Dieter3

And lastly, the white ribbon version, I've only seen one type of reverse to the white ribbon:

So what's the story with the two ribbon colors and very different reverse on the white ribbon version??

Then there's the blank reverse:

So how many flavors of medal are there? They all seem to have the same obverse, but differ in the reverse. These are all green ribbon, this is the one I've seen most often:

Then there's this version with extra marking on the reverse (sorry, no pic. of the obverse.....):

That'll work! Something like that though, you won't even need to soak it. The spirits will work it away quick with any brushing force, even older, crustier stuff. Post some pics when you can!

+1 on the mineral spirits! Have done my share of cosmo-queen SKS rifles, and works nicely for metals. If you've got yourself handy a 5-gallon or so plastic bucket and a can of mineral spirits, you're all set! A bucket with a screw top lid all the better, though maybe harder to find, you can keep the used spirits around and reuse quite a bit before you need to filter or dispose. I would not even bother with heat. Just get a good, nylon brush like a kitchen scrubber, or even a toothbrush and you'll make adequate work of that goop!

Do you have either 6.5mm or 7.7mm original, loaded ammunition in brass strippers? Boxed would be even better!

An excellent comparison!! Very useful!!

Here are the obverse and reverse. The medallion certainly looks more "aged" than the ribbon. I guess one thing might have nothing to do with the other, but this is what made me wonder that although the ribbon may be authentic, perhaps it was not original to this medallion and was replaced at some point..... (?)

It seems that most (earlier anyway) red cross medals were issued in black lacquer, or various paperboard boxes - it seems the Golden Special Members were issued in wooden cases like this one. What other RC medals, if any, were issued in the plain wood, anything?

Help me on this, trying to figure out the rhyme and reason to case/boxes for red cross medals. Other than this one above, I only have a few of those Russo-Japan war commemorative medals in simple paperboard boxes, so I'm just going off what I've seen for sale (obviously limited and incomplete), but am I on the right track?? ::

Early Medals - Black Lacquer cases. (at least Special Members and Merit Medals) Assuming Life members too? Not sure about normal members.

Somewhat Later Medals - Paper boxes with gilt writing (have seen Special Members) Assuming normal members and life members too?

Later (WWII???) Medals - Paper boxes with what looks like paper labels?? (have seen Special Members, Life Members) Assuming normal members too.

Golden Specials - Wood - though I have seen a few Russo-Japan War commemoratives in a simple wooden case with "記念" on the covers. Mostly just the paper board boxes though.

Late Issue - Black, textured cases with the gold trim - though these seem limited to the

Really getting fascinated with red cross medals. Thanks for any help and insight! :D

What about this one? This ribbon is so vivid - could it be a replacement, or copy? It seems authentic from the pics. I've observed and the very few specimens I've handled, but It almost seems too nice, that's some serious green. Thoughts??

I really, really like this medal, not sure why. I don't know much about it other than it is an agricultural merit award. It's in great condition. A bit of light soiling to the ribbon and a patina to the front of the medallion (which I'm guessing could be cleaned, but I'm gonna leave it...) are about the only detractors, it's in really great condition. One of you might remember this one....

Thanks Paul! I totally forgot about the Red Cross medals section in your book! I see it now. What might have been the special circumstances surrounding issuance of the Golden Special Membership??

What period of issue for this little baby? Taisho? Showa? It's hard to see from the photos, but this medallion appears silvery on the disc with goldish highlights on the relief. What might this be made of -Silver? Aluminum? Thanks!

Very interesting!

Thanks Paul. This is a Taisho Enthronement document, and we couldn't see a reference to an actual military rank or branch of service - but the 7th class order of honor indicates that? Is there any good reference to this type of info? (unless I actually see the kanji for Captain, I'm working in the realm of cluelessness......!)

Uh oh, emoticon rationing!!

Lookin' good on that medal Alex!! :D

At some point, I'd like to translate all of the documents that I have, but that's a piece of work, and it really wears out my poor wife! I'm trying to inventory everything, recording certain bits of main data.

Here's another name for you, any idea on the pronunciation possibilities? Family name, possibly "Yano"?

I've got it! After another review of the document and paying better attention, the recipient was a: 陸軍歩兵一等軍曹 - Platoon Seargent. I'ze wuz confoosed before......:blush:

Hmmm. I'll have to re-examine the document for the rank of the recipient! Thanks for pointing that out, I thought it somewhat odd to award a person like this the medal. Therein lies the problem of having to use a third party translate sometimes old kanji, and often unfamiliar technical terms - stuff gets lost in the translation! :speechless:

Thanks Paul! So, I'm guessing the ministers were many, this is not a single person that served in the position (not like Secretary of the Army, etc. here in the U.S., not sure what the U.K. equivalent would be?). Am I correct in my guess?

First one is a Sino-Japan War medal document, showing a rank of "Army Minister of State" (or so I'm told) - QUESTION: What exactly was an army minister of state, or is there a more accurate translation? Was this a common rank/assignment?

Second one is a Russo-Japan War medal document with what I call the more "interesting" style of kanji numbering - so this one shows # 1,022,153 - were there really that many awards issued, or am I reading the number incorrectly? And why the switching back and forth between this type of kanji for numbers and the more common variety?

If you do attempt to service the medallion in any way, I'd wrap that ribbon in plastic before you get remotely close to it with anything liquid! I'm a klutz myself so I need to do things like this for protection.

I'm also wondering about that 6th class rosette - granted, these are not Golden Kite rosettes, but didn't earlier awards have thinner rays like in this photo? (photo stolen from a different thread, original credit to TimB! ) The one in Alex's looks like thicker rays. Were the GKs done in a simlar fashion?

And now it is being sold on eBay, bit by bit. Yuck. :(

Nice! Thanks for sharing!