RobW

Here is the award document. It was awarded to a French soldier as late as November 1930.

While they may be difficult to ascertain on this scan there are two embossed seals on the document; one near the centre adjacent to the serial number and a further one at the bottom of the document underneath the right hand signature.

Again such lovely detail on the certificate. It is also a longer document which meant it was scanned in two parts and rejoined.

Hope these are of use to others.

Regards,

Rob

Here is the inside of the box. Apologies for the blurriness of the inside box top.

Here is the outside top and bottom of the box.

Here is the Huguenin Frères produced medal. It is suspended by what appears to be a thick wire or tab suspender.

Of note is that the 1917 on the reverse is missing the usually seen crossed 7.

Here is the award document, issued by the Town of Belgrade to an official in the Headquarters of the Drina Division's area. Dated 22 August 1925 it is also signed (stamped) by the Head of the Town of Belgrade Assembly.

A very lovely decorative award certificate it is. It is a longer document which meant I had to scan it in two parts and then rejoin it.

Here is a French produced medal. It is suspended by a small ball close to the planchet of the medal.

To all,

Here are some recent pickups of a couple of Serbian War Commemorative Medals and their award documents. First will be a French produced medal and then an award document to a Serbian soldier. The second will be a Huguenin Frères produced one, with its box, and an award certificate to a French soldier.

Hope they are of use to others.

Regards,

Rob

Here are the close-ups. Note the shallower detail and barrel suspender that is soldered to the planchet. This solder is visible on the reverse rear of the barrel.

Regards,

Rob

To all,

Here are some pics of a Great Britain Great War trio (1914 Star with Aug-Nov bar, British War Medal, & vic) with a Mention-In-Despatches (MID) on the vic. Of note is that the vic is a type 1. This is the rarer of the two Great Britain vics and is not often seen. It has a barrel suspender that is soldered to the planchet, is of a chocolate brown colour and has a reduced level of detail than the type 2. This reduced level of detail is attributable to the 'sandblasting' that was used to achieve the dark finish required.

The type 1 vics were issued between July - November 1920 or at least before the decision was made to change to a shiny finish where the suspender was not soldered, but actually cut out of the planchet. This changeover occurred in early 1921.

Close-up pics to follow.

Hope this helps others.

Regards,

Rob

Hi Rob,

Any news from your Italian friends regarding the ribbon?

cheers

Peter

Hello Peter,

I have received a partial response but am waiting for the last person to reply. I should have a response back from him this weekend.

Regards,

Rob

Tim,

I have mused that myself on a few occasions. With all the collectors here on the forums, and the definite international flavour of the victory medal, I find it interesting that there are so few people interested in the vic series. They are either there, and watching but not posting, or they are not there.

That raises the perennial question of 'why do people not share their info and pics' but that is better left for another discussion.

Time will tell.

Regards,

Rob

Hello William & SasaYu,

The items in question have arrived from Slovenia. When I have time this coming weekend I will scan them and post pics on the thread ''Serbia - Different Types of Commemorative WW1'. Hope it will be of use to all.

Regards,

Rob

To all,

To add to the others posted of late here is another 'official' Romanian vic. This one has the word 'BRONZE' impressed on the edge.

Just visible in this scan is the designers name 'Kristesko' on the reverse.

Regards,

Rob

To all,

Here is another 'official' Romanian vic. This one has the word 'BRONZE' inscribed on the edge.

Just visible in this scan is the designers name 'Kristesko' on the reverse.

Regards,

Rob

Here are the close-ups.

I am impressed by the level of detail that is here on a mini that is but 11 mm across. Although it is difficult to see on this scan just noticeable is the designers name 'A. Morlon' on the obverse.

This level of detail and attention to design is a hallmark of the quality and workmanship of earlier period medals, including miniatures. Sometimes that is sadly lacking in the current contemporary productions.

Regards,

Rob

And the reverse.

To all,

Here is a small group of French mini's as follows:

* Medaille Militaire

* War Cross with star

* Victory medal (11 mm)

* War Commemorative Medal 1914-18

* Unofficial wound medal

What I found interesting is the different size medals on the one bar. In this case the French vic is 11 mm in diameter. French mini's are found in a number of different sizes ranging between 11mm, 13mm and 18mm. The vic almost looks out of place next to the larger other mini's.

Close-ups of the vic to follow.

Regards,

Rob

And the reverses.

Note the differences in detail of the flags and the slight differences and weight of the japanese inscriptions around the edge. In addition there are a number of instances where different characters are used, in particular at the bottom centre 6 o'clock position on the rim inscription.

Hope these pics help comparisons.

Regards,

Rob

To all,

These pics have also been posted at the specific thread on the Japanese vic but are included here as well for completeness as this thread seems to be receiving all the attention.

For a direct L-R side by side comparison here are a French made repro and a Japanese vic official. The first of the French made repro's were produced in the mid to late 1920's and were not all edge marked. Some have been seen with just BRONZE on the edge with others unmarked. Those produced in the 1930's have the edge marking 'MADE IN FRANCE' to comply with the US Tariff Law of 1931, which required marking with the country of origin.

There is, in addition, to the standard repro, a cast copy of the French repro as well. It has an even shallower field of detail, is suspended by a ball suspender and has the same French made ribbon.

Regards,

Rob

Hallo RobW,

Nice document,

interesting to see its dated for November 15th 1923.

Kevin in Deva.

Hello Kev,

I have a few of the award brevets. They were issued in the years 1923, 1924, and 1925.

As far as I knew the majority of the documents were awarded between 1921-1927. Is there any significance to the date in November 1923?

Regards,

Rob

Rob,

Very nice document! I missed two Greek Victory Medal certificates a couple years ago, both matching and in near mint condtion. I didn't realize then just how rare they really were.

Tim

Hello Tim,

Yes they are rare indeed! I'm still looking for them as well. I have seen an un-issued one but not one that is signed. Any further details would be appreciated.

Rob

And to go from medals to documents here is an award brevet for the Romanian vic. I have also posted this on the specific Romanian vic thread for completeness.

It is a longer document and as a consequence I had to scan it in two parts and then put it back together in Photoshop. Unusually it is in good condition as many others are quite damaged from being carried or folded.

It is signed with a stamped signature of the Minister of War near a circular stamp of the Ministry with the signature of the Director of personal on the right.

Regards,

Rob

And to go from medals to documents here is an award brevet.

It is a longer document and as a consequence I had to scan it in two parts and then put it back together in Photoshop. Unusually it is in good condition.

Regards,

Rob

Here is a Romanian unofficial type 3. It has a cylinder type suspender and is a bit more crude in appearance compared to the official and unofficial type 1 and type 2 varieties.

Of note on the reverse is the much thinner rings between the country name links as well as the replacement of all the letter 'G' with the letter 'C'. It was produced by a number of different local Romanian manufacturers. There are quite a lot of minor variations between different manufacturers as well.

Regards,

Rob

And a close-up of the reverse.

Regards,

Rob