3078

JAPAN: Showa, 1926-1989, white metal medal, year 12 (1937), XF

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / World Coins - Group Lots - Asia & Middle-East Start Price:50.00 USD Estimated At:50.00 - 75.00 USD
JAPAN: Showa, 1926-1989, white metal medal, year 12 (1937), XF
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JAPAN: Showa, 1926-1989, white metal medal, year 12 (1937), 53mm high-relief white metal medal commemorating the so-called "Marco Polo Bridge Incident", engineered by Japan to start the Second Sino-Japanese War; Japanese soldier running over dead Chinese soldier // Japanese inscription on reverse ‘In Commemoration of the China Incident’, date below, XF The Marco Polo Bridge Incident, also known as the Lugou Bridge Incident or the July 7 Incident, was a battle in 1937 between China's National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army. The heightened tensions of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident led directly to full-scale war between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China, with the Battle of Beiping-Tianjin at the end of July and the Battle of Shanghai in August. At least 11 different varieties of the ‘China Incident Commemorative Medal’ are known, some of them made in copper, some in silver alloy, and some in gold-plated silver. Judging by the name of the Chinese city Beiping on the map placed on the reverse side of this medal (Bei Ping instead of Bei Jing), the medals could have been issued starting from July 1937 until October 2, 1937, when Beiping was renamed Beijing. It is very likely that copper medals were presented to soldiers and silver and silver-gilt ones to officers and generals. Another interesting fact regarding this medal: the Japanese soldier depicted on obverse is running over a dead body of a Chinese soldier. Experts in military uniform believe that the uniform (including helmet, sword, etc.) of the dead soldier is identical to the uniform worn at the time by the soldiers of the 29th Army defending this area.