Hauptmann

reverse of my eboat repro (sigh, I was so young and naiive when I bought this and thought it was real, how was I to know a real one would cost over $1000?)

Cheers,

Pat

Hi Pat,

Everything I ever needed to know in life I learned from Star Trek:

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Cogley: You Kirk?

Kirk: Yes. What is all this?

STC: I figure we'll be spending some time together, so I moved in. I hope I'm not crowding you. What's the matter? Don't you like books?

JTK: Oh, I like them fine, but a computer takes less space.

STC:[scoffs] A computer, huh? I got one of these in my office. Contains all the precedents, a synthesis of all the great legal decisions written throughout time. I never use it.

JTK: Why not?

STC: I've got my own system. Books, young man, books. Thousands of them. If time wasn't so important, I'd show you something-- my library.

Thousands of books.

JTK: What would be the point?

STC: This is where the law is, not in that homogenized, pasteurized, synthesized-- Do you want to know the law, the ancient concepts in their own language, Learn the intent of the men who wrote them, from Moses to the tribunal of Alpha 3? Books!

JTK: You have to be either an obsessive crackpot who's escaped from his keeper or Samuel T. Cogley, attorney-at-law.

STC: Right on both counts.

From the episode Court Martial - Star Trek The Original Series (TOS) C. Paramount Studios.

And the back of mine is a perfect example of the hinge and catch moulded in the same pot medal. UGGGGG!

Dan

Hi Pat,

Don't feel too bad on that one (except for the $$'s) as I could see where a newbie would indeed be fooled to a degree by that one.

The ones that should scream fake are the ones like a few I've posted with the pin base and the catch all moulded from the same material as the badge. One great clump of pot metal with a pin sticking out the back. Those shouldn't fool anyone. But that's why it's sooooo important to get references or at least study them at the library before buying anything. And nowadays at least there's the web... we didn't even have that when I started. And that would have been a huge help. Glad to see so many folks are making use of it as it's certainly a terrific tool if used properly and wisely.

But you've definitely come a long way. Hate to sound corny or anything but I'm proud of you, as I'm sure are many of our members who have been following your posts. We were downright worried about you to start with but you've learned in metes and bounds and have definitely leaped in the right direction. Plus you didn't get discouraged and give up. You stuck with it and now have a collection you can be proud of.

And as I've said there are uses for the fakes and copies... both in the way of education and in, shall we say, fooling anyone who should pay you an unannounced and unwelcome visit to relieve you of your goodies.

Keep up the good work.

Dan

Sounds like a great plan Dan and Larry! I will have to show you some of my haunts to find some good stuff over this side of the Rocky Mountains. Little old grandmas at the flea market have been just as helpful of a source as the militaria and antique dealers here (like the RCAF bomber navigation piece I found, weighs a ton so you don't see them on the net, but this nice old lady sold me it as well as my 2 Commonwealth helmets amongst other items) and it sometimes pays to be a regular at the flea markets as some people only show up once with good stuff. Of course I will have to show you the "gentleman" who sold me all my fake badges table, the only bad apple I have come across locally so far. Within this valley there are about 15-20 good antique shops (at least 5 in Vernon area alone for militaria) and a pretty good selection of Canadian Cap Badges and medals and German stuff, but I am quickly snatching it up (well as much as I can afford anyways!) but there always seems to be more coming up around here (lots of veterans from all countries retire here.)

Back to the dies, great metal stamper you have there Ralph, and yes I am a fan of the "unique" items (just check my signature) and I think the more obscure the better. That piece you have there Ralph must weigh a ton! I just love how these pieces give you an inside view of how many of the insignias etc we collect were made. I have seen a couple more in this foamy style available at Snyder's, but that is about the only place I have seen one. Must not come up often. If anyone else has an original die please show it as well.

Cheers,

Pat

Hi Pat,

Wow, you make me want to go jump the train and head right up. Wish I had the $$'s right now. But hopefully before too terribly long. Sounds like we'd have a fantastic time and perhaps come home with lots of goodies... which I hope I wouldn't have to pay through the nose for at the border!

Dan

Dan,

This is a 6th class award. It breaks my poor heart to see it like this From the size of the central mirror I would guess that this is a Meiji period award, the later awards have a larger mirror.

The reverse inscription is common to all Orders of the Sacred Treasure and Rising Sun irrespective of the class and says Merit Medal.

You are unlikely to find the missing part and sending it for repair in Japan would probably cost more than the price of a 6th class order in decent condition. These are pretty well made so it must have been subjected to a serious amount of abuse to break like this !

Regards,

Paul

Hi Paul,

Many thanks for the info on this one. I too hate seeing it this way and would love to get it repaired. Who knows... my son hopes to travel to Japan some day. Perhaps he'd be able to take it with him and get it worked on at some point. No idea how it happened. As you can see two of the rods that attach the missing piece are still in their respective holes in the medal. I actually got this in a large trade for Soviet and DDR awards I wanted... traded some extras in my Third Reich collection. This was the only Japanese piece he had and I insisted it be included in the deal. I figure even broken pieces need love too. And as I say I'm a pushover for underdogs. Even broken I think it's a beautiful piece. It's one series I think I could get hooked on... especially the higher levels of the Order... but have a feeling they're way out of my price range.

Thanks again,

Dan

Dan,

This is the basic men's membership medal for the Japanese Red Cross. The case, however, is for the Special Membership Medal which would be the same medal only with a rosette in the ribbon colours on the ribbon. The reverse inscription on the case is the name of the company which manufactured it, which is itself unusual since most of these are found without such a manufacturer's name.

