Great East Asia War Ribbon Bar

[Brig]

I found this at a Pennsylvania flea market over 20 years ago, and to be honest kind of forgot about it. There used to be a seller who bought out estate jewelry boxes and just dumped them in a pile on her table and priced pieces as she went. I used to find lots of bits and bobs in there, mostly US insignias. I always assumed that as they downsized over the years they got rid of uniforms and insignias ended up in the wife's jewelry boxes.

 

It's my understanding that the medal itself is quite rare with only a handful awarded during the war, and that the bulk were destroyed. However, I know the medals were "reproduced" in the 1950s for veterans, though I don't know if they made ribbon bars. I've always just assumed this was a veteran bringback that was tossed into a jewelry box with the vets own insignias.

 

I'd be interested in hearing the thoughts of Japanese collectors and learning more about this. I've only owned a few Japanese insignias over the years that came to me over the years, really know nothing about them. If this is wartime, I thought some of you might be interested in seeing it.

 

 

Here's one for sale on A&C Militaria...maybe not as rare as some believe?

 

https://aandcmilitaria.com/shop.php?code=51142