Hendrik

Great ! The reverse of the one I have has some markings : W J D , which I assume is the maker's mark and three more which I think may be silver hallmarks ? The first of those three I can't make out but no. 2 seems to be a lion, no. 3 is a letter "D" ... Can that narrow down the date ?

Chris, The one with the Extreme Orient bar is an Arthus-Bertrand manufacture which after 1945 was used to award combattants in Indochina ... Nice one ! Now as to the "earlier one" : is there a "1" in front of the "ARGENT" and are those between two maker's marks ? If so, it's the so called intermediary type by the Paris Mint.

Hello Paul, ... much higher premium ... Oddly enough medals with the red enamelled cross for being wounded don't fetch that much more. It is strange as they aren't encountered that often. Don't tell the dealers though

Hi All, Elsewhere on the forum Haynau asked the question " don't know why so few people collect italian decorations?" Are there really so few around ? Let's find out ... Here's one to start off with : Commander Class of the Order of the Italian Crown (1868-1951) [attachmentid=17814]

Hello Haynau, David, Gorgeous set ! The Order of the Crown is indeed an old one : instituted in 1868 by the then king Victor Emmanuel II to commemorate the union of Italy into a kingdom. The order ceased to be awarded after Italy became a republic in 1946 and was abolished in 1951. As far as I know the design never changed so it may well be pretty difficult to date these awards when no accompanying documents are around. Although there aren't that many collectors around for Italian medals as for German awards, some must be around ... let's find out - I'll start a thread on them.

Of course, Dave ! Do examine the medal's rim for maker's marks or silver marks (probably not there in view of the type concerned) and on the reverse of the bar ... always useful to do so but I have a very, very strong suspicion you already know that

ZA?RE : for operations between 13 May 1978 and 1 July 1990 ... Seems you were indeed just to late for that one and too early for the R?PUBLIQUE DU CONGO (from 6 June 1997 onwards).

Thanks for the compliment on my site, Chris/Jack I'll be most happy to oblige and answer questions to the best of my ability on this, one of my favourites, topic ... Pictures of medals and/or bars posted would be great as they may lead to discovering "new" (as in previously unknown) types. By way of example, I've not yet seen the "Mission Saharienne", "Gabon-Congo" for the Colonial Medal or even the bar for the 'Democratic Republic of Congo' operations for the Overseas Medal.

Ha, a truly dedicated collector I see Let us have some pictures when they land at your place, please !

Just venturing a pure guess and showing my complete ignorance : Chrutsjev (or whatever you want to spell his name like) ?

Hi Paul, the little red crosses are an indication of being wounded in combat. Per such wound one cross was attached to the ribbon. Note : WW1 red crosses are 1 cm, WW2 or later ones half that size. Economical reasons I guess

Surely not the case today though ? I served with BELU Forces in Bosnia, they formed part of our defence at Lipa (they were at TSG) and they were issued their medals before their departure home ? As far as I know, that still is the case today and has been so since WW I (maybe even earlier ???) I'm sure your eyes weren't playing tricks at the time but couldn't those medals be UN or EU ones ? If the Belgian medal, it would have looked like this one (minus the bars) : [attachmentid=17560] Pardon my ignorance but what does TSG stand for ? So in Belgium all official medals earn't for durations of peace keeping, or wars/conflicts like Korea, WW2, WW1 and other, the soldiers had to buy their own campaign, victory & service medals etc. Afraid so, at least veterans that had returned to civilian life did ... your Bosnia experience may mean this is not so for military personnel still on active duty. Will try to find out. Also, as a friend of mine recently told me after having been awarded a long service medal for his years of service with the Belgian railroads, he only received the certificate without the actual medal which he has to purchase himself if he cares to do so. What exactly is the criteria for awarding of medals, or is there some where I could find further information about this please ? Well now, without wanting to appear to be promoting my site too much, you might venture over to www.medals.be ... and return here to start new threads and/or ask further details

Hello Tony, Gorgeous one ! Am I correct in saying that yours is a renamed medal or one with the naming erased ?

Thanks Tony ! Any idea on when they first saw the light of day ?

got the (ribbon) variation that is now fairly rare. I think you can call this ribbon variation "very rare" Very nice example of the medal on this original ribbon - good show !

