Ref Thread: China Service Medal

[MWalsh]

It's a nice old strike, the ribbon on it is sort of stiff, and in it's original red colored box of issue, but no labels on the box and does not appear to have ever had any either. As I said, I am not very good on knowing the particulars about these as far as dates of manufacture and issue, and what dates correspond with this type of box.

 

 

[Ricardo]

The China Service Medal was a military medal awarded to U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard personnel. The medal was instituted on August 23, 1940 and featured a yellow ribbon with narrow red edge stripes. The decoration is similar to the China Campaign Medal, issued in 1901 by the United States Army.

 

The criteria for awarding the medal consisted of service members who:

 

Served ashore in China or who were attached to any of the vessels that operated in support of the operations in China between July 7, 1937, and September 7, 1939.

 

Served ashore in China or were attached to any of the vessels that operated in support of operations in China between September 2, 1945 and April 1, 1957.

 

Military services performed in the Asiatic-Pacific area between September 2, 1945 and March 2, 1946 could be credited for eligibility for the China Service Medal unless the individual was eligible for the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal based on service performed prior to September 2, 1945.

 

Regulations permitted the wearing of a bronze service star if a service member had performed duty during both periods of eligibility. In the modern age, the China Service Medal is considered obsolete and is no longer issued by the United States Navy.

[Hobza]

Pre war USN China Service with ring mount and wrap brooch:

 

[Tim B]

Here're two period China Service Medals with slightly different lugs and you can clearly see the differences in quality.

 

[jmpmstr]

China Service authorized in 1940; 2 periods of eligibility. First period was 1937-1939, supporting operations in China at that time. Most likely a wrapped brooch ring suspension version is from the first period of eligibility. Second period was 1945-1957 for operations in China, Taiwan, and Matsu Straits. Second period medals generally found with the crimp brooch and lug suspension. I am sure there are exceptions, but they generally correspond to the 2 eligibility periods in terms of the version of the medal.

[Tim B]

I've also seen these red boxes without the " " marks at the ends of CHINA SERVICE. I was told those were indicative of the earlier wrap brooch examples initially issued for the 1937-1939 period. Can anyone verify that?

 

Here's another red boxed example of the later "extended" period (1945-1957).

 

Tim

[Tom Nier]

It appears that what you have is the very rare first style box for the 1937-39 China Service medal, to which a post-WW2 extended China Service medal was added. Attached are scans of the 1st (pre-war) & 2nd (post-war) style boxes for this medal. Note that the 1st style box is the same size as the yellow box issued for the Yangtze Service medal, and has quote marks around its title. The 2nd style box is a little longer and narrower than the prewar box, and does not have quote marks.

 

Attached also is a view of the pre-war medal in its box. The medal has the wire jump ring and full wrap brooch typical for Navy medals of the 1930s. I've also noticed that the pre-war red stripe is a darker red than the post-war stripe which appears to me to have a lighter, pinkish-red tone. Other subtle differences can be detected between the two medal varieties. These scans were originally provided by Adam Rohloff.

[SEABEEBRIAN]

Something to understand about the navy awards offices, there are two offices that issue awards. One is the awards board and the other is the correspondence office at Bupers (now NPC.) When I worked there at Bupers in Arlington we still had some stocks of awards in colored boxes like the Yangtze, 2nd Nic and i think China Service. (no, they are all gone now) as well as the post war medals in the paper sleeve. When you needed an award you went to the filing cabinet and grabbed the first one you saw.

 

By the way, I am still pretty sure that the "China Service" variety is earlier than the China Service but I do also know that medals are re-used and refurbished and that the plastic bags were not originally used but tissue paper was so this could be an example of a box being reused.

[SEABEEBRIAN]

I checked with Allen Menke who is probably the most knowledgeable person on different medal strikes as well as boxes and he confirmed the the "" China Service" box was the earlier of the 2 boxes and that the US Mint contracts used those boxes.

