Victoria Cross, Ribbon, Mini-Medal

[Lucky36]

Greetings again! I stumbled upon these curious pieces recently and I purchased them together thinking that the full-size medal was fake, but the other two examples as originals...after doing some research I have become confident that the ribbon bar and mini-medal are real (even though the mini-medal version was apparently never officially issued) but the full-size medal I am still not sure about. I ruled it out at first because of the different colored ribbon and how it doesn't fully fill up the medal bar that attaches to the suspension but then I found 19th century victoria crosses actually did look such a way with the ribbon not being as wide as the bar...the last photo I provided is an original awarded to a defender of Rorke's drift. I have been unable to find many images of the reverses of these medals to compare the wide brooch to. Oh and if it helps anything the items were apparently displayed in an Australian museum in Queensland until 1986, not sure which museum however.

Any information would be absolutely appreciated. Thank you.

[reneblacky]

I can't really help here sorry but I can say that all VC medals I've seen in museums here are reproductions or duplicate medals as a spare. I stand to be corrected though.

[Watchdog]

As you would probably expect the full size medal is a one look repro. The quality is nowhere near an original besides which all the originals bar one (I stand to be corrected here) lost on the battlefield in South Africa in the 19th century, are accounted for.
An original would have the details of the recipient on the rear of the suspension and the date of the act for which it was awarded in the circlet on the reverse of the medal.
The crosses were originally made from the bronze of captured Russian guns from The Crimea but later Chinese guns have been recycled the same way. Initially naval awards had a bluue ribbon but later all had the current dark crimson red.
Value wise as a matter of interest is in six figures.
As for the miniature just like all British medals these have always been private prchase items so the difference between genuine and repro amounts to whether it was produced and sold through military tailors etc to be worn by a VC holder (appropriate standard of quality prevails here) or it was produced as a "souvenir" display piece which would generally be of far lower quality than the former.

If ever one did just happen upon an original there would be many concerns as to how it came about and one would be extremely well advised to report it to the authorities as the circumstances are likely to be far from legitimate.

However, this is one medal that it would not be strange to have a good copy in a collection because who amonst us is ever likely to capture an original?

I hope this helps.

Regards

Mark

[Lucky36]

Thank you very much. Is the ribbon bar any good?

[Watchdog]

The same detail would apply to the ribbon bar as to the miniature as they are not issued either so quality is the issue. Hard to say from these pics but I doubt it is from an actual VC holder if it belongs to the same group of pieces. However, it is a moot point without provenance as anyone might have purchased it from a tailor or other source. It would only be an important item if it were part of an authentic group together with a genuine medal..

Regards

Mark