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Greeting!

Recently acquired this medallion with very little detail. My friend believed it was her father's; he was active in WW1 in France.




Front reads: KHOPRURU
Back reads: Dongor Medallion Reg No 591327 (hard to tell, the 9 *might* be an 8)

The marks appear to be:

RMEH = I believe Martin, Hall & Co (Richard Martin & Ebenezer Hall)
Crown = Sheffield
Lion Passant = after 1820
t = a date code of 1914

I've searched and had no luck. I did find general information on "Khopruru", but unrelated the medallion per se. Does anybody have an idea what this is?

Thank you!

Matthew

Admin: Please forgive me, I believe I should have posted this in "Mystery Objects", if so would you please change.
Also: Could you change the subject line to -- Dongor Medallion "KHOPRURU" -- I misspelled Dongor.

Thank you!

Matthew

According to the 1906 guide to the Cairo Museum, the scarab (Khopuru) had come to represent the heart in people's minds, and thus the reason for its' useage on many pieces of jewelry items. The inner paper liner seems similar to WWII-era "Sweetheart" pieces designed to hold a photo of the servicemember to be sent home to someone (locket style). This could be an older versionavailable to someone serving in that region. I see no hinge in your images, but does the front pop off from the back? Perhaps the paper enclosure may yield some clues?

BTW-such items were not just for sentimental reasons. The militaries knew there was a propaganda value when women wore these to show support of the war effort at functions and parades. It's the same idea as snapping a new recruit's photo and sending it off to the hometown newspaper to show that the "local boy does good!". I don't know how the British forces handled the distribution of such, but American soldiers could buy the items at the base PX (Post Exchange). [Same as those wrist watches which came into fashion and killed off the old pocket/fob timepieces. Think of the tale Christopher Walken's character told in Pulp Fiction, around which the entire story line revolved.]

Really,how did this piece of printed paper get inside ?
That's the clue.
Regards

Patent Registry #591,327 dates for 1911: https://www.925-1000.com/registry.html

Small "t" for Sheffield assay is 1911: https://www.925-1000.com/dlc_sheffield.html

And to leave this open, it could still be a fob for watch chain or key.

Traintime, you've been busy! lol

Thank you for the correction on the date code, 1911, much appreciated.

I thought "Reg No." was short for Regiment (it was in with some military items, but not all the items were military). But it's a registry number you think.

The other clue is "Dongor Medallion", whatever that is!

Ok, the whole right side is open


Thank you for your interest and help,

Matthew

Hi Matthew - welcome to the forums.

Well, this turned out to be an interesting little item...

Believe this piece, decorated with an Egyptian scarab (khopruru/dung beetle), was some type of scent pendant, intended to hold a paper disc impregnated with 'Dongor Antiseptic Perfume' (would think intended to be carried with one, but find no mention of this specific item). It was a substance invented by Maud (Maude) Dickinson of Brighton, England in 1911 (the made-up name an anagram of her late husband's middle name 'Gordon'), mixed up from "rare Oriental Organic oils", and partially influenced by "ancient Egyptian writings". She formed the Dongor Hygienic Co., and around 1913, in formulating her Dongor soap, apparently discovered some sort of 'organic Radium', and went on to produce various 'radio-active' medicinal and cleaning items, including ointments, water and air fresheners. This information was published in a rather lengthy 1920 treatice on Mrs. Dickinson's organic Radium called "A New Activity?" by Frank A. Hotblack; a few other tiny bits of information can be pulled up online, and U.K. sources might turn up more.

~Cheryl


The 'DORGON' name was trademarked in the U.S. in 1913 (note the 'Paper Disks' mentioned in the first image):

Amazing!

Thank you both for your time and effort. Cheryl, thank you for the finding and history. It is an interesting little item. I suspect this was in with my friend's militaria due to a relative being in the trenches during WWI. It fits with the time frame, and being both a good fortune emblem and a preventative illness medallion may well have been intended to protect him from human and biological attacks.

Thank you very much!

Matthew

So the books of these Rd numbers (Registry Numbers) still exist, I believe this is correct, so if you really needed more knowledge about the Dongor Medallion (and, honestly, I'm not sure I can sleep until I've found the original Registry Number Application for THE DONGOR MEDALLION), you could actually find out even more information about the Dongor Medallion. :::

This may be the sole surviving Dongor Medallion in the entire world? :::