Greetings All, I have these two medals in my collection and bar their name have no information on them ... Would love to learn more about them : when created, award criteria, historical background etc. etc. [attachmentid=17472] Queen Alexandra's Imperial Nursing Service Medal [attachmentid=17471] Queen Alexandra's Imperial Nursing Service Reserve Medal

Hello All, This medal is certainly amongst my favourites as far as British campaign medals go. Besides having lots of possible bar combinations which makes it a collector's dream, I'm also aware that different versions exist which can be identified on the medal's reverse : 1. Britannia holding the wreath to the letter "R" in Africa with underneath the dates 1899-1900 2. Same but with dates removed but still visible, aka "ghost dates" 3. Britannia holding the wreath to the letter "F" in Africa (no dates) and 4. "Mediterranean" instead of "South Africa". Of the first issue it would appear less than 70 were ever awarded and only to one unit, Lord Strathcona's Horse. Has anyone ever seen such a medal and, even more interesting, taken a picture of it which can be posted here ? I'd love to see one Here's one with the Mediterranean reverse : [attachmentid=17468]

Nice one there Dave ! One of those cute unofficial ones due to the 1925 being in front. I've also come across (reliable) text references to a "LEVANT 1926-27" and "SYRIE-CILICIE" bar - if anyone has a picture of those ... feel free to post it !

Hadn't spotted the emedals one when posting the previous and I beg to differ : looks fine to me and two for that price too ! The one with the Bir Hacheim 1942 bar is, I think, quite nice. Ask those guys if there's the word "BRONZE" on the reverse of the horizontal ribbon suspension bar (not visible because of the ribbon) : if so, it's a type described in the Jean Hass book - unknown manufacturer but quality striking. If you're not interested, do let me know as I may have a go at it then.

Looks as if that's the Paris Mint one but well overpriced in my humble opinion

Ha, my favourite one amongst the bars for this medal In fact, there are two of them : "BIR HACHEIM 1942" and "BIR HAKEIM" resp. created on 1 Oct. 1942 and 7 Jan 1944. It is assumed the recreation in 1944 is for phonetic reasons ... Different versions ? You bet ! - Paris Mint, oriental style, silver (Bir Hakeim) - Arthus-Bertrand, rectangular, silvered (Bir Hacheim 1942) [attachmentid=17382] - unknown manufacturer, rectangular, very grainy background, greyish blue metal (Bir Hacheim 1942) - sorry, no picture, but it can be found in the superbly excellent book on the French Colonial Medal by the late Jean Hass, French language only I'm afraid. And then there is this one which has me stumped ... could be any of a number of manufacturers and the above book doesn't show it at all ! [attachmentid=17383] Medals with this bar (usually not found with just the one bar but with others on the ribbon as well) have seemingly become much rarer than a couple of years ago when one would have expected to purchase them for some 30 - 40 US $ (depending on the other bars). Nowadays they are much more sought after, far more rarily available in "the market" and could, I imagine, be double that price or more ... Too expensive if so, I agree, and perhaps patience is to be advised : one hopes there will be others appearing for sale some day. If the present one you're alluding to has other bars (feasible within the time frame !!! Check that !!!) and is about 50 - 60 US $, I'd say "go for it" ! Good luck !

Yes, Christophe, that's the one ...

Last one for today I think In one of the previous I mentioned : There was indeed no clasp for this "Medal of the Levant" ... at least not officially, more on that later. I was referring to the type made by the London firm of John Robert Gaunt who also made the medal for the Free French during WW2. The medal is easily identified : it has a much darker colour, usually referred to as "chocolate", a much better detail, laurel branches on the suspension instead of the palm branches used by French manufacturers and "J.R.G." at 4 o'clock on the reverse. Also, the foremost flag does not have the "SYRIA CILICIA" text, only the "HONNEUR ET PATRIE" and there are - quite correctly - no references on this medal to Georges Lemaire as this one was engraved by the London firm itself. [attachmentid=17367] Although not officially created, the bar is of exactly the same colour and craftmanship as the medal and there can be little doubt that it was also manufactured by Gaunt at the time. Definitely my favourite amongst all of them [attachmentid=17371]

[attachmentid=17364] Paris Mint bar for the Vichy award, this one has the Mint's marking and "1" for sterling silver on the reverse. Note it's hyphenated ... [attachmentid=17363] Maker unknown, no hyphen, smaller font ... possibly the original strike for this bar ? Info is welcome ! [attachmentid=17361] A rectangular one, has "BRONZE" on its wide suspension bar ... again, information is welcomed !

Some more pictures of various strikings ... [attachmentid=17353] Silvered bronze bar made by Mourgeon [attachmentid=17355] Very likely from the Arthus-Bertrand firm ... [attachmentid=17356] Silvered bronze bar, rectangular, possibly made by Marie-Aubert