Italy - WW1 Victory Medal

[Guest Darrell]

Obverse:

[Guest Darrell]

Reverse:

[Tony]

Hello Darrell,

Do you know if the ribbon is original for the Italian medal? The colours look different than some of the other allied Victory medals.

I've got one somewhere, I'd better check the colour.

Tony

[Guest Darrell]

Hi Tony ... it does look rather shiney and new ... not sure. Here is one on ebay that is being sold for comparison. Could be the lighting making the ribbon look darker as well animal

Edited May 15, 2005 by Darrell

[Tony]

I found my one in the cellar.

I bought most of my allied Victory medals when I first started collecting and have found out since then that some have the British ribbon when they shouldn't. I've also found out that my Greek one has a British supension ring which is wrong.

My Italian medal appears to have a faded British ribbon which is different to yours and the ebay photo.

A few years ago in Belgium I saw a nice one with palm and never bought it, the price worked out to about ?3.

Tony

[Guest Darrell]

It's strange with the allied medals. You quite often see replaced ribbons on medals of all sorts. This is a common occurance with medal groups (British / Canadian). It appears it was the "thing" to do in the post war years by many veterans to get their medals brass plated and new ribbons inserted on the bars

Take a look at sites selling Commonwealth medal bars ... its amzing how many have brand new ribbons and shiney brass plated Campaign Stars or Silver plated War/Volunteer Medals.

They sure look sweet, but from a collectors standpoint, we tend to cringe at what they did.

One reason you never see most German Medal Bars done up like this ... was the Swastika wasnt something they tended to show off in public post war in Germany animal

If you look at the other post I made on this forum (Begium WW1 Victory Medal) .. it isn't too hard to see that this ribbon is original :food-smiley-004:

[Tony]

When I was given my great Grandad's boxed BWM I went to clean it. My Grandad said if I do that he'll give me a clip round the ear (I was about 25 years old, he was 82) and take it back.

It was never worn as my great Grandad died of an illness he picked up in Rangoon (?) shortly after the war so the original ribbon looks brand new.

Tony

[Hendrik]

I thought it might be of interest to show some of the manufacturer's marks on the various types of the official Italian Victory Medal types as designed by Gaetano Orsolini (there are a number of reissues, repros and unofficial types) ...

First, my favourite, the Lorioli type : just that fractionally more refined than the others :

- on the obverse in the exergue : left "Orsolino Mod." - right, in two lines "F.M. Lorioli & Castelli / Milano"

- reverse : no die sinker's name

[attachmentid=34329]

Next, the nice Sacchini type :

- obverse exergue : left "Orsolino Mod." - right "Sacchini - Milano"

- reverse : right, just above the exergue, the die sinker's name "G. Villa"

[attachmentid=34332]

Thirdly, the Johnson type :

- obverse exergue : left "Orsolino Mod." - right "S. Johnson - Milano"

- reverse : right, just above the exergue, the die sinker's name "G. Villa"

[attachmentid=34333]

Two more official types are mentioned in the excellent book "The Interallied Victory Medals of World War I" by A. Laslo : both are without a maker's reference but one does have the Orsolini name in place, the other doesn't. The latter further differs from the others by having "MCMXV" as the starting year on the reverse inscription - it actually correctly reflects Italy's entry into the war.

Cheers,

Hendrik

[ilja559]

Edited April 18, 2007 by JimZ
Removed double attachment posted

[ilja559]

2.

[ilja559]

3.

[RRA227]

Nice! Rich A.

[FrancoItaly]

....Italian Victory Medal types as designed by Gaetano Orsolini

- on the obverse in the exergue : left "Orsolino Mod." - right, in two lines "F.M. Lorioli & Castelli / Milano"

- obverse exergue : left "Orsolino Mod." - right "Sacchini - Milano"

- obverse exergue : left "Orsolino Mod." - right "S. Johnson - Milano"

Is: Orsolini Mod. not Orsolino

Bye, Franco

[Tim B]

Another resurrected thread from the past.

This is a Sacchini-Milano piece. I also have one from S. Johnson. I noticed the Johnson pieces seem to be more reddish bronze in color than the other makers and have noted a variety of ribbon styles that are always close but not the same.

Tim

Edited September 5, 2007 by Tim B

[Tim B]

Beautiful design!!

[Tim B]

Reverse:

[Kev in Deva]

Hallo Gents

with regards the Inter-Allied Victory Medals of Italy it should be noted that there are:

OFFICIAL: (Orsolini's Design).

