Turkey Turkish Crimean medal

[Vaughan B]

Gentlemen,

I recently had the good fortune to obtain some items from the family of a veteran. A rusty tin that had long languished in the shed of the veteran`s brother contained various prussian badges & pins that were a group belonging to someone who was a German veteran of the Great War. Also included were some Third Reich items & this medal that I knew nothing of.

I was able to garner some information on the medal courtesy of turkishmedals.net

"This medal bears the title in Turkish of "Order of Glory" because it was in fact a medal associated with the highest Ottoman order of its time. In practice, it seems to have been used primarily as a campaign medal for the Danube Campaign early in the Crimean War, and other recognition for which no other medal existed. While the participation of Turkey's foreign allies, particularly the British, is well known, few are aware of the battles fought by the Turks against the Russians early in the war. The Danube campaign was particularly costly to the Turks."

I made inquiry with Bosley`s for a valuation but was advised that they had not handled one before & suggested I contact Spinks. Spinks however do not do valuations without a substantial fee so I did not bother & subsequently have learned no more than that quoted above.

I thought that it may be of some interest to members of this forum. Although it is not within my sphere of interest it may perhaps be uncommon.

Edited November 10, 2008 by Vaughan B

[Vaughan B]

other side

[demir]

Gentlemen,

I recently had the good fortune to obtain some items from the family of a veteran. A rusty tin that had long languished in the shed of the veteran`s brother contained various prussian badges & pins that were a group belonging to someone who was a German veteran of the Great War. Also included were some Third Reich items & this medal that I knew nothing of.

I was able to garner some information on the medal courtesy of turkishmedals.net

"This medal bears the title in Turkish of "Order of Glory" because it was in fact a medal associated with the highest Ottoman order of its time. In practice, it seems to have been used primarily as a campaign medal for the Danube Campaign early in the Crimean War, and other recognition for which no other medal existed. While the participation of Turkey's foreign allies, particularly the British, is well known, few are aware of the battles fought by the Turks against the Russians early in the war. The Danube campaign was particularly costly to the Turks."

I made inquiry with Bosley`s for a valuation but was advised that they had not handled one before & suggested I contact Spinks. Spinks however do not do valuations without a substantial fee so I did not bother & subsequently have learned no more than that quoted above.

I thought that it may be of some interest to members of this forum. Although it is not within my sphere of interest it may perhaps be uncommon.

Hi,

This is, as you say, İftihar Madalyası (Order of Glory) dated 1270 (1853). Sultan Abd?lmecid era.

It is NOT CRIMEAN WAR medal. There is a CRIMEAN war Medal issued a year later 1854. There are 3 dies, Sardinian, British and French : La Crimea, Crimea and La Crimee. Please check the same web page you mentioned. ( http://www.turkishmedals.net )

The UNC and VG Order of Glory medals sell app. USD 150 in Turkey and they are easy to find.

Best wishes

demir

Edited November 11, 2008 by demir

[Vaughan B]

Thank you for your comments. Are you stating that the information "In practice, it seems to have been used primarily as a campaign medal for the Danube Campaign early in the Crimean War" presented on that web site is incorrect? I was unable to find any other reference to this medal on the site although there do appear to have been Crimean medals issued to the British amongst others. However..... they are not quite the same.

Please forgive my lack of understanding in this area but I am not a collector of medals.

[demir]

Thank you for your comments. Are you stating that the information "In practice, it seems to have been used primarily as a campaign medal for the Danube Campaign early in the Crimean War" presented on that web site is incorrect? I was unable to find any other reference to this medal on the site although there do appear to have been Crimean medals issued to the British amongst others. However..... they are not quite the same.

Please forgive my lack of understanding in this area but I am not a collector of medals.

Hello,

This is one of the earlier Service and Bravery Medals, although there is a special Crimean war Medal,

according to Edhem Eldem (Book: İftihar ve İmtiyaz Ottoman Order and Medals History, page 139, pictures pages 149&150) this medal was also given to those British soldiers who were involved in the early stages of Crimean War (4 October 1853/30 March 1856); Silistre Castle Siege -Silistra town- on the Danube River by the Russians 14 April/23 June 1854 and on July/August 1854 Yergogu -Giurgievo-)

There is also a Silistre Medal dated 1854.

According to Mr. Eldem (page: 207): in the Ottoman document dated 14 May 1856; an order was given to prepare 220.000 certificates for the Military Duty Order of Glory Medals which were going to be presented to those Ottoman soldiers who fought in the Silistre,Kırım (Crimea) and Kars (another medal ) wars and soldiers fought in other wars.

Additionally, in this document it was pointed out that, on the soldiers' certificates who fought in Silistre, Kars and Kirim, these places needed to be mentioned specifically. Whereas, it was denoted that, for those who were to receive the Order of Glory, it was enough to mention (on the certificates) that they had (only) served well in the army .

Annex to this documents the amount of the medals were also given: Crimea: 60.000 , Silistre: 13682 Kars: 20.000 and General Service Medal (Order of Glory): 126.138 pieces.

So, it is a little bit complicated. If they received special KIRIM, SILISTRE, KARS war medals , did they also receive Order of Glory. According to the Official document no . So the British soldiers who received the order of Glory must have fought other wars (like above mentioned Yerğ?ğ? battle) which was stated in the official document . But he also says that they received the OofG medals for Silistre war (Town by Danube river).

So this is all I can say. Everybody received everything. Good for them and the Ottomans.

Best wishes

Demir

Edited November 11, 2008 by demir

[Vaughan B]

Demir, thank you so much for taking the time to give the very detailed & lengthy reply for which I am most grateful.

kind regards

Vaughan

[Ed_Haynes]

My thanks too. We are all learning here.

[Ulsterman]

Ditto here!

A most fascinating piece of history!

Thank you.

[demir]

Ditto here!

A most fascinating piece of history!

Thank you.

Dear Friends,

You are all wellcome.

I thank you all for your interest in Ottoman/Turkish medals.

Best wishes

demir