THE MINISTRY OF STEAMPUNK
MoS MEDALS & PINS
Have you been collecting the Asylum medals and pins?
Have you ever wondered how many have been made to date?
Have you been puzzled by the spelling 'mistakes' appearing on some of them?
The boffins at the Ministry have been putting together a gallery of the medals which have been produced for the ministry to date and the images are shown here. As we explore further dusty rooms if any others come to light we will add them to the gallery.
Meanwhile, if you have others please let us know and if you can, post a picture on our Welcome to the Asylum Facebook page.
Forthcoming medals and pins
This year the Asylum medal will bear the image of a green octopus (as well as a small woodlouse - chosen because it is Asylum XIV and woodlice have 14 legs!)
We will also be releasing the first MoS charity pin. All proceeds from the sales of this pin will go to Charity.
Also new for Asylum XIV we have secured a small run of Unobtainium-14 pins. These will be given to volunteers and content providers who help us build and run Asylum XIV. They will never be for sale. If you are interested in volunteering or contributing to the event in some other way, check out the forms under the 'Get Involved' tab above.
Medals, pins and patches from previous Asylums
We know there are a few medals missing from the gallery above - if you have any Asylum medals that are not here please do let us know.
Other medals and pins
These pins and badges were produced for MoS events a number of years back. Do you know the history of any of them? We think the V.I.P.E.R. badge was only available to people who attended (and survived) a particular 'paranormal' event...
Medals awarded at events
Up to and including Asylum XII the MoS bought in medals for the costume competitions, Great Exhibition etc at Asylum each year.
In 2023 we decided to change tack and we designed the two separate medals that you see here. The larger of the two is the MoS Award for Creativity, which is a weighty beast, 4.5 cm in diameter.
The Creativity Awards are numbered individually and awarded only for the highest achievements, such as winners of the Great Exhibition or Adult Costume Competition at Asylum.
The first such award was made to the winner of the Lewis Carroll award at the Steampunk Fairytale event at Belvoir Castle in 2023. The second was awarded to the winner of the H.G.Wells award at The Town That Never Was and medals 3 to 13 were awarded at Asylum XIII.
The smaller of the new medals is the MoS Medal. It is a little smaller than the Creativity Award but at 3.5 cm is still larger and heavier than the standard Asylum medals. MoS medals have been awarded to date to winners of a variety of races and other competitions.
Ministry of Steampunk and Patreon pins
The white pin you see here was originally made to be worn only by members of the MoS, but when the MoS Patreon was created during the pandemic, the decision was made to make these pins available to all members of the patreon.
The second pin shown here is a newer version of the pin bearing the same design but in colour.
Medals and pins from other previous MoS events
In 2023 at the Steampunk Halloween event in Hull we tried an experiment by making a special limited edition medal which was available only at the event.
The Asylum XIII medal included a pair of cicadas - chosen because some cicadas have a 13 year life cycle. For the Halloween medal we replaced one of the cicadas with a black bat and (of course) changed the ribbon to black. The medals were very popular, so we 'might' make another for our next Steampunk Halloween event in Lincoln in 2024.
In 2024 for our Steampunk Fairytale Weekend at Tutbury Castle we made a pair of Wolf and Red Riding Hood pins. We still have a few of these in stock - click here for further details.