Coronation Medal of King Mahendra

[greg.hays]

Hi all found this interesting medal from Nepal in an antique shop in upstate NY. All I could find on it is that it is the Coronation Medal of King Mahendra issued in 1956. I have no idea what the attached Goats head device is for, any ideas?

[greg.hays]

Here is the reverse. I read some info Ed put out concerning Nepal and how their awards were issued and reissued. The quality on this one is very good, not lead at all. Almost seems like silver given the weight and tarnish.

[Ed_Haynes]

Have no idea what the goat is for, though it is surely nothing official. The Shubha Rajyabishek Padak for the 1956 coronation of King Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev is surely an attractive medal!

Welcome to Nepali medals!

[greg.hays]

Thanks Ed, so I guess the goat will remain a mystery.........certainly is a beautiful medal though.

[Bob Hunter]

Now that is what I would term esoteric.

[Ed_Haynes]

Now that is what I would term esoteric.

Why? It is actually one of the more common Nepali medals.

[Guest Rick Research]

Maybe common in Nepal... but not in upstate New York or lower Canada any more than in California! I've never encountered a Nepalese medal anywhere in my travels.

The goatlike creature is not a cap badge?

[greg.hays]

True, maybe not common in upstate NY . I tried to remove the goat for a seperate scan but the catch is bent down trapping the needle. The attachment mechanism looks similiar to that of the Indonesian medal I posted in the other thread...........not sure if that is a clue or not.

[Ed_Haynes]

A more normal view of this lovely medal . . . .

[peter monahan]

The goatlike creature is not a cap badge?

Yes, it is. I have/had one once but can't put my hands on it right now. It is for the Kukoram Scouts (I think) one of the North West Frontier units raised by the british and maintained by Pakistan to patrol the border with Afghanistan.

More to follow.

Peter

[Ed_Haynes]

The goatlike creature is not a cap badge?

Yes, it is. I have/had one once but can't put my hands on it right now. It is for the Kukoram Scouts (I think) one of the North West Frontier units raised by the british and maintained by Pakistan to patrol the border with Afghanistan.

More to follow.

Peter

Thanks, Peter, I had a vague and distant memory along the same lines. But, these days, I can no longer trust all these vague and distant memories.

In any case, the goat clearly has NOTHING to do with the medal.

Edited August 19, 2006 by Ed_Haynes

[peter monahan]

Here we go.

In the late 19th/early 20th centuries the British raised units to patrol the Durand Line between British India and Afghanistan - the famed Waziristan Scouts, Tochi Scouts and Gilgit Scouts on the "poachers turned gamekeepers" idea. These were all "trans-Frontier Pathans" in the jargon of the time. They were famed for long range patrolling and incredible tenacity.

After 1947 Pakistan raised further units. "By then, the First Mahsud Scouts, raised in 1937, had also been included in the Frontier Corps. In later years, the Second Mahsud Scouts (1944), the Pishin Scouts (1946), the Thall Scouts (1948), the Northern Scouts (1949), the Bajaur Scouts (1961), the Karakoram Scouts (1964), the Kalat Scouts (1965) and Dir Scouts (1970) [were raised}".

I had badges for all and I'm pretty sure the Mountain Goat's head was the Karakoram Scouts.

[greg.hays]

Wow, I had pretty much given up on trying to find out what it was and had settled on the idea of just having this "neat unknown goats head pin". Thanks so much for following up on it, now I will look them up and found out more. You never stop learning in this hobbey