RobW

Sergio, As far as I have been able to identify the french medal manufacturers also produced the ribbons for the medals. I would suggest that maybe it is a french produced ribbon but don't have any further information than that. French ribbon that I have seen has different hues and colours than the original ribbons. My example did not have any ribbon attached to it. Regards, Rob

Hello Sergio, Happy to help where I can. Regards, Rob

And here is the scan of the accompanying description, from page 97. Regards, Rob

Sergio, Here is a scan of the illustration from the 1934 Delande catalogue; page 95. Regards, Rob

Here is the picture of my french produced example. Regards, Rob

Hello Sergio, The medal that you have described, and posted pictures of, is not a fake but a french reproduction contemporary to the period. It was produced in the early 1930's timeframe by the french medal production house of M.Delande in Paris. They were a well known french medal manufacturer who were a prolific producer of medals from not just France but a wide variety of european countries. During the same timeframe they produced medals and decorations from countries that were involved in the Great War of 1914-1918. These decorations and medals were illustrated in a fantastic 1934 catalogue produced by the Delande firm showing all the varieties. It was commonplace for there to be die differences in these french made reproductions compared to the originals. The details that you showed in your pictures are consistent with a Delande manufactured piece and the file marks on the rim are also common in these pieces. I will post a picture of my Delande manufactured reproduction, which was obtained during the final close-down sale of stock from that manufacturer, and you will see the details are the same. I will also post the illustration and entry from the 1934 Delande catalogue for your reference. All in all you have a nice 1930's french produced reproduction of a nicely designed italian war commemorative medal. Regards, Rob

Hello IrishGunner, The 'wire loop' is a designed for fitting on the lapel of a jacket. It is a commonly seen accoutrement especially with french and belgian items. Regards, Rob

To one and all, Here is another example of a French War Commemorative medal. In this case it appears that the medal was struck without makers marks on the reverse. The BR mark and cornucopia of the Paris mint are actually stamped into the reverse planchet instead of being part of the design as usually seen. It seems odd that the BR mark and cornucopia are stamped into the planchet. Has any other French collector seen such a variety? Regards, Rob

Hello David, A nice pair of a Leisek and a Riemer produced Belgian model vic. Of note is the Leisek is the unofficial type 1a variety with the 'LA' mark only on the reverse. The unofficial type 1 Leisek variety is a bit more difficult to obtain and it has the 'LA' mark on both the obverse and reverse. Once you get started down this road there just seems to be so many varieties to collect. Regards, Rob

Hello David, While you have indeed picked up a nice Greek official vic it does appear to be missing the top part of the decorative suspension. The top half of this suspender is illustrated, in close-up pics, in posts #48 and #49 of this thread. It looks like yours has been replaced with a simple brass ring. Regards, Rob

Hello David, A nice example. It is a medal that appears frequently in French groups due to service in the Salonika theatre of war. There is a specific thread on the different varieties of the Serbian commemorative medal for the Great War on another section of GMIC. It is located at: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/23820-serbia-different-types-of-commemorative-wwi/ This thread also has some different award documents as well. Regards, Rob

Hello David, As Bill has alluded to; in order to repair this piece you would have to either denude another medal of a ball suspender or have one fashioned by a jeweler. An experienced jeweler should be able to solder such a sourced replacement onto the planchet. Either way it is not going to be an easy task. I would keep the piece as a placeholder and wait until you are in a position to obtain another piece complete with ball suspender and suspension ring. Regards, Rob

Hello David, Yes; you have an official version. It has the barrel suspender and correct unblended ribbon. I have posted some comparison pics of the official version next to the French made reproduction (which has a ball suspender) at #3 and #4 of this thread. They will clearly show the differences. Regards, Rob

Hello David, There are a number of different finishes; shiny or dull bronze, that Romanian vics are seen in. In this case you have a good example of a 'reverse N' variety (unofficial type 2 in both Laslo volumes) that happens to have a shiny finish. It is illustrated as plates 72-73 in the first edition. Regards, Rob

