Span Am and after mounted medal bar USS Yankton all rim engraved w name

[Matt-M]

Not in my collecting interest, but was excited to save this piece of history. Nice thing about it is that each medal is rim engraved with the recipients rank and name, and, shows his rise from paymaster to commander on each subsequent campaign medal. Will add more pics later. Hope you enjoy

[Matt-M]

Obverse

[Matt-M]

engraving

[Matt-M]

engraving

[268th C.A.]

Beautiful medals!

[KurtA]

I might add that a Sampson to the USS Yankton is a very tough to find medal. One of the smaller ships. And you have one to an officer (who by the way, is on the rolls of the Yankton)

[aerialbridge]

Very nice mounted and rim engraved Sampson group and to an uncommon ship and even with the matching mini set. A lot of pluses to make this interessante for Sampson and old navy medal collectors. You should have no trouble moving that group along on ebay etc. since not in your interest area. Here's his Findagrave. He died in December 1928 at age 54 while on active duty as a Supply Corps captain at the Charleston Navy Yard and is buried at Winchester, VA. Pretty cool that Admiral Newton McCully, of White Sea service fame in Russia ten years earlier and CO of the Charleston Navy Yard at the time was at his funeral. Merritt's son did better in the longevity department and died at age 90 ten years ago in the Boston area, which I would guess is the event that brought this very nice mounted group, with premium rim engraving out of the woodwork.

 

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21820919/william-alfred-merritt

[MMcollector]

Amazing group!

[aerialbridge]

Something else that is really unusual about this group, that I just noticed. (duh). It apparently has both a BB&B #d Spanish Campaign medal and a West Indies Campaign medal, which of course, have identical obverse designs. And one (I'm guessing it's the West Indies) has the First Type ribbon of red and yellow, that was discontinued in 1913 for the Second Type ribbon of blue and yellow (which I'm guessing is the Spanish Campaign medal in the group) because the yellow and red colors, based on the Spanish Flag, were deemed early politically incorrect and offensive to Spain. I have never seen both medals, much less with the first and second type ribbons in a group, particularly an authentic, period mounted group, since by regulation they were to get one or the other but not both medals for service in the Span Am War. The early #d Spanish Campaign Medals were supposed to go to veterans of the Asiatic Fleet Span Am war in the Philippines, while the West Indies Campaign medals went to the Atlantic Fleet veterans of the campaign in Cuban and Puerto Rican waters before they were discontinued in 1913 and thereafter veterans of both Span Am theaters got the Spanish Campaign medals. In fact, the sequencing numbers of the two campaign medal types do not each start at "1" but share the same numbering series, with each type interspersed within the numbering series. I would say that you definitely would want to buy his service file from a researcher to see the medal receipts on this one. Very unusual and thanks for posting.