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    Colonial medal bar - Bir Hakeim


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    Posted

    I have seen one for sale with the medal for crazy money....

    But it is not the version I have seen online....

    Is their anyone who can give a quick lesson on this and tell me how much I should expect to pay? As it was very much a legion battle I would like very much to get one...

    Posted

    Ha, my favourite one amongst the bars for this medal :P

    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 !

    Posted

    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.

    Posted

    Fascinating thread! Maybe we need another thread (not wishing to hijack this one) on the Colonial Medal. I do not, alas, have Jean Hass' book!

    • 1 year later...
    Posted

    Ha, a truly dedicated collector I see :P

    Let us have some pictures when they land at your place, please !

    I sit here and realise.... that for some reason i managed to get none of these in the end :-(

    • 1 year later...
    • 2 weeks later...
    Posted

    Well.... I went ahead and bought the Paris mint one.....

    EUR130, but I figured it was now or never.....

    I too have been on the "look out" for one of these but I'm not sure which one to buy.

    colonial medals are very interesting but VERY confusing due to the vast number and styles of clasp.

    Please, show us the new medal.

    I'm a Foreign Legion buff so I'm a bit jealous, I was too Chicken Sh** to join so I joined the US Army which is actually more in line with my family history anyway.

    Posted (edited)

    Hi guys,

    This one arrived in the mail today.

    I wasn't cheap, but I am very happy with it, seeing it is my first colonial medal, but definitely not the last.

    Now onwards to find the Hass book.

    Jan

    Edited by Vatjan
    Posted

    Hi guys,

    This one arrived in the mail today.

    I wasn't cheap, but I am very happy with it, seeing it is my first colonial medal, but definitely not the last.

    Now onwards to find the Hass book.

    Jan

    Wow, that's a nice one...

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