Hello David, As Bill has indicated, there is nothing wrong with the piece. A nice official type 2 with nice French ribbon in good condition. Regards, Rob

Hello David, In the first edition of Mr Laslo's work he lists an official type and another as the 'unofficial type 4', on page 23. These are then illustrated in that volume as plates 18-19 and 21-22 respectively at the back of the book. The 'unofficial type 4' is re-listed as the 'official type 1' and the 'official type' is re-listed as the 'official type 2', in the second edition. The main differences are the lack of a designers name (O. Spaniel) and the presence of maker marks (LA) on the type 1 compared to the presence of a designers name and no makers marks on the type 2. Bill has posted some colour pictures of the type 1, including close-ups of the maker marks in #81 of this thread. That should provide the detail you are looking for. Regards, Rob

Hello David, There have been a number of similar discussion points raised about newer varieties than that listed in the Laslo volumes. Noting that Alex Laslo's 2nd edition was published in 1992 it stands to reason that there are going to be additional varieties, not identified at the time of publication, surfacing. Given the passage of 21 years since that book was released there are a number of newer varieties and sub-varieties that have been discussed, and in some cases, illustrated in the various threads on this forum topic. I would suggest that you review each country sub-thread and you may find the answers you are looking for. As has already been posted the unofficial Belgian types are becoming much harder to find, in good condition whereas the unofficial Italian models are well-nigh impossible to find. The divergence between scarcity and value has often been discussed amongst all collectors. To para-phrase an earlier post on the 'WW1 Victory Medals General Discussion' sub-thread, which has relevance regarding what collectors will pay: "There is two areas here that need to be understood; market values and collector values. I think a close look at sales on the various online auction houses, ebay sites, and other online medal dealers should give you a general guide as to the prices you could expect for each of the varieties. There is then what a specific collector will pay for the same item; and this may not always be consistent with the market value." Regards, Rob

Hello David, Welcome to the forum. I am sure that you will find much information of assistance amongst the threads here. Good luck on your impending search to locate an example of each official and unofficial variety. I am sure that it will be an interesting journey. Regards, Rob

Hello Bill, Despite the accumulation of residue amongst the base relief, possibly from cleaning, this is a good looking official piece. I am sure it could be cleaned up with some careful brushing to remove the residue buildup. A quick dip in an ultrasonic cleaner should remove all that buildup. While the price could be considered high it is nonetheless a rare piece, as far as the entire interallied vic series is concerned. These original pieces do not appear that often and are, with the Brazil vic, most often missing from a vic collection. Regards, Rob

Hello Jim, Poster and Owner: Yes. Regards, Rob

Hello Paul, I have both a type 1 and a type 2 and I never really took that much attention to any differences in the relief. While my collection is in long-term storage the next time I am in a position to review them, I shall take a closer look. I do know, however, that the type 1 is much more rarely seen than the type 2. Regards, Rob

Hello Lambert, It appears that the mystery of the earlier cuban vic (posts #128 & #136) has been solved. Regards, Rob

Hello Lambert, They all have a small tab of velcro on the reverse with the country identifyer as well. This would suggest they have been produced for a board or some other display as a large group. What is very interesting is the copy of the Polish fake. Seems very ironic that faked items are now being copied as if that gives them some form of legitimacy. With the 100 year anniversary of the Great War approaching we might probably expect to see some more interest in the vic series as a result. At least new collectors have this resource available to assist them. Regards, Rob

Hello Bill and GM1, This seems the most plausible reason. If the suspension ball was actually sawn there would be marks and the ring is actually too large to fit through the resulting crack. This supports the tension cracking option. An interesting item nonetheless. Regards, Rob

Hello Lambert, The item has yet to arrive but I have a picture of the rim from another Italian repro to illustrate the mark. It is listed as the US repro type 2 in the Laslo reference (1992 edition). Regards, Rob