Dieter3

Think of the history it witnessed.

Definitely! It sure is an added "bonus" (for lack of a better word) to really know the history behind a piece. This is fabulous!!

Paul, if not too personal, are you able to share with us how you came across this piece? Truly outstanding!!

That is correct, it is Masatake. This particular father and son pair are unique in that they are the only case of father and son both reaching the honorary rank of Field Marshal in Japan. Hisaichi's (the son's) Marshal's badge is in my collection. This is a very rare award since it was only bestowed 31 times on Japanese recipients and once on a foreigner (Field Marshal Kitchener).

Oh yeah! Now that is a seriously fine piece to have!! I see the new thread, thanks for posting!!

If this is General Hisaichi Terauchi (promotet to War minister 1936) this will help out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hisaichi_Terauchi

to identify the medals by the painting is hard, but the long one on his right with the red ribbon is for sure a french l?gion d'honneur.

I believe this is Masatake Terauchi, Minister of War at the time of the Russo-Japanese war.

Which medals and orders is Minister Terauchi wearing in this postcard? Is that leftmost (his left) a Boxer Rebellion medal?

Rather than start a new thread, this one looked appropriate for additional questions. Referring to Paul's pinned thread on Golden Kites and their differences, is it just the pictures or my eye balls, but....

....are the beaks of the kites longer in the earlier versions of the medal? Also, looks like the head is tilted at a different angle early vs. later production....?

I know the order was stricken in 1947 (?) - so no more medals produced - does that also likely mean that the minting hardware for them was destroyed as well???

I dug this out of the bank vault last week and took some photos. This is the 1874 War Medal. One of the rarest in the Japanese War Medal series, prices in Japan now reach close to $5,000 ! On the few occasions that it comes up for sale outside Japan it tends to sell for less than that but they only show up once every few years. Before anyone asks, this one is not for sale.

Well, I'll scratch that off the 'ole list! I figured they'd be pricey. I guess given the rarity, $5000.00 isn't too bad, though shy of the Lotto, I'll not likely have a spare $5000.00!

Any idea, what was the design/material of the cases for these medals? (Assuming there was one?)

Also posted this pic. in the "Showa Medal" thread:

Here is a Showa Enthronement with what looks like a "Y" within an oval:

No, anyone who welches gets on the blocked bidder list. Could you imagine?

Not sure of the circumstance, but I was looking at an item the other day, checking out the various bidders and this one person had something like 10 bid retractions in the past 6 months. Dunno, shill bidder? Seems kinda fishy to me.

A commemorative of some sort, 25th anniversary of something? Not sure of what, but the bottom reads from right to left = Showa 8th year, 5th month, 20th day (May 5th, 1933) provided my eyeballs are working correctly. I will let a more versed in kanji member correct me if I'm wrong, and translate the top portion as my kanji ability is far to inferior to do so...... :o

I just received a 1931-1934 Manchuria medal, really an excellent condition specimen. I was only after the medal, not as concerned with the case. I did know there was a case to go with it but that it was in pretty bad shape. When I received it, I was actually pleasantly surprised at the level of damage (yes, I know that sounds odd!). All of the pieces of the case are present, but the interior panel of the lid was no longer attached, but this revealed a character and number, ハ67.

I'd imagine a lot of experienced collectors have seen such things. Is this some sort of numbering or serializing scheme to the cases? Anybody know what other pieces may bear markings?

Opps! I see I made a mistake up there, "box" - meant "bow"!

Thanks Paul, that is the information I was after!!

Sorry - I'm referring to the rosettes; pin style with the box as opposed to the round, button style. If I understand correctly, the pins were earlier issue, and the buttons were later issue - however I don't know if this is indeed the case....I was looking for clarification on that - and if this was indeed the case, is there an approximate date range where a transition was made from the pin to the button?

I've seen some Golden Kites on ePay recently - most seem to have the button rosette, but one has the pin type.

Nobody?

