Bilco

Hi Lambert - yes, I think you have it! I hadn't thought of sugar cane. Bill

Hi Rob, By 'is it banners?' I meant that the lower part of the background to Victory looks to my eye like a bunch of flags on poles, maybe suggesting the banners of a victorious army. The worn gilding certainly brings out the textures of the background. I should have made it clear that my last two posts concern the same medal. At least the description was honest in calling it a Cuban-made copy. The big question is, was the asking price justified? Bill

Hi Gents, Well, this item didn't sell last night. Here are the pictures of it: There are detail differences from the Official Type - for example, Victory's wings are more pointed and the tump she's standing on seems higher - and there isn't a 'C Charles' signature. On the reverse, the palm tree on the Cuban arms is smaller. Bill

Hi Gents, I found this slightly odd Cuban vic on eBay - item no 300781967004. I see the description calls it a copy and genuine, with gilding. A Cuban-made copy apparently, with background detail on the obverse I hadn't noticed before - is it banners? Bill

Hi Rob, Jim - many thanks for your comments. It's amazing what's around on the web these days! Bill

Hi Gents, I've come across a couple of guides to US Army and Navy clasps for the WW1 vic on eBay, and wondered how accurate they are - maybe a member of GMIC wrote them? http://reviews.ebay.com/Army-WWI-Victory-Medal-Clasps?ugid=10000000005867427 http://reviews.ebay.com/Navy-Marine-Corps-WWI-Victory-Medal-Clasps?ugid=10000000005819214 Bill

Hi Gents, The photos in my last 3 posts have been upgraded. Bill

The rest Bill

Next tranche Bill

Hi Gents, Here come the close-ups. The thin chain links seem to be thinner on the narrow cylinder variant - or am I seeing things? Bill

Hi Gents, My latest acquisition - inspired by the recent postings on this thread! Delivered from Bucharest at midday, the Unofficial Type 3 . Obverse Reverse The three countries with C instead of G, and thin links to the chain. Narrow cylinder suspension, planchet diameter 36mm, thickness 3mm. The ribbon is in very poor shape, but I have a piece of French ribbon that I can substitute for it. I'll post close-ups of the countries' names as Kevin has done in due course. Any comments welcome, Bill

http://www.imageandnarrative.be/inarchive/graphicnovel/rogersabin.htm Some background on Ally Sloper. Bill

Hi Gents, Another oddity, trawled up from the Internet. I thought my eyes were going funny at first - - but it looks like the names of the countries have been double-struck, with a little movement between strikes. The movement is worse at the upper part of the reverse. The underlying design is crisp and clear - were the names normally struck after the rest of the design? Bill

Hi Gents, I've found a couple of interesting threads on a forum about Romanian awards - I see you post to this site as New Connaught Ranger, Kevin. First thread is about fake Romanian medals: http://www.worldwar2...?showtopic=2250 And the second shows a 14 medal bar with what I think is an unofficial Victory medal (Type 3?): http://www.worldwar2...?showtopic=1130 Bill

Hi Gents - my latest acquisition - the Belgian Unofficial Type 2: Obverse Reverse The all-important R on the reverse. The planchet diameter is 37.2mm and thickness 2mm. The colour is bright brassy, and the strike is very shallow, with some of the lettering on the reverse almost vanished: The planchet is slightly 'squeezed' at around the 3 and 9 o'clock, and there are small triangular marks in these positions - the teeth of a gripper of some kind? The ribbon looks like a Czech make, and there is a hole on the obverse side with a faint mark around it that looks like there has been a linden leaf there at some time. Any comments welcome. Bill

Hi Kevin, Many thanks for your input on this piece. It's plain that Romania has produced a lot of variants for their Victory medal, with differences in the details of the design and suspension. I've seen your postings on some of the variants - thank you for shedding some light on these medals. It's a fruitful area of collecting, although I'd cough a bit at paying $499! It depends how desperate you are for something potentially rare. Bill

Hi Gents, I have the odd doubt about this item on eBay - item no 221099863404 The photo appears to be in colour - there are bits of discolouration. Bill

Hi Gents - my latest acquisition. It appears to be the Morlon Re-issue in shiny finish that Rob mentiones in post #49. The photos: Obverse ... ... and reverse. The colour is very light brass/gold, it's very sharply struck, with the Paris Mint cornucopia and BR. Any comments welcome. Bill

Sheesh - I hate tests! Well Jim, although the photograph shows details on both my clasps aren't as sharp as your True King example, they are much better 'in the hand'. The Meuse-Argonne I would say is perfectly OK. The Defensive Sector clasp has less clearly-defined moons, the left-hand star is 'flat' where the others have a point in the centre, and the lettering is less sharp in some spots - the E at the end of Defensive is much less well defined than the rest. However, the font looks right, and the size of the stars (back to my original query) matches your exemplar. Maybe it came from a worn die, but I think it's a good'n. How did I do? Bill

Hi Oliver, On my examples the "G.Villa" appears on the Official Type 1 and 2 but not the Type 3 or 4. Bill

Hi Jim, Many thanks for the picture and tutorial. Another one for the reference file. How do these two clasps on my US vic check out - particularly the Defensive Sector? Bill

Rob, Jim, many thanks for covering the detail background to these clasps. With all the combinations of official clasps as well as all the fantasy items it's a field of collecting in its own right. I'm intrigued by the variations in the size of stars on this collection - from the top (ignoring the top clasp) they are small, medium and large with a point at the 12 o'clock, and two medium with a point at the 6 o'clock. To what extent can the size and orientation of the stars be used to identify the manufacturer? Bill

I guess the Army of Preoccupation are the guys who go in ahead of the Army of Occupation? Bill

Hi Rob, Both medal and certificate look to be in excellent condition. A great win! Bill

Hi Peron, Many thanks for the link - it serves well to put the medals in our collections into context. Bill