Dirk Posted April 22, 2014 Share #1 Posted April 22, 2014 Posting a newly acquired United States Asiatic Fleet Medal in bronze. This one crossed my path and had to pick it up. What I like about this example is it retains the orginal ribbon...which has a Soochow Creek like ribbon weave. All the examples I have seen were for organized Fleet sports events. I believe these medals were made by "The Special Dragon Works" a jewelry company in Shanghai. This is based upon advertisements they ran in issues of "The Orient" magazine in the 1920's. If they were the sole manufacturer of these from the medal's creation through the 1930's I can not yet say. But in the 20's they made a point of adverting that they did produce/carry them. I remember reading these have been produced as early as the late 1910's and into the late 1930's. But don't have my reference material in front of me....anyway spoof medal collectors enjoy....and post your examples if you have them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobgee Posted April 22, 2014 Share #2 Posted April 22, 2014 New one on me, Dirk. Pretty neat piece and I assume pretty rare. Thank......Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teufelhunde.ret Posted April 22, 2014 Share #3 Posted April 22, 2014 OMG, where did you find this one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
67Rally Posted April 22, 2014 Share #4 Posted April 22, 2014 That is quite cool. I love these regionally-made decorations. The pendant looks quite nice with the detail of the ships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share #5 Posted April 22, 2014 Thanks guys! @ Bob I think we have seen these before on the site as a part of groupings. GBH had one on ebay a while ago that went for the price of a good Soochow @ Darrell....ebay find.....I think I have pushed my luck these past two months with finds....plus a nice tip from Tim brought home a excellent 1937 Soochow creek album @ Rally looking at it now under a loupe...and your right the detail is better then I would have expected for a local made item. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanemono Posted April 23, 2014 Share #6 Posted April 23, 2014 Dirk that is a wonderful Asiatic Fleet Medal. I have only ever seen a very few of them, the last one was on Ebay and sold for quite a bit. Thanks for sharing. Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brig Posted April 25, 2014 Share #7 Posted April 25, 2014 Dirk, nice to see this medal after hearing about it. I have always been a fan of spoof medals, and this one is as killer as all the other China ones out there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1SG_1st_Cav Posted April 25, 2014 Share #8 Posted April 25, 2014 Very interesting find. I've never seen one before this. Thanks ~ Danny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted April 25, 2014 Author Share #9 Posted April 25, 2014 Thanks guys! These spoofs are all interesting to me.....I recently found another one that has not been seen by me yet from a local Chinese printed publication. One wonders how many different types there are out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teufelhunde.ret Posted April 26, 2014 Share #10 Posted April 26, 2014 I hope you find them all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share #11 Posted April 26, 2014 Thanks Darrell! I will keep looking....after all gathering all those period publications and documents has to have a reward somewhere! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam R Posted July 1, 2016 Share #12 Posted July 1, 2016 I have several of these medals in my collection, including one for soccer and two for rowing. I always assumed that they were purely unofficial but recently I found reference to the medal in the recipient's USN service record. This seems to imply that it was more than just a "spoof medal" and was at least a semiofficial award of the Commander in Chief, Asiatic Fleet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aerialbridge Posted July 4, 2016 Share #13 Posted July 4, 2016 Nice research and documentation and a good-looking medal. Thanks for sharing, Adam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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