Type 1. Sacchini - Milano

Type 2. S. Johnson - Milano

Type 3. F. M. Lorioli & Castelli - Milano

Type 4. (Unknown Maker)

Type 5. (Unknown Maker)

REISSUE:

Type 1. Contemporary version by S. Johnstone. Less detail than official issue.

Type 2. Manufacturer not indicated, Has a number of die variations compared to the official issue.

UNOFFICIAL:

Type 1. Czech - made (Orsolini's Design)

Type 2. Standing Victory (Unknown Maker)

Type 3. Walking Victory (Unknown)

Type 4 (Landing Victory)REPRO:

Type 1. Cast copy of variety by S. Johnson, Poor contemporary copy made in England.

Type 2. Cast copy of variety by F. M. Lorioli & Castelli.

Type 3. Appears to be a contemporary version of the Inofficial Type 1. Has monor obverse and reverse die variations and a thicker planchet compaired to the Unofficial Type 1. Die variations are most obvious in the shape of the letters in top inscription on the reverse.

All the above from: The Inter-Allied Victory Medal of World War 1, 2nd Revised Edition, by Alexander J. Laslo.

Since this publication I believe there are two futher REPRODUCTIONS to come onto the International market.

Tony, there are a few original variations on the Italian Victory Medal Ribbon which cover the original issue, and replacement ribbon over time post WW1.

Kevin in Deva.

Edited September 5, 2007 by Kev in Deva

[RobW]

To all,

Here is a nice small italian vic mini group comprised of:

* War Merit Cross

* Commemorative War Medal 1915-1918

* Commemorative Medal for the Unification of Italy 1848-1918

* Interallied Victory Medal

The italian vic is 18 mm in diameter and has the Orsolini 'MOD' and 'Sacchini' marks on the bottom of the obverse.

These pics have also been posted on the 'WW1 Victory medals of the world' thread as well as some other Italian vic variety pics.

Close-ups to follow.

Regards,

Rob

[RobW]

And the reverses.

[RobW]

Here are the close-ups.

The italian vic mini has been seen in a number of different diameters ranging from 12.5 mm - 18 mm. Even though this particular mini is only 18 mm in diameter it has quite a great deal of detail. Such a lovely design.

Regards,

Rob

[lilo]

Hi All,

FYI, the colour of the ribbon from which the Victory medals shown by members Darrell (on post #4) and ilja559 (on posts #9 and # 10) is the correct, more common and first one issued with this medal. After the war another type (a little different) was used to substitute the first when it was broken.

Lilo

Edited October 14, 2009 by lilo

[Tim B]

Hi All,

FYI, the ribbon from which the Victory medals shown by members Darrell and ilja559 is the correct, more common and first issued with this medal. After the war another type (a little different) was used to substitute the first when it was broken.

Lilo

Hi,

In my opinion, the medal Darrell shows in posts 1 & 2 has a modern replaced ribbon and the colors are NOT correct. The other piece Darrell shows in post #4, as well as those other pieces shown are original, period ribbons.

Here is another original Italian Victory Medal with a modern replaced ribbon. I know it's replaced as I conducted a burn test and examined it under high resolution magnification and you can see the modern synthetic material. It is commonly sold by one ebay seller out of Germany.

Tim

[Tim B]

Not the same as looking directly at the piece under glass, but the best I can do here.

Tim

[Tim B]

I have several more, posted in the thread on WW1 Victory Medals in the "Rest of the World Militaria" section, so I won't double-post all of them here.

I will post this one as it's really nice and this is the appropriate place to show it off.

Tim

[lilo]

Hi,

In my opinion, the medal Darrell shows in posts 1 & 2 has a modern replaced ribbon and the colors are NOT correct. The other piece Darrell shows in post #4, as well as those other pieces shown are original, period ribbons.

Here is another original Italian Victory Medal with a modern replaced ribbon. I know it's replaced as I conducted a burn test and examined it under high resolution magnification and you can see the modern synthetic material. It is commonly sold by one ebay seller out of Germany.

Tim

Hi Tim,

Obviously in my first post I didn't specified which Victory medals posted by members Darrell and ilja559 had the correct WW1 Italian ribbon so I edited my first post accordingly to be more clear.

Regarding the ribbon you posted saying that it is the new copy ribbon used for the WW1 Italian Victory medals I must say that I agree with you only about the fact that it is new but I have never seen it here in Italy.