How did Washington’s Medal of Merit become the Purple Heart medal?
At first it was a badge of merit rather than a medal. It was made of cloth, purple and heart-shaped with the word “MERIT” printed on it. The award languished, but the design was later incorporated into the Purple Heart medal that is awarded to those wounded or killed in combat. The reports that appear from time to time about some old coin being found with a new variety sound fishy to me. How is it possible for things like that to escape detection? That it can happen is quite probable and not at all as unusual or suspect as you might think. That it is a “new” variety is another question, since many such discoveries have been made, forgotten, re-made, again forgotten or never reported. Or, as often happens, they are overlooked in the flush of excitement of the find. I’ve gotten sandbagged several times with “new” reports that turned out to be listed somewhere else. What would you call a counterfeit of a piece that itself is a fantasy piece? It’s still a counterfeit, even if modeled after
