veradis · Provenance Confidence Score · militaria

Ernest “Smokey” Smith VC — Victoria Cross group and militaria

Second World War · Seaforth Highlanders of Canada · custody: regimental / family — demo · Companion: Story trail

Report IDPCS-CH-2026-0004 · demo

Effective date3 July 2026

MethodVerify (PCS) · militaria profile

Owner localeBritish Columbia, CA — values in CAD

The story. Ernest Alvia “Smokey” Smith, a rifleman with the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, won the Victoria Cross for the night of 21–22 October 1944 at the Savio River in Italy — standing alone against enemy tanks and infantry to hold the ground and protect a wounded comrade. He was the only Canadian private soldier awarded the VC in the Second World War, and the last surviving Canadian recipient of the Cross at his death in 2005. This record concerns his militaria — the medal group and the documents that place it.

Scope & intended use. A documentary verification of a medal group and its provenance record, for the custodian and their insurer; reliance by other parties is at their own risk. Not a certificate of authenticity. Documents are on file and hashed; the physical object session — naming engraving, hallmarks, ribbons — is scheduled. Two identity checks are held open and named below. Scores are as of the effective date — insurers typically require re-verification after 12–36 months.

Pte Smokey Smith VC shadowbox — Canadian Army Overseas citation, his Seaforth Highlanders portrait, and the Victoria Cross

The documented shadowbox — the Canadian Army Overseas citation, Smith’s Seaforth Highlanders portrait, and the Cross · a supervised vault session photographs the naming engraving and hallmarks and closes the two open checks · all documents hashed into the report snapshot

Shadowbox · documented

Naming engraving
vault session

Hallmarks & suspender
vault session

Ribbons & bars
vault session

Title papers
to be digitised

Case & accompaniments
vault session

The verdict

85/100

documentary · projects to ~92

Documentary · lower bound holds No curator action required Coverage: records on file · object session scheduled

Identity match · weight .3090

The recipient is named in the regimental catalogue and corroborated by the London Gazette VC citation, Library and Archives Canada, and the Veterans Affairs record. The naming engraving on the Cross itself is not yet photographed — the single check that lifts identity from documentary to observed.

Custody & story · weight .3086

A continuous, documented line: regimental record, family custody, and public citation all agree. The title papers that would formalise the chain are held but not yet digitised into the record.

Material integrity · weight .2066

Held at 66 by method, not doubt: hallmarks, suspender, ribbon and naming are documented from records but not yet observed in a supervised session. Unrun checks widen the interval — they do not silently pass.

Risk profile · weight .2097

Clean across every registry checked (sweep below). A named, publicly-cited VC with a documented line is among the lowest-risk objects a network can hold.

Score computation, disclosed (militaria weights): (90 × .30) + (86 × .30) + (97 × .20) + (66 × .20) = 85.4, reported as 85.

Why documentary, and why it projects to ~92. The recipient and the story are resolved against named public authorities; what remains is the object itself — the naming engraving and hallmarks — and the digitised title papers. A supervised vault session photographs both. Missing checks do not lower the score; they hold Material at 66 and keep the tier honest. The single action that moves this record most is the vault session.

Documentary disclosure: identity and custody are strong on named public records; material observation is scheduled, not yet performed. Transaction-suitable with that disclosure.

The registry sweep · every source namedSix registries checked. Clean.

Registry	Scope	Checked	Result
Interpol stolen-works database	Object	3 Jul 2026	Clear
Orders & Medals Research Society — loss notices	Object	3 Jul 2026	Clear
Cultural-property / export control (militaria)	Category/patrimony	3 Jul 2026	Clear
Sanctions — OFAC · SECO · EU · UK OFSI	Parties	3 Jul 2026	Clear
Liens · litigation · encumbrances	Object/parties	3 Jul 2026	None found
London Gazette — VC award record	Citation	3 Jul 2026	Confirmed

This report does not discharge the recipient's own diligence obligations under applicable cultural-property, export, sanctions, or AML law. “Clear” means no match in the named registry on the check date.

The checks · militaria profile · authority states shownSix checks, five sources — two held open, honestly.

Check	Source · authority state	Result
Recipient named against the regimental record	Regimental catalogueAuthority-resolved	Match
VC award — citation and date	London Gazette · CAORO citationAuthority-resolved	Confirmed
Service and biographical record	Library and Archives Canada · Veterans AffairsAuthority-resolved	Match
Custody line — regimental / family	Custodian record · veradis networkAuthority-resolved	Documented
Naming engraving on the Cross	Supervised vault sessionMissing	Open
Title papers — digitised into the record	Custodian's documentsMissing	Open

Why no curator flag: the recipient, the award and the story are authority-resolved against named public records. The two open items are object-side observations; they hold Material down and widen the interval, but do not queue a review.

