TURKEY: Abdul Mejid, 1839-1861, AR medal, AH1271 (1855), 37mm, Turkish Crimea War Medal (Kirim Harbi Madalyasi), Ottoman Sultan's toughra with the year AH1271 on all versions // a cannon standing upon the Imperial Russian flag, an anchor and a mortar; the 4 flags above represent the allies, Great Brtain, Turkey, France & Sardinia, of which the 2nd from the right indicates the troops receiving the medal, Great Britain here, with the legend CRIMEA 1855 in exergue, with suspender and ribbon, EF. This campaign medal was issued by Sultan Abdul Mejid I of the Ottoman Empire to allied military personnel involved in the Crimean War of 1854-56. There are three different versions of this medal for those issued to British, French or Sardinian personnel. Due to the loss by shipwreck of many of the medals intended for British recipients, many awards were made with whatever issue came to hand, the most common being of the Sardinian type. Over the years many have mistakenly believed the flags and cannon to be the obverse of this medal, and many of the recipients wore it that way. The side with the Sultan's cypher or toughra is the correct obverse, although most collectors today continue to mount the medal with the flags and cannon as the obverse.