WW1 Victory Medals General Discussion

[QSAMIKE]

4 hours ago, Gunner 1 said:

There is now a Type III British officially-issued Great War Victory Medal that has been discussed on the Great War Forum.  It was issued in May 1915 (along with a BWM) to the next-of-kin of a British soldier whose BWM and VM had been returned by his mother and never re-issued.  Unfortunately it appears as if the issued medals (see below) do not look any better than some of the current reproductions.

 

OK Gunner 1......

You have me confused.....  You have stated that these medals were issued in 1915.....  Yet the war medal is dated 1914-1918.......   Or was that a typing error.....  Are these the modern issues and should read 2015.....

Mike

[Gunner 1]

Mike:  Sorry, a typo - I meant 2015.  That is what happens when one spends most of the day working on a Great War database of Great War RA officers!!

Gunner 1

[Herman]

20 hours ago, Gunner 1 said:

There is now a Type III British officially-issued Great War Victory Medal that has been discussed on the Great War Forum.  It was issued in May 2015 (along with a BWM) to the next-of-kin of a British soldier whose BWM and VM had been returned by his mother and never re-issued.  Unfortunately it appears as if the issued medals (see below) do not look any better than some of the current reproductions.

Got any pictures of the rim. I love to see the modern naming on these two.

 

regards

Herman

[Gunner 1]

I have some photos but they are quite poor (see below).  According to the information on the Great War Forum a letter from the Medal Office indicated that the naming was impressed.

[Herman]

Indeed, they look impressed, which is a surprise as modern British medals are mechanicly engraved (i hope i use the correct phrase for it). Didn't knew they still impressed medal rims.

Thansk and regards

Herman

[paul wood]

Looks like laser impressing to me.

Paul

[Gunner 1]

Paul:  I expected them to be laser etched and asked the next-of-kin to query the MoD as to whether they were laser etched or impressed and she received the following reply:

"Thank you for your email and I am so pleased that you received the First World War Medals.  It is lovely to hear that your family are thrilled at receiving them as, I appreciate that they mean so much.

In respect of your question about how the wording was applied to the rim of the medals, I can confirm that it is impressed.

Best wishes.

DBS MODMO Honours & Awards E1a"

[paul wood]

Goodness looked quite similar naming to the medals for Afghanistan and Second Iraq, maybe the luxuriant mirror surfaces dazzled me.

Paul

[lambert]

Christmas & New Year greetings

 

I know it's a little early, but I let my Merry Christmas message to all friends I have made in these years of collecting. Many Greetings and success in 2016! many new acquisitions in the collection !!

 

Kind regards from Brazil

 

Lambert & Vanessa

 

[johnnymac]

What a nice looking couple you two make, Merry Christmas as well.

For those interested here is the new cover to my updated and expanded ed.

Edited December 24, 2015 by johnnymac

[johnnymac]

Hi my book "World War I Victory Medals" will be coming out on KINDLE after a large request to do so by you. This is an excellent way to take your book to military shows for reference use. Start date as I've been told by Kindle is January 12. 2016

Regards, Jim

.

Edited January 7, 2016 by johnnymac

[lambert]

Thank you Jim.

Excellent expanded book.

Cheers

Lambert

[Bilco]

On 25/11/2015 at 00:12, Gunner 1 said:

There is now a Type III British officially-issued Great War Victory Medal that has been discussed on the Great War Forum.  It was issued in May 2015 (along with a BWM) to the next-of-kin of a British soldier whose BWM and VM had been returned by his mother and never re-issued.  Unfortunately it appears as if the issued medals (see below) do not look any better than some of the current reproductions.

I just received the following info about these WW1 medals from Rachel Evans at the Royal Mint:

"There is no original medal stock from the period and therefore MOD requires new medals to be produced. Over the century that has elapsed since the cessation of hostilities the MOD has used different manufactures to produce these medals. The current manufacturer of First World War medals is The Royal Mint."

Bill

 

 

[Gunner 1]

Bill:  I have just published a blog on the Type III VM on the 'blog section' of the Orders and Medals Society of America website (www.omsa.org).  A blog on the Type I, IR and II VMs has already been published there. 

Edited March 9, 2016 by Gunner 1

[Bilco]

Many thanks Gunner 1. I've enjoyed your blogs, thanks.

At least we now have the info on who made these medals from the horse's mouth (no slur intended, Rachel!)

Bill

[Bilco]

I asked Rachel, the Medal Account Manager at the Royal Mint, about the naming, and her reply is:

"To engrave the recipients details we use one of the old traditional Royal Mint engraving machines which means that we can keep it looking as close to the original engraving font as we can."

Bill

 

[peter monahan]

That would suggest that one of the two employees is in error, as the medals can't be BOTH 'impressed' and 'engraved'.  Or I'm I missing something.  

[Bilco]

Well Peter, the lady at the Medal Office in Gloucester is not where the medals are made, while Rachel is at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant.

I asked Rachel about the anomaly in her statement that the originals were engraved, and to confirm whether the new medals are impressed or engraved. She said:

"You are correct in that the original medals were ‘impressed’ please accept my apologies for the incorrect terminology I used.

 

For modern day medals which we engrave we use a ‘laser tip’ engraver, however to keep to more traditional methods of engraving we currently use a ‘pantograph’ for all WW1 medals."

Bill

 

[lambert]

My 2 cents ..

would be better if the medals were Silver and Bronze Matte.

Cheers

Lambert

[lambert]

The second part of the reissue VM British.

http://www.omsa.org/the-victory-medal-1914-1919-part-ii/

Cheers

Lambert

[lambert]

A rare Victory Medal Diploma for sale on Ebay Brazilian ..

Someone willing to spend $ 530

 

Lambert

[paul wood]

Very nice to a naval recipient, if you have the medal a nice companion piece and considerably rarer.

Paul

 

[johnnymac]

Lambert, How many of this type rare documents will you see in your lifetime? 1 maybe 2. If I were younger and planning on collecting Victory Medal items for many more years I would myself purchase this item  even at a higher cost. Will you lost money, maybe but I don't think so.

Regards Jim

[Bilco]

I wasn't sure which thread to put this in - USA or GB  - on eBay item #332051536282

Is there a story behind this, or just a put-together??

Bill

Edited December 3, 2016 by Bilco
Add photo

[Bilco]

The photos of the edge of the above medal show it was awarded to R-8840 PTE. G. CROW K.R.R.C. The medal card I found on Ancestry shows the name George Crow, and service in the Sussex Regiment after the K.R.R.C., but at the top of the card it says:

"Not Identical with No 4480 G Crow KRRC on 14 Star Roll". It's odd that the second service number could have been wrongly taken down - 8840 versus 4480 - but I can't find another suitable G Crow on the Medal Cards. The Ancestry Medal Card entry shows both KRRC numbers, as well as the Sussex Regt number.

This G Crow is shown as going to France 21/4/15 and being discharged 29/9/17. Did he emigrate to the US, hence his medal ending up over there?? Or is this just a put-together? The ribbon, brooch, and clasps are genuine US items.

I found in the UK Outward Passenger Lists 1890-1960 on Ancestry a George Crow, dob 1896, departed Southampton for New York 20 May 1936. That dob would have made him 19 in 1915, so a good fit with the Medal Card. So, it's possible to imagine that he saw the US servicemen who had been in France, who had the clasps to show for it and he had none, so he 'self-awarded' some to his Victory medal.

Bill