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0fdca01a-608c-49ef-acc7-7d033b61993e.jpg

0fdca01a-608c-49ef-acc7-7d033b61993e.jpg
Submitted by Matahari121
Tags: 
medals

Would anybody be able to identifty this medal? 

It was given to me by a local friend who is trying to work out its origin.  

Any suggestions are most welcome. Many thanks!

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Comments

Submitted by moddsey on Wed, 2018-06-06 08:44.

May be it is a Masonic (Grand) Lodge Medal. Similar to this

Submitted by Matahari121 on Wed, 2018-06-06 16:31.

Thank you moddsey. That may well be it. Cheers. 

Submitted by David on Wed, 2018-06-06 17:30.

Do we know who owned it originally? That might tell us more about the medal.

Submitted by Matahari121 on Wed, 2018-06-06 22:40.

Yes, good point. I’ll ask him tomorrow and post the answer. 

Submitted by walmer on Sun, 2018-06-17 16:44.

This is not a Freemason medal but it could be a medal of 'Royal (?) Ancient Order of Buffalos'. ('RAOB')

I think the members were a 'drinking club'  of post WWI to pre WWII  and formed in the Far East.

My Father was a member and I believe he had cufflinks marked 'RAOB'. I stand to be corrected if I am wrong.

Submitted by Matahari121 on Sun, 2018-06-17 20:55.

Interesting, thank you. I will suggest this to my friend and see what comes back. He may be able to identify who owned it before him. 

Submitted by gw on Mon, 2018-06-18 21:35.

Hi Walmer,

I think the RAOB you are referring to stands for the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes. According to Wiki its a fraternal organization which still exists today, although much smaller than it once was..The medal seen at https://gwulo.com/atom/25365 suggests they had a presence in Hong Kong. A search of "RAOB medals" on Google Images leads to a number of pics of medals bearing similar, I'm not saying identical, buffalo heads to the one at the head of this post.

Submitted by walmer on Tue, 2018-06-19 01:07.

I was wrong in my message yesterday. The medal, with a buffalo is from the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffalos.  You can see full details on their website, history, titles of officers, their charity work and much more.

I was muddled about my Father. I think he was a member of the 'Ancient Order of Froth Blowers' -a drinking fraternity, who liked their beer!

Submitted by moddsey on Sat, 2020-03-07 00:32.

Out of interest, came across this. The new Institute of the Royal Antedilluvian Order of Buffaloes was opened during the New Year Holiday at Rutton Building, Duddell Street. China Mail 5 January 1926 refers.

Update - a signboard of the RAOB Club on Queen's Building on Ice House Street from 1941 can be viewed here