Darn these lacquer boxes

[Don D.]

I bought these because the boxes intrigued me and the price seemed reasonable compared to TR. So, what have we here?

[Don D.]

and the inside.

[AndrewK]

Left to right

Order of the Rising Sun 7th class, Order of the Sacred Treasure 7th class, Order of the Rising Sun 8th class, and China Incident medal. The sacred Treasure is post war (not fake, just produced post war since they were civilian awards as well and are still awarded today) and the Rising Sun 7th class might be post war as well.

[zachb]

Japanese Medals

Don,

#1 Order of the Rising Sun 7th Class
#2 Order of the Sacred Treasure 7th Class
#3 Order of the Rising Sun 8th Class
#4 China Incident War Medal

Good starting collection of Japanese orders and medals.

[zachb]

Andrew we posted at the same time. We need to have a pinned thread on telling the difference between pre and post war Japanese medals, just my 2 cents. Is it the case on the Sacred Treasure that gives it away as post war? Zach

[Tim B.]

Hi Don,

From left to right:

- Order of the Rising Sun, 7th class; both the medal and case are Showa period.

- Order of the Sacred Treasure, appears to be an 8th class award and rosette in a 7th class case. Look at the medal and see if it shows any gilting to it, if so--7th class; my guess is it's silver--8th class. Wrong case. There is some debate whether the medal is Showa or Meiji style, but the rosette and case are Showa period.

- Order of the Rising Sun, 8th class, all pieces are Showa period. With silver lettering on the case, my guess is this was a WWII period piece.

- 1937-1945 China Incident Medal, with correct case.

Not sure why someone thinks the Sacred Treasure is post-war, I don't see it, but am waiting to learn something new.
Tim

[Banzi64]

Darn? lol "gee mom can wally have a dollar too "

[AndrewK]

Double post. Sorry.

[AndrewK]

The Sacred Treasure's case operates by spring (I believe) rather than a clasp. I'm not sure when exactly this was introduced (I believe it was 60's or 70's) but I know it was after the war. It is possible that the medal itself might be earlier than the case. I think I see bits of gilding on it (Don, does it look like gilding or tarnish up close?) If it's gilding it is 7th class. If not, it is the 8th class. The case says it's 7th.

[Tim B.]

Ha! Looked at all the other details and missed the fact that the case didn't even have a clasp! Nice one Andrew! That's the first one I've seen like that and... now I learned something new again about modern cases.

I think Don will find out it's a silver award though as it looks more like tarnish than anything. The gold ones keep the gilding much better IMO.

Here's my 7th class ST, Meiji period and you can tell it's gold.
Tim

[Tim B.]

I have a Showa period award as well and the gold is more "brassy" looking than this fire-gilt color, but still very golden when compared to the silver mirror center. PICS must be on my other computer as I can't find them right off. I wanted to point out the different mirror shapes between periods.

I do see a lot of the more pointed mirrors on the 8th and 7th class awards with both periods cases, but I honestly don't know why this is so.
Tim

[Tim B.]

Just for comparison, here's what I am referring to about the mirror differences between Meiji and Showa period awards. The Meiji have more pronounced points.

These are 6th class awards.
Tim

[Tim B.]

Ahh, not my PIC, but it's the one I own. Showa 7th class Sacred Treasure with correct rosette. Also came in the correct period case.
Tim

[Don D.]

I'll post individual pics when I get home from work. What is a Showa? I think I'll have to learn a new language to collect these.
Thanks for all the help.

[newcollector]

I have a Rising Sun 7th Class with a great lacquered case, and a Sacred Treasure 8th Class. Unfortunately I can't seem to post photos of them here?