Dieter3

Yes, always with these white stripes! Very interesting. A legitimate variant? Hmmmm......

Same mark, 7th Class Sacred Treasure - with a modern rosette - I wonder if these two were made in the same year? GLUE?? Seriously? Was that used to hold it onto a display?

That last photo is great! Love that screw (top left), WHOOPS! Hole is too big, ah - nobody will notice....... ;)

He didn't get the memo? ;)

I've seen many of these Nomonhan Border Incident bars colored like that - some medals too - were there actually TWO types of ribbons, or are these all just interesting fade/change patterns? The other bars there look pretty normal!

I noticed, the improved performance! :cheers:

That is a great photo - collection of replacements with pockets! Well, I'd call it a bluish-grey. The rosette is more of a light blue!

Drumrole please.................AND...............no response from the Cabinet Office (yet). I kinda figured.............it's a conspiracy. :lol:

HEY! I had made a post here to follow up, it must have been wiped out in the recent whatever happened. 40 yen to dollar wouldn't surprise me! It's pretty much at the limit where I will no longer make purchases from Japan because the rate is so bad. In fact, my eBay buying of more common items has more recently picked up because of this. I don't expect financial miracles with what just happened here last Tuesday - essentially, NOHING changed.

I believe this is what Nick means by attachment gear - the hook and catch/eye - and yes, you do see some variation in these across the same kind of medal - which I would expect, and can likely be attributed to different makers/suppliers of the parts. But in certain instances - as one example that I have observed - the Imperial Constitution medal - that to the best of my knowledge used wire hooks and eyes sewn directly to the ribbon as originals, vs. the type that are pressed through and crimped to a tiny back-plate - the more "modern" type - so does this possibly indicate a replacement ribbon, or were they indeed made TWO different ways? I kind of doubt this, but it is possible. And if those ribbons ARE replacements, they could still be very old - but I can see how it'd be easier to modernize the attachment hardware rather than re-sew the old ones! Which means we should distinguish among modern, aftermarket replacement of ribbons - and you see lots of these on Yahoo! Japan - vs. those ribbons replaced by the medal recipient due to damage or wear, that are quite possibly very old, but not technically original, and so on - which brings us right back to Chris's original questions!

Well, I wish we could do it. Alas, I've not the power! For now, these things must go to a general area of the main forum. :unsure:

Maybe like somebody in charge of payroll?

I'll have to go back and have a closer look, but I do have a 7th Class Golden Kite with a document from 1940 and if I recall correctly, the kanji are gold. I think you are right in stating there was a mixture of gold and silver, and probably pretty close to 1938 being the earliest we see silver kanji showing up on cases.

Youkoso! Chris, glad you are here! I think you will have a great time. :)

Here are the two watermarks, sorry for the crappy photos - not good backlighting on my part, I gotta figure out how to better do these.

Here you go, #34,416, also on August 1st, 1912 to Kekichi Matsuo, an army paymaster (accountant?). Shape is weird as I cropped the photo to hide the magnets holding it down flat to a white board. Kinda looks crappy all cropped, but better than with the magnets!

Neither the Mint Bureau nor the Cabinet Office can confirm or deny this....... :lol:

Fascinating! But what would be the purpose of two documents and only one medal? I would think he received two medals, perhaps for the status change or a significant, additional contribution as a result of the change in status? Don't know why else, unless it was a mistake! Another mystery! Thanks for sharing! This is the kind of thing that does make collecting more fun and interesting!

Hi Pieter It is possible I read the number incorrectly! I will try to get a photo this weekend for it. When you are back home, I'd love to see both versions of the medal if you can post pics. for a contrast!! And it has been a while since I've paid attention to document numbers (I really should for less common ones!) but I have recorded in my files document #34,499, so even a bit higher than mine.

Yeah, I know! Seems a bit odd that the cabinet would issue the codes! But who knows? I'll keep pursuing this - I attempted to contact the Cabinet Office, waiting for response.....

Hi Pieter, I have not yet photographed the document, but I did record the#, and it is 34,416. I didn't record the name of the recipient yet, but I did get two other documents to same individual, a 1914-20 War Medal document, and a Meiji 31 7th Class Sacred Treasure document. No doubt he had others. I will try to get a photograph soon! Do you know Pieter without access to your literature, which strike this is - more or less common one?

Come now Nick, you should know by now all you will get from me are the "famous fancy angles".... Here you go gents (I think I posted this somewhere else before, can't recall exactly!)

So, I actually contacted the mint via their simple contact form on the website, but I did get a few responses. Unfortunately, nothing definitive. Despite the bureau being responsible for actually MAKING the medals, the questions about the codes stamped into the medals received this response from the PR person with whom I've been communicating: "We cannot answer your question; this is because we manufacture decorations and medals based on orders from the Cabinet Office." Really? I find it hard to believe that the mint doesn't know what these codes mean or why they are there. I think the problem probably lies in dealing with a PR person. Need to speak with somebody that actually makes these things, but that'll likely be like pulling teeth. So, what does this mean? But maybe they really DON'T know anything. Perhaps it is indeed the Cabinet Office that simply says "Make 'X' number of decorations on class 'Y' and stamp them with code 'Z'.....", with the Cabinet Office keeping some kind of record that gives meaning to the codes. This just can't be that difficult to figure out! :speechless: