There's a better than even chance that the ribbon didn't survive. If so, you can't blame a guy for putting a new one on there. If he stripped an old but fairly intact one, that's too bad though. 60-70 years is a long time for a bit of cloth to survive in the wild.
And besides, I bet more than a few of those "salty old ribbons" we all love are only 20 to 40 years old as post-war replacements. I guess if you really know the composition of the cloth, you can figure it out, but it's like suspensions: you often truly never know other than it's the right "type" for the period.
I picked this one up "in the wild". I feel good about, and am mostly confident that it's good, but T1 suspensions are not one of strong areas. The serial number looks good compared to other T1's I have without suspensions; the suspension shows good wear where the connecting link is attached; the connecting link has that T1 narrow look, and has wear and bending I've seen as typical of older connecting links that spent a long time hangin' and bangin'. Do you dudes think it's good to good or otherwise?
I found it without the screwback and backplate. Do any of you have recommendations on how to at least string up a red ribbon with these parts missing? Where do I find the red ribbon stock?
Kirchgoens Wrote:I found it without the screwback and backplate. Do any of you have recommendations on how to at least string up a red ribbon with these parts missing? Where do I find the red ribbon stock?
I take it you're nowhere near a Joanne's Fabric store? ;)
If I had a piece of red material I'd poke a hole in it for the screwpost, thread it over the post, pass it over the front and then back to the reverse where I'd affix it again to the post. As long as we're using non-original ribbon who cares how we rig it.
Or, you can manufacture some sort of replacement backplate and hold that down with some sort of rubber (or wood) thingamajig that clamps lightly to the post.
Or, don't mess with it. It's pretty nice as it is.
Looks like you've had a fruitful weekend of collecting. :)
I'm assuming somebody here can come up with a good ribbon, but if not I *am* close to a Joanne's Fabric and would be happy to find a nice chunk for ya if ya need it.
"patina imparts character" - PJS
A wise man said: 'you should not pay a premium for what you want beyond your comfort level, and always ensure there is a mutually agreeable return policy.'
This one threw me for a loop. It first caught my eye because the number didn't really tuck into the variation all that neatly, but I've also got three others in the 2.9 mil range that are also without tongue. Then I looked more closely, and saw that a previous serial number had been removed and replaced with the current 2.8 mil s/n. But... the 2.8 mil s/n looks as old as the medal itself. Also, this is an undocumented award found in a bazaar in Uzbekistan, meaning there was no attempt whatsoever to market it as part of a group. Thus, I'm leaning toward this having been a legitimate change made circa '45-'47, maybe as a reissue or correction to a mint error? I thought I had pretty good CSM experience, but I'm not sure what to think of this one. What do you guys think?
If so, that would point toward the "oops, I goofed; let me redo that" theory of on-the-spot corrections of mint errors. It looks like the previous number was 2.x or 2.8 mil also.
