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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.

Commemorative plaque - Bermuda Conference (HCR98666)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill

Dating

1953

Obverse

CHURCHILL / BERMUDA / DEC · 5 / 1953, hand of Sir Winston Churchill in "V for Victory" sign rising from water

British commemorative medal - Winston Churchill, 80th Birthday 1954 (HCR98661)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill

Mint

The Mint, Birmingham (Modern)

Dating

1954

Obverse

bust of Sir Winston Churchill, draped, almost facing

Reverse

1874-1954 / TO COMMEMORATE THE 80ᵗʰ. BIRTHDAY OF / THE RIGHT HONOURABLE / SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL / K.G., O.M., C.H. / BRITAIN'S WARTIME / LEADER / NEVER WAS SO MUCH / OWED BY SO MANY, two oak branches above; crossed laurel branches below; paraphrasing of one of Churchill's quotations

British commemorative medal - Winston Churchill, 80th Birthday 1954 (HCR98680)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill

Mint

The Mint, Birmingham (Modern)

Dating

1954

Obverse

bust of Sir Winston Churchill, draped, almost facing

Reverse

?British? medallic stamp plaque (HCR98919)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, Head of the Commonwealth

Dating

1954-2020

Obverse

view of the installation ceremony of Sir Winston Churchill as Knight of the Garter: Sir Winston Churchill in Garter dress; Queen Elizabeth II processing down steps; royals and officials around

Reverse

SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL: KNIGHT OF THE GARTER / 14th June 1954 / Sir Winston Churchill is installed as a Knight Companion / of the Most Noble Order of the Garter at the traditional / ceremony in St George's Chapel, Windsor., portrait bust of Queen Elizabeth II within tondo; inscription below

Venezuelan commemorative medal - Churchill Second World War Leader Commemorative Medal (HCR96916)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, Remo Cademartori, Pedro Centeno-Vallenilla

Mint

Acuñaciones C.A., Caracas (Modern), German State Mint, Karlsruhe (Modern)

Dating

1957

Obverse

JEFES EN LA SEGUNDA GUERRA / CHIEFS IN THE SECOND WAR 1939 1945 / CHURCHILL / G. BRT. G.B. / R.B., head of Sir Winston Churchill facing, slightly to right

Reverse

JEFES / EN LA SEGUNDA GUERRA / CHIEFS IN THE SECOND WAR BANCO / ITALO-VENEZOLANO / Silber / 1000 fein / ca. 13 g. / VENEZUELA 1957 / R.C. / 1939 / 1945 / P.C.-V., open-winged condor, talons grasping a sword

Venezuelan commemorative medal - Churchill Second World War Leader Commemorative Medal (HCR98691)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, Remo Cademartori, Pedro Centeno-Vallenilla

Mint

Acuñaciones C.A., Caracas (Modern), German State Mint, Karlsruhe (Modern)

Dating

1957

Obverse

JEFES EN LA SEGUNDA GUERRA / CHIEFS IN THE SECOND WAR 1939 1945 / CHURCHILL / G. BRT. G.B. / R.B., head of Sir Winston Churchill facing, slightly to right

Reverse

JEFES / EN LA SEGUNDA GUERRA / CHIEFS IN THE SECOND WAR BANCO / ITALO-VENEZOLANO / 20 GR. DE ORO PURO · VENEZUELA 1957 · 20 GR. FINE GOLD / ORO GR / 22.2 / LEY 900 / R.C. / 1939 / 1945 / P.C.-V., open-winged condor, talons grasping a sword

Polish commemorative plaque - quatercentenary of the birth of William Shakespeare (HCR95036)

Period

Modern

Person

William Shakespeare, Karol Tchorek

Dating

c. 1964

Obverse

WILLIAM / SHAKESPEARE, asymmetrical hexagonal three-dimensional sculpted relief

Reverse

KAROL TCHOREK, signature of the artist etched on

Polish commemorative plaque - quatercentenary of the birth of William Shakespeare (HCR95037)

Period

Modern

Person

Karol Tchorek

Dating

c. 1964

Obverse

asymmetrical hexagonal three-dimensional sculpted relief, with sculpted shaped holes

Reverse

KAROL TCHOREK, signature of the artist etched on

Modern commemorative medal - quatercentenary of the birth of William Shakespeare (HCR95606)

Period

Modern

Person

William Shakespeare

Dating

1964?

Obverse

WILLIAM · SHAKESPEARE / 1564 / 1964, draped bust of William Shakespeare, bare head facing, after the Droeshout portrait

Reverse

stylized masks of tragicomedy within a stylized laurel wreath

Modern

Person

William Shakespeare

Dating

1964?

Obverse

WILLIAM · SHAKESPEARE / 1564 / 1964, draped bust of William Shakespeare, bare head facing, after the Droeshout portrait

Italian commemorative medal - Churchill Second World War Leader Twentieth Anniversary Commemorative Medal (HCR96913)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill

Dating

1959

Obverse

SECONDE GUERRE • SECOND WAR 1939-1945 / CHURCHILL / GRANDE GREAT / BRETAGNE BRITAIN, bust of Sir Winston Churchill to left

Reverse

INT. NUMISMATICS ESTABLISHMENT / ARGOR 900/000, Mars, sword drawn, standing facing, head to left; behind are two hemispheric maps of the globe, symbolizing the world conflict wrought by the war

British commemorative medal - Churchill and the 1940 Club Commemorative Medal - 85th birthday of Sir Winston Churchill (HCR98614)

Period

Modern

Person

Frank Kovacs, Sir Winston Churchill

Mint

Spink & Son, Ltd., London (Modern)

Dating

1959

Obverse

1940 CLUB / CHURCHILL / MASTER MEMBER / BEAVERBROOK, PRESIDENT / FK, bust of Sir Winston Churchill facing, slightly to left; inscription above and in exergue

Reverse

MINISTRY OF AIRCRAFT PRODUCTION / "TO WHOM / MUST THE / PRAISE BE GIVEN?" / 23ᴿᴰ MARCH 1941 / ROBERT HARDMAN / SPINK LONDON, airplane propeller in centre; oak wreath below

British commemorative medal - Churchill and the 1940 Club Commemorative Medal - 85th birthday of Sir Winston Churchill (HCR98635)

Period

Modern

Person

Frank Kovacs, Sir Winston Churchill

Mint

Spink & Son, Ltd., London (Modern)

Dating

1959

Obverse

1940 CLUB / CHURCHILL / MASTER MEMBER / BEAVERBROOK, PRESIDENT / FK, bust of Sir Winston Churchill facing, slightly to left; inscription above and in exergue

Reverse

MINISTRY OF AIRCRAFT PRODUCTION / "TO WHOM / MUST THE / PRAISE BE GIVEN?" / 23ᴿᴰ MARCH 1941 / SPINK LONDON, airplane propeller in centre; oak wreath below