Turkish Crimea Medal

Turkish Crimea Medal

Turkish Crimean War Medal reverse (left) and obverse. Sardinian issue as the flags show.
Awarded by the  Ottoman Empire
Type Campaign medal
Eligibility British, French, or Sardinian personnel
Campaign Crimean War
Statistics
Established 1856
Distinct
recipients		 20,000

Ribbon bar of the medal

The Turkish Crimean War Medal (Turkish: Kırım Harbi Madalyası) is a campaign medal issued by Sultan Abdülmecid I of the Ottoman Empire to allied military personnel involved in the Crimean War of 1854–56. There are three different issues of this medal for those issued to British, French, or Sardinian personnel. The medal was designed by James Robertson.

Design and identification

The obverse shows the Ottoman Sultan’s tughra with the Muslim calendar year of 1271 on all versions. The reverse depicts a cannon standing upon the Imperial Russian flag, an anchor and a mortar. There are four flags to the rear of these three items which can be used to identify the country to which the medal was intended. This will be for either a soldier from Great Britain, or France, or Sardinia. The identifying flag is the central right hand flag, positioned above the anchor. It is a Union Flag for Great Britain, the tricolour for France and the flag of the Kingdom of Italy for Sardinia, based on the Italian tricolore. Since Sardinia was ruled at the time by the House of Savoy, this flag has the shield shaped emblem of the Savoy coat of arms in the central panel of the Italian tricolore.[1]

Note that due to the loss by shipwreck of many of these medals intended for British recipients, awards were made with whatever issue came to hand, the most common being of the Sardinian type. [1]

Additionally, the inscription in the exergue reads "Crimea 1855" for British issue, "La Crimee 1855" for French issue, and "La Crimea 1855" for Sardinian issue.

Ribbon

The ribbon itself is watered and of dark crimson with green edges. The original ribbon issued with this medal measured only .50” wide (rather like a miniature medal ribbon) and often used two widths, but it was usually replaced by one of 1.25” when awarded to British personnel. The medal was originally worn via one or two very small steel rings, although the one on the medal itself can be silver. Not only did they tend to rust, but these rings were almost universally altered to take the wider ribbon conforming to standard British type. Other suspensions were also used and therefore many medals are found with a privately attached scroll or other suspender akin to British medal types. Such medals are still considered contemporary and the alterations do not alter their value.

Naming

This medal was issued unnamed but examples are found with privately engraved naming of varying styles.

Notes

Distribution of the Medjidie, after the Battle of Cetate (1854)

Over the years many have mistakenly believed the flags and cannon to be the obverse of this medal, and indeed many of the recipients at the time wore it that way. The side with the Sultan's cypher or tughra is actually the correct obverse for this medal, although most collectors today like the recipients prefer to mount the medal with the flags and cannon as the obverse.

The general quality of these medals was poor and many British officers had copies of superior quality made in 925 silver with plain or scroll suspenders. These have clearer detail and are generally thicker and heavier; they are often seen in groups mounted by Messrs. Hunt and Roskill. The British versions of this medal are also generally believed to have a slightly higher silver content than the French or Sardinian versions.

See also

References and further reading

  1. 1 2 Christodoulou, Glenn Medals of the Crimean War - Crimean War Research Society (1985)
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