum.valka.cz/viewtopic.php/t/105385

Translated

http://www.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fforum.valka.cz%2Fviewtopic.php%2Ft%2F105385&sandbox=1

Short film devoted to this photo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3xTlUAdPWM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I would go to Gunboards, Japanese forum.

Yep, right here

http://forums.gunboards.com/forumdisplay.php?52-Firearms-Of-The-Rising-Sun

Nice to see you are still with us man! ;)

Aha!

Check this out guys

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-LOT-OF-TWO-WWII-JAPANESE-MEDAL-PRESENTATION-BOXES-/380811193054?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58aa1daade

Diagnosis: discoloration

We tried to diagnose this one here

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/59911-what-happend-here-i-wonder/

It's not all that easy to tell from the photograph alone so this is very useful information.

Especially when there is no photo of reverse

One thing is for sure - one pretty steady hand made this engraving.

Thanks for info about translation of this mark KimKan!

By the way, guys who served in 39th Army have their own forum (quite interesting threads can be found there)

http://mongol.su/forum/index.php?board=2.0

And they even issued their own badge in commemoration of this service!

http://mongol.su/forum/index.php?topic=316.0

...specifically veterans of the GPW?

Since this medal was issued to organizations and individuals "for outstanding contributions and merits in strengthening brotherly friendship" - there were no special large-scale after war awardings specifically for veterans of GPW.

Usually we find this medal on the chest of officer that served in 60s-80s with 39th Soviet Army that was located on the territory of Mongolia. Naturally some of these officers were veterans of GPW.

Does anyone know how many Friendship Medals went to Soviet military personnel...

In a nutshell - the lion's share.

But no exact number is known to me.

18 000 were manufactured in toto.

Maximum number that is known to me is 11 852 (I guess medals within 12000-18000 range are still in the vaults of Central Bank of Mongolia ... at least theoretically )

We know that only 60 Mongolians were awarded with this medal + approximately 260 medals went to Bulgaria, DDR and Vietnam.

But the centre medallion in the photo appears red. That said, you can never trust these hand-tinted photographs in getting the colours right.

Yes, but the center of precious crown breast star appears white instead od dark blue :whistle:

Cool!

Thanks Oleg!

So what we have here is one of the oldest Shanghai workshops that is still active today.

裘 - fur/(as surname) Zu

天 - heaven/unshakable beginning/season/day

寳 - treasure/precious

P.S. Any ideas about mark in post # 11?

So second breast star could be Special Class of The Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand

http://www.cabinet.thaigov.go.th/eng/d_Crown00.htm

No?

Countries that formally recognized the land of plenty

Japan — September 16, 1932

Salvador — March 3, 1934

Vatican — April 18, 1934 (de facto)

Italy— November 29, 1937

Spain — December 2, 1937

3rd Reich— May 12, 1938

Hungary — January 9, 1939

Slovakia — June 1, 1940

Wang Jingwei Government — November 30, 1940

Romania — December 1, 1940

USSR — March 23, 1935 (de facto); April 13, 1941 (de jure)

Bulgaria — May 10, 1941

Finland — July 18, 1941

Croatia — August 2, 1941

Thailand — August 5, 1941

Denmark — August 1941

Interesting that first mark is stamped and piece from French auction has engraved mark

One of these two breast stars is 1st class of japanese order of Precious Crown (勲一等宝冠章).

Here it is http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/58628-orders-of-the-precious-crown-from-the-collection-of-metropolitan-museum/?hl=%2Bprecious+%2Bcrown

Back to this mark.

I bet this is it

Maybe Oleg will be kind enought to decrypt it for us