It appears someone tried to drill it on all sides but never made it through all the way. It was inherited and mixed with a collection of coins collected while overseas durring WWII.
The flowers look like Sakura (cherry-blossom) flowers, so I would guess it came from Japan or an occupied territory (though other countries could use the same flowers). The bow at bottom center also resembles bows I've seen on Japanese war medals. The characters in the center are a bit too stylized for me to make out, but they look like Chinese characters which could also be Japanese Kanji (or even Korean, but more likely China or Japan). Does the edge contain any characters? Update: I think I found it on this auction page: https://www.ima-usa.com/products/or...w-named-medal-of-honor?variant=31971570319429 It lists it as a 1961 Japanese medal of honor and it came with a ribbon and a case. Also, the description says that a name was usually engraved on the back of such medals. And the pictures from the auction differ slightly from the one posted above. Though I'm not sure, it's possible that the posted picture shows a reproduction. Or perhaps it's just very heavily toned? Someone who knows far more than me on this subject would have to check it out, so don't quote me on that. Update 2: This page shows another example, which looks closer to the example above and it appears to have a blank reverse:https://stewartsmilitaryantiques.co...d-established-1919.56160.28.military-antiques It says: "This medal, with a dark blue ribbon, represents donations of exceptional monetary value on the behalf of the Japanese people. Established in 1919, it is still awarded today." Update 3: now I'm finding them all over the place. This page has another example: https://griffinmilitaria.com/product/cased-japanese-dark-blue-ribbon-medal-of-honor/ It also has a blank reverse, so perhaps the name was engraved onto the metal on the ribbon, not on the reverse. I'm more confident now that the medal pictured may be a real Japanese Medal of Honor, but again an expert would have to verify that. With case and ribbon, other examples seem to have sold anywhere from $150 - $300. Update 4: Yet another example: https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1139413408/japanese-dark-blue-ribbon-medal-of-honor It looks like the date of the medal was inscribed on the metal band that came with the ribbon. This page also included the characters on the medal itself: 褒章, pronounced "hōshō" and they apparently mean "medal."
Awesome. Thank you so much for the information. It's amazing how someone can be in possession of something so important in history and not even know it. Forget monetary value, it's a part of history which makes it all the more special. Thank you again for the information.
