British WW1 era Military Medal Found In Romania.

[Kev in Deva]

This British Military Medal piece was shown to me recently at a Collectors Fair in Romania,

it came from a Romanian family along with some other period piece Romanian Military Medals
such as - barbatie si credinta,(Manhood and Loyalty,) crucea comemorativa, Romanian Commemorative Cross of War for WW1,
ARPA medal, (Medal given for donation to help build up the Romanian air-force) serviciu credincios, (Credible Service Medal) such a group would be indicative of being to a low ranking Non-Commissioned Officer or Senior Private in the Romanian military.

I have found one other MM here in silver before, but, this version is apparently in steel or Iron and silver plated.

As common with British MM given to Romanians the edge of the medal is not stamped with any details.

Size:- 3.65 cm of the medal disc.
Size:- 5.6 cm with hanger - ribbon bar.
Weight:-
only notable difference between the Silver version and this is in the weight department,
I am trying to find the paper where I noted the difference down.
 

Any information would be appreciated
 

Kevin in Deva.

[dante]

Kev, issue MMs were only ever silver, there are many copies out there ( I have seen them in Afghanistan) thinking out of the box, it could have been made locally as a replacement.

[Kev in Deva]

I was always sure they were only in silver, this one is a near perfect copy of a silver one in my collection only the weight is the difference. If made in Romania in that period or after WW1 its surprisingly good quality, something they were not able to manage when producing the unofficial but authorized Romanian Inter-Allied Victory medal.

This was among a set of Romanian medals offered to a guy here in Romania about six years ago by the family of the recipient, at the time he was not interested, this summer he bumped into a member of the family and asked by any chance did they still have the medals, they did and he bought them.

He PM me on FB to ask why there was no name on the medal, I told him that British MM - DSM to Romanians were unnamed, further discussion lead to the discovery its not made in silver.

On another medal group in Facebook its been stated the French, Belgians etc..etc.. were manufacturing British military awards in WW1 . . . . ``as the British could not cope with the demand.`` (which came as news to me) but seeing as Romania came late into WW1 and after intial wins, were pushed all the way back up into North-Eastern Romania, losing the capital city of Bucharest, by the combined forces of Prussia and Associated German States, Austro Hungary, Bulgaria and to some small degree Turkey, the Allied supply-line was via the Russian Port of Archangel, then shipped by train to them, this was the way the Silver MM and DSM came to Romania, and then awarded via the Romanian War Office-Ministry of War to those deemed worthy.

I am here 15 years now and its the first oddity I have come across with regards a British medal.

[peter monahan]

I'd assume you've used a magnet to check the iron content, not just going by weight.  It is indeed an oddity!  And worth keeping as such, I think, besides providing an oppurtunity for some research and/or a display of erudition by the boffins on this site!

[Kev in Deva]

Hi Peter,

yes it magnetic, not mine a fellow collector here in Romania acquired it from a local family near him. Certainly worth some research, very well made, but at some point its been abused, pock marks gouged to the front of the item, might just have been the ignorant testing its silver content.

All the best, Kevin.

Edited January 6, 2016 by Kev in Deva
spelling correction

[peter monahan]

Quite a puzzle!  Do let us know if any other information turns up.

Happy Christmas!

Peter