Swing mounting is when the ribbon is attached to a pin or brooch and the medals are able to freely swing from the ribbon. Most WWI and WWII groups are mounted in this fashion. Unfortunately, the medals are often damaged due to the contact they have with other medals while swinging free. An example of swing mounting is at this link.
The second method is know as court mounting. This method attaches the ribbon to a backing card which has the brooch attached. The medals are stitched to the ribbon and backing so that they don't move. This method is much safer than swing mount as the medal is less likely to fall off the ribbon. Also, there is minimal contact damage as the medals don't move. It is easy to identify a group that has been court mounted as you can see the ribbon behind the medals.
My medals have just been remounted so that my OAM is part of the group. They are pictured below to show an example of court mounting.
Thanks to my mate Daryl for doing a fantastic job.