[Tom Nier]

Tim, Brian, and all:

 

The really good news about the two box varieties is that there seems to be a sufficient supply of both types in the collectors' market. The quote marked box can't be all that rare since there are so many reported to be in collectors' hands. The Navy must have ordered thousands of both types. And stocks of both types apparently survived the wartime demand, so that both types were issued with the Extended China Service medal (with the knob & crimp brooch).

[cap_george]

Hello all, I am going through my uncle's WW2 medals for remounting. I noticed his China service Medal is about 1/8" or 3MM thick, much thicker than normal. Is this an early striking?

 

 

[FrankEaton01]

It looks like a standard early post-WWII US Mint strike to me (crimped brooch, knob suspension). In general, the service medals struck by the Mint for the USN/USMC/USCG are noticibly thicker than their Army issue counterparts. 

[Terry K.]

I have had the box for a couple of years and almost gave up one finding the medal, but lo and behold I walked into an antique store today and there it was. Never say never, This is a 45-57 example.

 

[camelgreen44]

Close up of a first-issue China Service medal

[jmar]

I have a special place in my heart for this particular medal, don;t know why, but I just love it. Here are some pics of a numbered U.S. Mint USMC example and a correct UNNUMBERED USN US Mint example. A bit of first hand info is that the ring seam is at about 4 o'clock on the USN example and at between 2 and 3 o'clock on the USMC strike. They say a picture is worth 100o words so here we go.

 

USN

 

 

[jmar]

USN reverse

 

[jmar]

USMC (the only numbered pieces)

 

Obverse

 

[jmar]

USMC reverse

 

[jmar]

USMC rim number detail

 

[Bill_Carman]

Really nice and very early, numbered 190, ring suspension USMC China Service Medal.

 

I know this USMC China Service was part of a much larger group previously on the Forum and was probably cut loose because it was 'extra'. I snagged it off eBay and immediately started the research, hoping that I could trace it back to the attributed recipient, BG Robert M Montague. Unfortunately, after receiving a copy of the service file I could not link it to BG Montague, as no numbers were listed for any numbered medal. That is OK by me though, it is still a hard medal to come across. The file came with all of his awards being listed and citations for them.

 

It is interesting to note that based on the file records, then Captain Montague, was recommended for the Distinguished Service Cross for the action on 19 July 1918, which he ultimately received the Silver Star Medal for.

 

Thanks for looking.

[Bill_Carman]

Edge Number and Photo from June 1942

[Bill_Carman]

DSC Recommendation and Listing of Awards

[katieony]

A very nice and hard to find medal. Over the years I've found it to be hit or miss whether or not campaign medal rim numbers are recorded in Marine service records. They seem to have been more consistent recording GCM numbers.

Mike

[Hessian]

Bill

 

I agree with Mike on the records/numbers not always being spot on. Regardless if the number matches up - you know its got solid provenance and a 3 digit number to boot! Fantastic example, congrats!!!

[Shakethetrees]

Last night I dug out my single China Service Medals that are boxed. After examining them, I realized:

 

1. that both types are covered with textured red paper, but the ring type box covering is uniformly a little smoother than the knob type.

2. Interior measurements are within one half millimeter of each other. I don't think this is significant enough in this category.

3. Both the ring type and knob type have quotation marks bracketing the title

4. The letter height of the ring type measures 6.5 to 7 millimeters

5. The letter height of the knob type is 5.5 to 6 millimeters

6. The lid thickness measured from the outside is 13 millimeters on the ring type

7. For the knob type the lid thickness measured from the outside is a hair thicker than 12 millimeters

 

I was hoping to find some standout difference in the yellow or gold ink used but I suspect UV light exposure caused the color shift on one of my boxes. I could be wrong about this. More examples need to be studied.

 

I had two boxes where the contents were known, and two that were unknown. The medals were separated from the boxes in a sale.

 

One was able to be reunited with its correct box.