The path · what one supervised session unlocks

Projection — stated as a projection. A supervised vault session (naming engraving, hallmarks, suspender, ribbons) plus the digitised title papers would move Identity to ~96 and Material to ~88: ≈ 92 · Gold. Each new photograph or document is a re-run — the interval provably narrows; the version history keeps every step.

The person graph · Enrich

Person · recipientErnest “Smokey” Smith VCSeaforth Highlanders of Canada · 1914–2005

Object · this reportVictoria Cross groupMilitaria · PCS 85 · documentary

CitationLondon Gazette · VCSavio River, 21–22 October 1944

ArchiveLibrary and Archives CanadaService and biographical record

EventSavio River, ItalyThe action the Cross records

Event · pendingSupervised vault sessionNaming engraving, hallmarks — books the path to Gold

One person, many sources — each named. Every verified object the regiment adds corroborates the others. The record begins the day it is documented.

Report attestation

Report IDPCS-CH-2026-0004 (demo)

MethodVerify (PCS) · militaria profile

Data snapshot hash · SHA-256c4f1a90b7e2d6835a1c09f4e77b52d6e3a8c1904ff62d7b0e5a4c318d29b7e61

Supersedes— · first issue (genesis of this object's chain)

Verify this reportverify.veradis.ai/r/PCS-CH-2026-0004 (demo)

Curator statusNo action required — recipient and award authority-resolved

The veradis signature attests to data integrity, not authenticity. Documents are individually hashed into the snapshot. Hash-chained at the permalink.

Reproducibility. Re-running this method against this data snapshot reproduces this score to the digit. Falsifiability. This method returns Flagged, with the evidence, when an identity fails its checks. A verification that cannot say no would be worthless — this one can.

This Provenance Confidence Score is a probabilistic verification report based on digital data analysis cross-referenced against the veradis knowledge graph. It is intelligence, not insurance. It does not constitute a legal certificate of authentication, a guarantee against loss, or an indemnity against fraud. For high-value transactions, buyers should conduct physical inspection by a qualified specialist. veradis is not liable for financial loss resulting from reliance on this report.

How to read this report · terms, colours, and the ± number

PCS (Provenance Confidence Score). A 0–100 measure of how well today's evidence supports this object's claimed identity and history. It scores the evidence, not the object's worth — and it is intelligence, not a certificate.

The four components. Identity match (does the object match the claimed identity), Custody & story (is the chain of ownership documented), Material integrity (do the physical signatures check out), Risk profile (registries, sanctions, encumbrances). They combine at fixed, disclosed weights: 30% · 30% · 25% · 15%.

± 6 · the 95% credible interval. The honest range around the score: given today's evidence, the true score sits between 76 and 88 with 95% confidence. Checks that have not been run do not lower the score — they widen this range. New evidence always narrows it; it may or may not move the number in the middle.

Tier — Gold / Silver / Bronze. Assigned on the bottom of the interval, not the middle: Gold 80+, Silver 60+, Bronze 40+. We tier on what the evidence can defend. This report: lower bound 76 → Silver. A failed identity returns Flagged, with the evidence enclosed.

Coverage (4/10 views). How much of the category's capture protocol is on file — a separate axis from the score. Partial coverage is why this interval is wide — and why filling slots is the cheapest way to tighten it.

Authority states. Authority-resolved — the value was confirmed against a named independent source (maker production records, serial conventions) and earns full credit. Declared-only — stated in a record but not yet independently confirmed; half credit. Missing — not yet on file; no credit, wider interval.

Declared / Observed / Reference. What the record claims · what has actually been measured or photographed · the published benchmark it is compared against.

"Clear" in the registry sweep means no match in the named registry on the check date — it never means "not stolen."

The colours. Deep green — supported by evidence on file. Brass — an honesty mark: a gap named, a component under 80, an action still open. Grey — unscored, unmeasured, or the Silver tier. Hollow dot — a check held open. Dashed border — exists but not yet on the platform (a pending capture, an off-platform document). Source dots: public registries · photography & documents · risk registries.

Snapshot & hash. Every version of this report is frozen as a data snapshot and fingerprinted (SHA-256); each version carries its predecessor's fingerprint, so the history cannot be silently rewritten. Verify any version at the permalink.