Date
Instituted: 1842.
Campaign: First China War 1841-42.
Description: The obverse of this
medal depicts the familiar head of young Queen Victoria with the
legend 'VICTORIA REGINA'. The reverse has a trophy of arms
with an oval shield in the centre bearing the Royal Arms underneath
a palm tree. Above is the legend 'ARMIS EXPOSCERE PACEM'
while the word 'CHINA' with the date 1842 appears in the exergue below.
The non-swivelling suspender is plain and straight being sweated
directly to the medal.
Metal: Silver.
Size: 36mm.
Clasps: None authorised for this medal at the time of issue.
| Ribbon: |
 |
Naming: Bold block capital letters with
stars used to fill in the spaces as per the Waterloo Medal. However since new punches were used the naming appears slightly sharper than on Waterloo Medal examples.
Comments: The reverse of this medal was
originally designed depicting the British lion devouring a Chinese
dragon. However it was considered too insensitive to the Chinese
and so the reverse described above was used for this and the subsequent
Second and Third China War Medals.
Those in receipt of this medal who later qualified for the Second China War Medal were supposed to receive the clasps awarded with the second medal only. These clasps were therefore to be fixed to this medal but due to the difference in the width and style of the suspender it was unclear how this was actually to be done. As a result the clasps were often simply slipped over the ribbon which was sometimes replaced with the narrower type supplied with the second medal. Other recipients had the suspender removed and replaced it with one similar to the second medal.
It should, however, be noted that many recipients already in possession of this medal may not have admitted to it and received the Second China War Medal with the appropriate clasps. There has been talk amongst collectors that the Second China War Medal may have in fact been issued to those who had already been granted the first medal in view of the situation regarding the problem of fixing the clasps to the first medal. However this has yet to be confirmed.
See also: Second China War Medal and Third China War Medal. |
