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Medals & Decorations

The Ashmolean Museum has a very good collection of British historical medals, dating from the Tudor period to the present day, with particularly high concentrations for the 18th and 19th centuries. Its continental and world holdings are very diverse, with some particularly significant medals of the Italian Renaissance; Germany and the Low Countries in the Renaissance and Baroque age; the papacy; etc. The decorations are mostly British and date from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century.

Modern commemorative medal (HCR98934)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill

Dating

1941-2020; possibly 2012?

Obverse

WINSTON CHURCHILL / PRIME MINISTER, portrait bust of Sir Winston Churchill; coat of arms of the United Kingdom

Reverse

☆ LEADERS OF WORLD WAR II ☆ / ☆☆☆, eagle with wings spread standing on arrows going in both directions; below, flags of the United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and ?France?; mintmark

Modern commemorative medal (HCR98979)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill

Dating

1941-2020; possibly 2012?

Obverse

WINSTON CHURCHILL / PRIME MINISTER, portrait bust of Sir Winston Churchill; coat of arms of the United Kingdom

Reverse

British commemorative medal - Churchill and the Battle of Britain Commemorative Medal (HCR95068)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, F. J. Halnon, London Stonecraft Ltd., London

Dating

1942

Obverse

WINSTON CHURCHILL 1941, bust of Sir Winston Churchill, left, with cigar in mouth

British commemorative medal - Churchill and the Battle of Britain Commemorative Medal (HCR154774)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, F. J. Halnon

Dating

1942

Obverse

WINSTON CHURCHILL 1941, bust of Sir Winston Churchill, left, with cigar in mouth

Modern (British?) educational award medal (HCR95746)

Period

Modern

Person

William Shakespeare, A. Drury

Dating

1944

Obverse

A. DRURY 1918, portrait of William Shakespeare, facing

Reverse

HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y [PENSE] / AGE QUOD AGIS, ?royal? or ?school? crest surrounded by the motto and symbol of the Order of the Garter; the second inscription in the form of a banner

British commemorative medal - The Battle of London (HCR98704)

Period

Modern

Person

Pinches

Dating

1944

Obverse

· BATTLE OF LONDON · SEPT 1940 · 1941 MAY ·, view of the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral and other buildings with ruins in the City of London amid flames, enemy planes held in searchlight above

Reverse

· BATTLE OF LONDON · JUNE 1944 AUGUST ·, view of the Tower of London from the river, V-1 above

British commemorative medal - The Battle of London (HCR98727)

Period

Modern

Person

Pinches

Dating

1944

Obverse

· BATTLE OF LONDON · SEPT 1940 · 1941 MAY ·, view of the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral and other buildings with ruins in the City of London amid flames, enemy planes held in searchlight above

Reverse

· BATTLE OF LONDON · JUNE 1944 AUGUST ·, view of the Tower of London from the river, V-1 above

British ?model? for an ?unfinished? medal (HCR95078)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, Lindner

Dating

1945-1965

Obverse

MCMXLV CHURCHILL, bust of Sir Winston Churchill, in bow tie, right

American commemorative medal - Churchill Commemorative Medal (HCR96889)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, Theodore Spicer-Simson

Mint

MACO=Medallic Art Company, New York (Modern)

Dating

1945

Obverse

WINSTON CHURCHILL / TSS / 1945, bust of Sir Winston Churchill, left, in great-coat; artist's cypher

Canadian commemorative medal - Churchill Commemorative Medal (HCR98602)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, S. Hayman

Dating

1945

Obverse

RT. HON WINSTON CHURCHILL / S. HAYMAN, bust of an older Sir Winston Churchill, left

Reverse

CANADA / COME, THEN, LET US TO OUR TASK. / S. H., in centre, large "V" for "Victory", lit torch, superimposed with Canadian arms and shield

French commemorative medal - Churchill and the Liberation of France Commemorative Medal (HCR98605)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, Pierre Turin

Mint

The French Mint, Paris (Modern)

Dating

1945

Obverse

WINSTON CHURCHILL / PIERRE TURIN / MCMVL, bust of Sir Winston Churchill, in trench coat and officer's cap, slightly to left

Reverse

FIEL PERO DESDICHADO / "NOUS N'AVONS QU'UN DÉSIR / VOIR UNE FRANCE FORTE ET LIBRE / ENTOUREE DE SON EMPIRE / ET REUNIE A L'ALSACE-LORRAINE" / 10 NOVEMBRE 1942, Churchill family arms: a shield quartering the arms of Churchill with those of Spencer above Marlborough motto; quotation in French from Sir Winston Churchill's speech at the Lord Mayor's Day address

French commemorative medal - Churchill and the Liberation of France Commemorative Medal (HCR98606)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, Pierre Turin

Mint

The French Mint, Paris (Modern)

Dating

1945

Obverse

WINSTON CHURCHILL / PIERRE TURIN / MCMVL, bust of Sir Winston Churchill, in trench coat and officer's cap, slightly to left

Reverse

French commemorative medal - Churchill and the Liberation of France Commemorative Medal (HCR98607)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, Pierre Turin

Mint

The French Mint, Paris (Modern)

Dating

1945

Obverse

WINSTON CHURCHILL / PIERRE TURIN / MCMVL, bust of Sir Winston Churchill, in trench coat and officer's cap, slightly to left

Reverse

British commemorative medal - Churchill and the Allied Victory Commemorative Medal (HCR98608)

Period

Modern

Person

Pinches, Sir Winston Churchill, A. Loewenthal

Dating

1945

Obverse

CHURCHILL / V 1945 / A·LŒWENTAL· / LINCOLN, bust of Sir Winston Churchill to left

Reverse

· UNFLINCHING · INDOMITABLE · HIS · SPIRIT · SAVED · BRITAIN · AND · SO · THE · WORLD · · / WE · WILL FIGHT · ON / LAND ON · SEA / AND · IN THE · AIR / UNTIL VICTORY / IS WON / AL, hand, rising from cloud, holding victory torch; artist's cypher