If you have a copy of my book there is a chapter on Red Cross awards. The basic hierarchy is as follows : -

Member's Medal (what you have)

Special Member's Medal

Life Member's Medal

Special Member's Medal in Gold (instituted in the 1950's and only has gold highlights to the design. Always made from aluminium.)

Honorary Member's Medal (almost never awarded, I have never seen one for sale)

Silver Merit Cross

Gold Merit Cross

These came in both male and female versions.

The only medals still awarded in medallic form are the Honorary Medal and the Gold Merit Cross.

Regards,

Paul

Hi Paul,

Many thanks for all this additional info. Hate to say it but I don't have your book. I have the U.S. government publication on Japanese forces from WWII, a book on Japanese armies again mostly on WWII and a few generalized books on awards some of which cover those of Japan. But that's about it.

I'd love to learn more and hope to add more medals to my collection at some point. But most likely it'll have to wait for a few other projects before I can concentrate on a new area.

Thanks much,

Dan

Nice one!

Not often the "good guys" win one.

Hi Ed,

Thanks so much for that!

It's small but to me it's a huge find. I only hope I'm able to dig up more info on it. I've seen some other pins advertised as Stasi ID pins but have nothing to confirm it. At least this one is documented in that book and the author is considered "the" authority on Spy tech.

Plus... I just think it's like ultra cool! Kinda like secret decoder or whistle rings and such.

Again thanks so much for your kind words. Really makes me feel good.

Dan

Wow very nice badge!

Mucho thanks! I've never regretted buying it. Wasn't much either... I think about $5 or $7 dollars if I remember correctly. Just couldn't pass it up. The seller had it misidentified and somehow it fell through the cracks... needless to say I'm very glad it did.

Just hope I'm able to learn more about it someday.

Dan

Dave, terrific videos! Thanks so much for posting the link. Great stuff! Paul, you'll absolutely love these once you get them working.

Dan

Hi Dave,

Yep, I click on the pics on the left. My browser acts is if it is down loading a page... but 15 mins later... nothing. I have digital cable, so most things upload instantaneously on my computer.

Regards

Paul

Hi Paul,

Sometimes it depends on what browser you're using. I generally use Opera but at times it won't load things and I then go to Internet Explorer and it works without a hitch.

Also at times it depends on if you have the proper codecs for what you are trying to view.

Only other thing is sometimes it depends on what viewer you have set as your default as at times vids won't play on one but will on another and you often have to pick and choose or might even have to download another viewer.

Hope this helps and that you're able to get them working. If not, give me a shout on PM and if either Kim or Nick are home and available and you can give us a ring I'll put you on with them and they can help you figure it out. They are my resident computer guru's. Or if you are on Internet Messenger, either Yahoo or MSN we could do it that way. Either way happy to help if I/we can.

Dan

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I'll keep my fingers crossed that these are easier to read. Did my best.

Thanks,

Dan

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Hi all,

Okay, now that I have my scanner I'd decided there were a few select pieces I wanted to scan and repost new pics of. These are three of them. These are those three Russian Federation awards and by redoing them, especially the reverses I'm hoping someone can translate them as we were never able to do that before.

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Badge reverse:

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Closeup of the serial number. I've never seen those dot like impressions on an engraving or stamping before:

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Anyhow I hope these finally are able to start to do justice to this set. I've still never seen another one like it and would love to know more.

Dan

Hi all,

Now that I have my scanner I decided that this was one of a select few pieces I wanted to do new pics of. So here they are, new and improved.

Outside of case:

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Inside of case:

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Badge obverse:

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Badge reverse:

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It also seemed to have a fairly low serial number - E108:

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And in the base of the case:

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When I had originally spotted the badge I did some reasearch to find out what it really was and managed to discover the following:

After several name changes the MHS name was used for the Hungarian Sports Federation For Defense. That name was used from 17 August 1957 up till 08 August 1967.

The other wording on the badge: Kivalo Munkaert stands for Outstanding Manpower (or Labor).

I could not resist... I bid and luckily won. I've never regretted it since. It's a small badge but well made and the case is as nice as I imagined it would be. Plus I've never seen another set like it.

I've been wondering if this was the standard of quality for such small, humble awards at that time or if perhaps this was made up for some party bigwig or one of his/her children?

Again if anyone has any further information on this piece I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks,

Dan

Here's a little ditty I picked up off Ebay back in April of 2005 for a mere $17.50. It was mislisted as a "Vintage Russian (?) Medal with Red Star - In Box".

What caught my eye was the case (I'm a sucker for cases) as in my current experiences with Soviet bloc awards most tend to have come in either cardboard boxes, cheap plastic cases or in fairly decent looking cases but with no base on the inside on which to rest the medal. Either that or it has a base but it's made of thin, cheap plastic perhaps with a thin coat of cheap flocking.

However, the key word with this award is not cheap but quality.

The case on this one (again at least to me) screams old world craftsmanship. It's heavy, solid and well made. That and the look of the "badge" and the fact that it's silver seemed to indicate 1950's vintage since most of the more recent communist pins and badges I've seen tend to be in aluminum or some other cheap metal if not in plastic.

Outside of case:

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Inside of case:

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Badge obverse:

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Hi all,

Okay, here's my contribution.

My Labor medal:

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Hi all,

Here's my High Seas Fleet... not even going to comment on the back. It was a throw in... what can I say.

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Dan

Hi all,

Another cheap pot metal variety with horrible pin/catch setup.

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Dan

Hi all,

This is another really thin one but looks okay on the ribbon. Didn't want to take it off and risk breaking the prongs. The back is just smooth and plain.

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Dan

Hi all,

Here's another one I've always liked as far as the design. This one is another of the really thin ones with the super cheap pin.

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Dan

Hi all,

I've always liked the design of this one.

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Dan