Japanese Red Cross

[Ed_Haynes]

Thanks for this, Laurence. I'll add them to the Manchukuo section of the OMSA database. (We have a standing agreement with Liverpool.)

See: http://www.omsa.org/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=713

[Paul L Murphy]

As far as I am aware all Manchukuo medals were made in Japan, including the Red Cross awards. They are a lot scarcer than the comparative Japanese awards.

[Benas]

Silver Red Cross obv

Also i have such Red Cross medal in my collection. Which year of issue? If possible please let me know. Thank you.

[Paul L Murphy]

It is not possible to tell the year of issue since the design has stayed the same.

[Taz]

Thought this Japanese Red Cross award might interest you all.

I think it's an Order of Merit, but if it's original or not I've no idea.

Regards Eddie

[Taz]

reverse.

[Paul L Murphy]

This is an original piece, but it is a post war example. A nice award, unfortunately no longer bestowed in medal form.

[Kvart]

... no longer bestowed in medal form.

What do you mean with that? Is it no longer awarded at all?

[Paul L Murphy]

What do you mean with that? Is it no longer awarded at all?

It is still awarded but now you get a "certificate" which is in metal on a wooden background. It is actually a very nice thing to hang on the wall. The only actual medal which the Japanese Red Cross now awards is the gold version of the Merit Cross.

[Kvart]

Thanks for your answer, I did not know that.

Is the round membership medal obsolete as well?

[Paul L Murphy]

Thanks for your answer, I did not know that.

Is the round membership medal obsolete as well?

Yes it is.

[Guest Rick Research]

Having just picked a silver Member's Medal up today (silk threads have come undone on the eye) with a 1923 Earthquake Medal (in the case that actually belonged to the below, I now see)...

is there anything significant in the characters stamped on the backs of the suspension "claw," or are these simply manufacturer's company marks?

[Guest Rick Research]

This one looks rather like a tic tack toe grid, or a #:

I've noticed other characters on medals posted in this thread.

[Paul L Murphy]

The # mark is a makers mark but the records as to who made what have been long lost (or destroyed in the fire bombing of Tokyo and Osaka in WWII). There are a number of such marks which reoccur, normally on silver medals. Most are Katakana letters, however the Japanese character for Big (Dai) also occurs, as does this # mark. They basically indicate the different private makers of this medal since it was a Red Cross award rather than a national award, hence they were not all made at the Osaka Mint.