mars&thunder Posted July 25, 2019 Share #1 Posted July 25, 2019 This topic has been poked at a few times in previous posts, but never got off the ground. I'll admit that this decoration is not my favorite, and my interest is marginal. However I am an inveterate research guy, and I often stray far afield from my primary interests. This is one of those times. On and off, every couple years, for a couple hours, I work on a list of manufacturers of US WW2 medals as stated on the issue boxes they came in. Below is my Good Conduct list. I make no claim that it is complete, but it is reasonably comprehensive. I would urge collectors to help fill in the holes. A couple notes - I use the Purchase Order date to identify each contract/manufacturer. Some boxes also list the PQD (Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot) Specification date by which the details and quality standards of the medal were defined - be careful not to use this date in identifying the medal - use the PO date. Also dates are in Month-Day-Yr format. The first contract (Medallic Arts 12-4-42) produced two types of numbered medals (the only numbered Army Good Conduct Medals): The earliest and much rarer version had a wire loop (ring) suspension. The second had a knob suspension. I don't know the actual cut-off point but have heard 500 and 1000 mentioned without any data to back that up. In the entry below for these two numbered types I list the lowest and highest numbered example of each type that I have noted. For those of you interested in the history of the Army Good Conduct Medal, get yourselves a copy of the Mar-Apr 2000 issue of the Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America to see Fred Borch's excellent article. And a plug for OMSA - great folks, great resources, why not join? You can see details online. Ideally, somebody would take this list and add photos/descriptions of each PO medal (in case there are manufacturers variants) and create the ultimate guide. I am not that guy. WW2 Good Conduct Contract List 12-4-42 Medallic Art Co T1 (Medal Number 56 and 208) – Wire loop/Ring Suspension 12-4-42 Medallic Art Co T2 (Medal numbers 2226 and 75714) – Knob Suspension 4-24-43 Silverman Brothers 5-11-44 Medallic Art Co 5-11-44 Robbins Co 5-11-44 Silverman Brothers 5-11-44 Uncas Mfg Co 6-11-44 Bastian Brothers 11-11-44 Robbins Co 11-20-44 Medallic Art Co 11-20-44 Robbins Co 11-20-44 Uncas Mfg Co 12-30-44 Robbins Co 12-30-44 Uncas Mfg Co 1-26-45 Robbins Co 1-26-45 Medallic Art Co 2-1-45 Bastian Brothers 5-8 45 Medallic Art Co 7-25-45 Medallic Art Co 11-14-45 Robbins Co 1-18-46 Medallic Art Co 2-5-46 Medallic Art Co 2-5-4X Robbins Co - Need complete PO data Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMcollector Posted July 25, 2019 Share #2 Posted July 25, 2019 Great work! Thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Nier Posted August 1, 2019 Share #3 Posted August 1, 2019 Gary -- One curious detail remains to be verified in the #'d AGC series. I have record of 4 medals #'d in the 100xxx early range. These are -034, -514, -701, and -717. The digits are smaller and more tightly packed than the MedArt numerals. They must be from the 1943 Silverman Bros.contract. But some alert Forum member may spot and report a boxed AGC wuth matching 100xxx numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usmedalman Posted August 2, 2019 Share #4 Posted August 2, 2019 Very good info. Lets get this Pinned for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mars&thunder Posted May 18, 2020 Author Share #5 Posted May 18, 2020 A couple minor updates/corrections to the original posted list... (see items in bold) WW2 Good Conduct Contract List 12-4-42 Medallic Art Co T1 (Medal Number 56 and 208) – Wire loop/Ring Suspension 12-4-42 Medallic Art Co T2 (Medal numbers 2226 and 75714) – Knob Suspension 4-24-43 Silverman Brothers (These may be numbered in the 100,000 range) 5-11-44 Medallic Art Co 5-11-44 Robbins Co 5-11-44 Silverman Brothers 5-11-44 Uncas Mfg Co 6-11-44 Bastian Brothers 5-11-44 Bastian Brothers 5-11-44 Coro Inc 11-11-44 Robbins Co 11-20-44 Medallic Art Co 11-20-44 Robbins Co 11-20-44 Uncas Mfg Co 12-30-44 Robbins Co 12-30-44 Uncas Mfg Co 1-26-45 Robbins Co 1-26-45 Medallic Art Co 2-1-45 Bastian Brothers 5-8 45 Medallic Art Co 7-25-45 Medallic Art Co 11-14-45 Robbins Co 11-14-45 Rex Products (PO information only displayed on the ten medal packing case. Individual medal boxes state: GOOD CONDUCT / DECORATION MEDAL on 2 lines). 1-18-46 Medallic Art Co 2-5-46 Medallic Art Co 2-5-4X Robbins Co - Need complete PO data (Probably 1946) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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