French reproduction British Victory medal

[RobW]

To one and all,

I am attempting to confirm or deny if a French made reproduction of the Great Britain Victory medal for the Great War was ever produced. I am not sure if to post here or in the French forum so will choose both.

This victory medal is depicted as illustration no. 158 on page 45 of M. Delande's 1934 Paris work 'Les Ordres Fran?ais, Les Ordres Coloniaux, M?dailles Comm?moratives, M?dailles d'Honneur des Minist?res, Les Croix et M?dailles, de la Guerre 1914-18, des Pays Alli?s'. Of note is that most of the interallied victory medal series are illustrated in this work, and there exist many specimens of these repro's including the Japanese, Czech, Greek, and US versions, as well as possibly the Belgian model.

It is depicted with a ball suspender which was common for most of the produced and seen French repro's and it is most likely to have BRONZE on the edge and the hallmark of M. Delande (a small square or more likely a lozenge shaped hallmark). I have attached a copy of the illustration in question, taken from an original 1934 copy of the catalogue (and a very fragile book it is; but it has such marvelously wonderful drawings especially of the Colonial decorations !).

Have any collectors identified an actual specimen of this variety as it is still unconfirmed, through two editions of Mr Laslo's work and the ensuing 75 years?

Can anyone help??

Regards,

Rob

[RobW]

To all,

The closest thing I have to such a French repro is a French produced British victory medal miniature. It was picked up from a French dealer in Paris. It is suspended by a ball suspender and looks close to that above. While it is suspended from French style vic miniature ribbon that, in itself, is not an indicator of anything. Happy for any thoughts on the issue.

Regards,

Rob

Edited July 19, 2009 by RobW

[RobW]

And the required close-up pics.

Regards,

Rob

[Tony]

A ball suspender would be the give away for noticing it's a French made VM. I would think there are other details too.

Perhaps the British VM in the 1934 book is a simple mistake by the author who may not have known the suspender is barrel shaped. As for the mini, I have no suggestions, sorry.

Tony

[Igor Ostapenko]

THE 1939-1945 STAR from Delande 

[peter monahan]

Yikes!  I am going to assume that the saw cut on the reverse is a deliberate mark, to prevent anyone passing it off as a real one.  And, I suppose, the price of a cheap copy is a boon to new collectros, but this is no prize!

[RobW]

 

A ball suspender would be the give away for noticing it's a French made VM. I would think there are other details too.

Perhaps the British VM in the 1934 book is a simple mistake by the author who may not have known the suspender is barrel shaped. As for the mini, I have no suggestions, sorry.

Tony

Hi Tony,

The French firm of M. Delande produced all manner of medals from a variety of countries and it is quite standard for them to use the ball suspender. They have produced a version of a number of vics from other countries that awarded the medal, including the Siam, US, and Portugal vics that had a ball suspender.

The 39-45 Star, illustrated above, is but one of many that were produced by M. Delande and these varieties are not seen that often.

In regards the vic mini I have this one listed above at 15 mm as well as another at 12mm which are two of the standard sizes for French mini's. I also have a full-size British vic with a ball suspender but that specimen appears to be British made with the addition of a ball suspender.

Regards,

Rob

Edited May 14, 2017 by RobW
typo

[Tony]

Rob,

That's interesting to hear you believe your Brit. VM with ball suspender is British made, but unnamed I imagine. Do you think it was made as a replacement or for the collectors?

Tony

[RobW]

 

Rob,

That's interesting to hear you believe your Brit. VM with ball suspender is British made, but unnamed I imagine. Do you think it was made as a replacement or for the collectors?

Tony

Tony,

The planchet of my British medal, both obverse and reverse, appears the same as the official strike which leads me to believe it was a British production. The only difference on the planchet is the lack of the small plinth beneath the barrel suspender; which, as you know is part of the planchet striking. In this case the planchet is completely circular with the ball suspender soldered on top in place of the barrel suspender. The entire production has the same shiny gilt finish as seen on the official strikes.

The medal is named. The naming style and type is totally consistent with that seen on official strikes which leads me to conclude it was a later issue maybe as a replacement or a late claim.  I don't think it was made for the collector market.

The recipient is listed as: 24583 PTE J.P. CLARK. W.YORK. R.

I have not conducted any research on PTE CLARK yet; nor do I yet have a copy of his MIC. That is a project for the future when I have the time.

In regards the actual medal; due to a number of reasons I no longer post pictures of my collection on this forum; but I hope the explanation above is enough to satisfy your curiosity.

Regards,
Rob

Edited May 16, 2017 by RobW
typo

[Tony]

Thanks for adding the details Rob, it now makes me wonder if it could have been repaired by a jeweller.

Tony

[Igor Ostapenko]

another Star from Delande