What is the rhyme and reason behind lapel pins vs. buttons? Are the pins of an earlier style, buttons later? Is there any info on determination of what should be expected with a certain award and a time frame for that style?

Do any of you have any fakes, willing to post comparison pics.??? I know newbies like myself would sure benefit from that!

I don't have a WWI Victory medal yet. Are the fakes easy to spot, what do you look for on those??

Dieter

This is one of those discussions which ultimately ends up with a choice between "bad choices" and "badder choices", unless one has the luxury of putting the whole collection in Cryogenic storage while the cabinets "cure", a month/year long process. And, ultimately, all objects deteriorate to some degree in ANY environment. Entropy Rules!

That said, however, your solution sounds like a good compromiwe, especially the open bags and the 'air exchange'. I don't expect you'll have to worry about the whole lot turning green or black on you. Do feel free to post shots of your collection too!

Peter

One concern is certainly the humidity - I simply don't know what the effects of this kind of storage might have on the ribbons (I'm more concerned with the ribbons than the medals, mold or chemical attack?) so I'm just assuming that lower humidity is better, but not bone dry! I live in neither a dry nor humid climate, fairly mild which is a plus. I sure gotcha on that entropy thing! Just want to delay it as long as possible.

I will eventually get around to posting some photos, but the sad truth is, I' horrible at taking pictures!!! Some of it might be my camera (more lack lack of knowledge of using it effectively), but most of it is my lack of skill....

Something else I've considered to protect the medals themselves is using a wax like Renaissance wax. I've used this on old cartridges and it seems to protect pretty well - thought maybe this would help in any further "aging" of medal metal. Then again, cartridges are smooth so the wax is easy to apply, might be hard with medals with all the engravings, embossings, uneven surfaces, etc. O.K., maybe scratch that idea!

Have any of you come across any fake Japanese medals or awards? I've seen threads for some other nations' medals so it got me wondering.....

Hello Gents!

I'm wondering on my method of storage, I'm sure it isn't ideal, and if it is just plain bad, I need to know! Currently, I keep my medal in their original cases. The cases are mostly wood or pasteboard. The cases are then kept in polypropylene bags. The bags are not closed. Everything is kept in a gun safe. My immediate concern was fire protection, but now after reading through this forum for a while, I'm wondering about this. I do know the shelves of the safe are made with ply or particle board (BAD) and covered in some fuzzy material (unknown qualities as far as out-gassing goes....). I keep a silica dessicant in the safe, I have no idea how dry things get, but I recharge it when the indicator reads about 40%. But another concern that I'm just now thinking of is the chemicals on the guns - mostly grease, and oil - nothing solventy. I'm in the safe several times in a day so the air gets flushed to some degree, which may not matter at all. I guess the only thing I can be assured of is no UV damage! Am I in trouble here with the way I'm storing them???

this is the place with the right people to ask FIRST.

'Tis why I'm here!! :)

I'm guessing that is kanji " 井 " (I), though I'd imagine other pronunciations could apply. Or maybe it really is just # ?

This Mukden incident medal is selling on ebay for an amazing $202 so far..... I thought these went for the 30-45 range.....

Am I missing something or what????

ebaylisting

WOW! I know this is an old thread, but two years later in 2009, I got two of these, one for around $40.00ish and the other for around $60ish, not much of a change since that 2007 reference. I'd say the more "expensive" of my two is in equal condition, the cheaper one has two small mars on the ribbon and the box isn't as nice, but overall still a nice medal.

Talk about insane prices: local gun every two months or so in my area, one medal dealer there every time, never paid attention until now. Only had two Japanese medals, a Russo-Japan war, and 2nd China Incident medal - not sure that I've ever seen similar medals on eBay in as poor a condition as these two, boxes were poor condition as well. He was asking $120.00 for the Russo-Japan and $80.00 for the China Incident. SHEESH! But I guess there are people out there that don't know any better.

That is an awesome document!! Are you able to get a scan of it??