Order of the Sacred Treasure 3rd Class For Females

[TracA]

Greetings,

 

I never thought that I’d come across an OST 3rd Class, cased, for females, much less get the chance to own one. However, I was able to bring this wonderful piece into my collection. As it is an OST for a female, it is not worn via a cravate around the neck. Rather, the decoration is suspended from a bow with a pin on its reverse. Luckily I was able to obtain the decoration with its case and rosette, and as a “bonus” it has the hallmark BG on the reverse of the ball through which the loop is suspended.

 

Peterson doesn’t indicate that the size of the decoration itself would be any different than a decoration for a male, but I was curious so I took some measurements. 

 

The OST 3rd Class for females (flat back) weighs 34 g. I also weighed three other 3rd Class OSTs that I own, all for males. It was difficult to weigh just the badges, so each value probably includes, to a varying degree, some weight added by the cravate loop. My four rivet type weighed 37.3 g; my flat back for males weighed 39.4 g; my two rivet type weighed 38.6 g.

 

The OST 3rd Class for females (flat back) measured as follows: 52 mm wide from the left edge of the top 9h ray to the right edge of the top 3h ray, and 52 mm high from the edge of the left 12h ray to the edge of the left 6h ray. Measuring from the same points for my other 3rd Class examples for males garnered the following results: the four rivet type was 53 mm; the flat back for males was 52 mm; the two rivet version was 54 mm.

 

The bow is 36 mm wide with two 4 mm yellow stripes 3 mm from each edge. The middle and edges are a beautiful pale blue.

 

The lacquered case is of a greater width than 3rd Class cases for males, as it must accommodate the width of the bow. The case is 124 mm wide by 116 mm long by 32mm high. Since there is no cravate to store inside the case, the recessed medalbed is not hinged.

 

It was difficult to get a good picture of the BG hallmark on the reverse of the ball with my cell phone. In hand it is clear that the vertical line of the “B” is absent, most likely because the curvature of the ball resulted in a poor strike. 

 

On JapanX’s Medals of Asia website the Two-Letter and Two-Digit Marks of Japanese Orders and Medals pages https://asiamedals.info/threads/two-letter-and-letter-digit-marks-on-japanese-orders-and-medals.13720/ indicate that hallmarks beginning with a “B” are (as of now) known to be from February 27, 1980 to April 29, 1981. Given that information I would tentatively date this OST 3rd Class for females between those date coordinates. 

 

I hope that you enjoy this wonderful piece.

 

Tracy

 

Obverse:

 

 

Obverse close-up:

 

 

Reverse:

 

 

Reverse close-up, which really shows off the gorgeous patina:

 

 

BG hallmark:

 

 

Rosette:

 

 

And finally, the case lid:

 

Edited January 23 by TracA
Word correction.

[JapanX]

Excellent specimen in near mint condition.

Pity that sticker with the name of awardee was removed from the case.

[TracA]

Thank you, Nick. I agree that it's a shame the sticker was removed. It would've been nice to have the awardee's name.

 

Tracy