Here we have the Germann Purple Heart which has been named, numbered and maimed. It looks like a gold plated silver Purple Heart and is numbered 164865 at the bottom left on the edge. The numbers are upright when the front side is up. The back is privately engraved “Germann” in long hand above the date 1943 which is above an ornamental flourish. This Purple Heart is on a slot brooch and has moderate to heavy wear. The loop stem has been re-attached by a skilled craftsman who drilled through the Washington coat of arms at the top and inserted a piece of metal wire which was then flattened at both ends giving the appearance of a plugged hole. No attempt was made to conceal the repair leading me to think that this repair was made for or by the original owner. The fact the there is so much wear also makes me conclude that original owner survived the war and proudly carried his medal, may be even as a pocket piece, for many years. Because of the repair I also suspect that the ribbon and brooch could be replacements. The name Germann is a fairly common name so the lack of initials presented an attribution challenge. There was a Leroy L. Germann who was a sailor on the US Submarine Golet which was lost with all hands in 1944 so this could not be this Germann’s medal. There was also a Lloyd Germann in the 505^th PIR of the 82^nd Airborne but as per the General Orders indexes for both units he is not listed as having earned a Purple Heart. That leaves S/Sgt Oliver R. Germann who was a tail gunner on a B-24 in the 44^th Bomb Group, 506^th squadron. He was wounded Aug 16, 1943. Oliver was from Wyoming and flew on the historic Ploesti raid. Therefore I think that he was the original owner of this Purple Heart. Google even has a link to news story with photo of him after he was awarded seven medals in one day.

And you thought I was going write about a German wound badge didn’t you.

When collecting National Guard regimental medals, which were usually privately funded, you will run across some real works of art. One of my all time favorites is this long service medal of the Illinois National Guard First Cavalry. This spectacular gold medal is 43mm wide and 57mm tall. The core is cross and wreath shaped with a horse head mounted on the top arm. The ribbon across the top is inscribed “1^ST CAVALRY ILL. N.G.” The center disc is mounted on the cross and features the Illinois State Arms within the legend “SERVICE HONEST AND FAITHFUL.”

The reverse has a suspension ring and is hallmarked “WRIGHT & STREET // CHICAGO // SOLID GOLD” at the bottom in 3 lines.

I bought this from my late friend, dealer and author, Jeffrey R. Jacob back in the 1980’s. He didn’t know anything more about it then and I still don’t know what kind of ribbon and brooch this medal originally had or how many years of service it took to earn this beautiful decoration. I would be delighted to hear from anyone who does.

Any coin, currency or medal issued by any government serves two purposes. First is the obvious purpose; coins and paper currency serve as money and medals are a reward for a service performed by the recipient. There is also a secondary function of coins, currency and medals which is not so obvious but is very important none the less and that is to convey the issuing government’s message. Something I call positive propaganda. When done properly the designs on these items present the issuing country’s image as strong, stable and inspiring. When a medal like the Medal of Honor is awarded it’s primary and secondary message is kept alive over the years mainly by collectors who research, publish and display the medal and it’s history to the public every chance they get. The medals are handed down from the original recipients to their families and eventually are sold to collectors who continue the historic preservation of these medals more as a labor of love than anything else. At least that is the way it has been until our United States Government in it’s infinite wisdom made it illegal to buy, sell or even mail The Medal of Honor. Remember the secondary function of any medal mentioned above, the spreading the government’s message? Well these anti-collector laws make it next to impossible for us collectors to spread the word. Therefore if that’s the way our government wants it then let the government do it’s own word spreading. From this point on I will never write another word about the MoH nor will I ever show a picture of one in any format. Will my actions or the lack of them make a difference, probably not, but it will free me from fighting a battle that I can’t win.

Contribution medals are fund raising medals which are sold for a set price or given as a thank you gift to those who made a donation above a specified minimum amount. The concept is simple enough but many times these medals are confused with military medals. The medals illustrated below are a classic example. These are the Swiss medals issued for donations to the Swiss national fund raised to support the families of the Swiss men called up to active duty on the borders during WWI. Military pay was only a fraction of civilian pay and if they were farmers replacement help had to be hired to run the farms. The medals depict a Swiss soldier wearing a helmet similar to the German helmet which often causes these medals to be mistakenly attributed as German. The medals were issued with a loop but are also found with pins mounted on the back. All the pin back versions that I have seen are later modifications and have evidence that the loops have been removed.