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WW2 Era New York Conspicuous Service Cross Medal Number Look up


TheMariner
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Hello all I recently stumbled upon a WW2 era NY CSC in an antique shop! I can't seem to find the rolls online anymore! Does anyone have access and can help me ID the medal! It is the A.E Co Sterling slot brooch contract medal. It is number 9376. If you can tell me who the recipient is on the rolls that would be of immense help! Even though it was pricey I was glad to save it from the local shop! Maybe its a local guy! Thanks in advance 

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collectsmedals

New York State Conspicuous Service Cross 9376 was issued to McClellan Barclay in 1951. Source: For Merit, Service and Valor: The History of Some New York Military Decorations and Awards and their Recipients (1915 - 1983) Volume II by Doug Boyce, Gary Hartman, Nick McDowell. Published by the Orders and Medals Society of America, 2008.

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18 minutes ago, collectsmedals said:

New York State Conspicuous Service Cross 9376 was issued to McClellan Barclay in 1951. Source: For Merit, Service and Valor: The History of Some New York Military Decorations and Awards and their Recipients (1915 - 1983) Volume II by Doug Boyce, Gary Hartman, Nick McDowell. Published by the Orders and Medals Society of America, 2008.

Thats very interesting the only man I can find with the name was McCelland Barclay, he was an artist and very interesting man I own a statue made by him and he was living in the NY area at the time. He was killed when LST-342 was torpedoed in the Solomon Islands. Is it possible this was awarded to his family ? 

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8 minutes ago, JimD said:

He was a Lt. Cmdr. in USN Killed in Action in Solomons. Nice medal. 

40653_420302988_0235-01951.jpg.9db7b12bd2fb4819e25c8f91258398db.jpg 

That is absolutely insane, you posted that just as I posted thats who I thought it might be! He was a fairly renowned Artist in his day and also designed aircraft camouflage and a number of other things! I own pieces of his art also, I am absolutely stunned that I stumbled onto his medal into an antique shop that is just amazing! 

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I'm guessing now that you don't think you paid too much.  

I'd love to see the art and a little more about him when you get a chance.

I collect NY CSCs from all eras and have only stumbled across two for KIAs. 

Jim

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1 hour ago, JimD said:

I'm guessing now that you don't think you paid too much.  

I'd love to see the art and a little more about him when you get a chance.

I collect NY CSCs from all eras and have only stumbled across two for KIAs. 

Jim

I think I got an absolute steal now to be honest with you this is a very very rare example! His wikipedia page is pretty load with stuff! I have a collect of his "bronzes" maybe 10-20 pieces all out of one estate. When I found out the story of him being a KIA I had kept the bronzes and put them all in storage just as a nice future display item/ collection for my house, now that I have the medal I will display that with them! I will defiantly add images once I get them all unpacked and put up at some point to this thread or maybe I will make a new one! I have sold maybe 15-20 of these CSCs over the years some for a large sum of money and I can only recall one I ever saw being to a KIA it was in another forum members collection! This is by far with the history, minor celebrity status and the fact he was a KIA a top shelf CSC. If you check out his find a grave it is still a frequented page and he is lauded for his work in some communities. He designed personally many of the famous Navy WW2 era posters that you see collected and reproduced today. His work for Collier is also extremely noted. I think the appeal of the medal not only to military collectors but art and history collectors even some museums this piece many exceed a value of $1000+ on the right market or auction! What a find! Im still in shock I am so glad I decided to post it before listing it for sale! Thanks for all of your interest and for posting the card it is nice to have that! 

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5 minutes ago, USMCR79 said:

He was the Designer of the Navy and Marine Corps Medal

 

Bill

Wow that is even cooler very neat medal! Guess I really fell into it with this one! I can only wonder where his Purple Heart and other medals went to! 

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collectsmedals

It is great that it worked out so well for you. I need some of that luck!

 

I look forward to seeing it when you post it on the forum.

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aerialbridge

The dual facet of his life, better known as an artist to collectors than as a KIA naval reservist, is really neat.  As you said, the medal with whatever bronzes you have of his and a Navy recruiting litho or two would make a great display.   I'd enjoy seeing those bronzes if you ever decide to post them under non militaria.    At 52 he was ancient to be serving at sea and in a combat zone.   Definitely it would be worthwhile to order his personnel file from NARA St. Louis.   I'd bet your medal is the only traceable award or medal to him.

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On 10/9/2020 at 11:03 AM, aerialbridge said:

The dual facet of his life, better known as an artist to collectors than as a KIA naval reservist, is really neat.  As you said, the medal with whatever bronzes you have of his and a Navy recruiting litho or two would make a great display.   I'd enjoy seeing those bronzes if you ever decide to post them under non militaria.    At 52 he was ancient to be serving at sea and in a combat zone.   Definitely it would be worthwhile to order his personnel file from NARA St. Louis.   I'd bet your medal is the only traceable award or medal to him.

It is always neat to find these little things! It defiantly adds a decent amount of desirability to the piece because it could appeal to a number of different collecting fields! Once I get a display going I will have to work on getting some images up here! I also thought he was rather old to be serving in Sea Service on an LST in combat. Especially due to the value of him as a maker of recruitment posters, aircraft skin designs and medal designs. It would seem strange that a man with a clear artistic and valuable set of skills was put out in the position he was in especially at an advanced age. The only other medal to him that is traceable I would assume was his KIA Purple Heart which im not sure if the existence of that is known or who that would have been sent to. I believe he had already lost both parents and was already divorce when he died. I guess he had been dating an actress but since only dating I doubt she could claim the medal. Possibly the brother Shepard received his PH also but that is hard to say! Interesting Shepard also didnt shrive much longer and died in 1955. He also was semi famous in some Magazine and article circles at the time! Just overall an odd story. One has to wonder how it popped up in an antique store in the Hudson Valley! 

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Right you are.   I forgot about his beautifully engraved posthumous PH that might still be out there.   You could fill a large gallery with his bronzes and lithos as a display- only your wall space and wallet are the limit!   Nice coincidence that you already owned some of his bronze pieces.   Look forward to seeing your display as a work in progress.    I enjoy seeing medals and awards to men that were also accomplished authors, artists, designers, engineers, inventors, musicians,  etc.   This one definitely rates.  Thanks for posting. 

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One has to wonder where it is at this point if it still exists! That you could he certainly was a very active man during his career and life time. Interesting it sounds much of his popularity did not occur until after his death! His bronze studio ended up being some what a financial failure from what I gathered. Thus is the case with many men though, appreciation sadly comes after their death. It is very interesting to find medals to people that had significant lives out side of the military. I think as military collectors we sometimes forget that for most of these men the military was only a short period of their lives 3- 6 years for most in terms of a 50-100 year life that is a very small sample size of what they actually did a person. Always interesting to look at it from the other side! Thanks for the positive words and support! 

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