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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.

British medal (HCR95601)

Period

Modern

Person

William Shakespeare, Percy Metcalfe

Dating

20th century

Obverse

THE SHAKESPEARE MEDAL, draped bust of William Shakespeare, half-left, bare headed, closely after the Droeshout portrait; signed monogram of the artist

Reverse

THE JAPAN SOCIETY TO / THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKIO, fictitious map of the British Isles juxtaposed with the Japanese archipelago; various sea-creatures, some real; on the bezel, flags of the United Kingdom and Japan

American plaquette (HCR95057)

Period

Modern

Person

William Shakespeare

Mint

MACO=Medallic Art Company, New York (Modern)

Dating

1929

Obverse

SHAKESPEARE / H / 1929, bust of William Shakespeare, left, depicted wearing a fur coat and starched high ruff

American plaquette (HCR95065)

Period

Modern

Person

William Shakespeare

Mint

MACO=Medallic Art Company, New York (Modern)

Dating

1929

Obverse

SHAKESPEARE / H / 1929, bust of William Shakespeare, left, depicted wearing a fur coat and starched high ruff

British prize medal (HCR95745)

Period

Modern

Person

William Shakespeare

Dating

1934

Obverse

ROYAL · ACADEMY · OF ·DRAMATIC · ART, draped bust of William Shakespeare, bare head facing, resting upon a cushion, with paper in left hand, quill in right; closely follows the Stratford memorial bust

Reverse

JOSEPH HOLLAND / FEB. 27ᵀᴴ 1934, a wreath of laurel surrounding inscription

So-called "hobo nickel": buffalo nickel made into an unofficial American commemorative coin (HCR96947)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, James Earle Fraser

Mint

Philadelphia, United States (Modern)

Denom.

5 cents

Dating

before 2020

Obverse

LIBERTY 1937, native American profile recarved into a profile of Sir Winston Churchill, with bowler hat, cigar, and bow-tie

Reverse

UNITED·STATES·OF·AMERICA / E / PLURIBUS / UNUM / FIVE CENTS, standing American bison, facing left

So-called "hobo nickel": buffalo nickel made into an unofficial American commemorative coin (HCR96948)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, James Earle Fraser

Mint

Philadelphia, United States (Modern)

Denom.

5 cents

Dating

before 2020

Obverse

LIBERTY 1937, native American profile recarved into a profile of Sir Winston Churchill, with bowler hat, cigar, and bow-tie

Reverse

UNITED·STATES·OF·AMERICA / E / PLURIBUS / UNUM / FIVE CENTS, standing American bison, facing left

Modern commemorative medal (HCR95737)

Period

Modern

Person

William Shakespeare, Frank Kovacs

Dating

c. 1960?

Obverse

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE / F. KOVACS, bust of William Shakespeare, left

Wax study for a medallic portrait of Sir Winston Churchill (HCR98690)

Period

Modern

Person

Frank Kovacs, Sir Winston Churchill

Dating

no later than 1965

Obverse

WINSTON SPENCER CHURCHILL / KOVACS, bust of Sir Winston Churchill, left, with bowtie; artist's signature

Modern British or American commemorative medallic plaque (HCR95087)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill

Dating

probably between 1939 and 2000

Obverse

1/4 bust of Sir Winston Churchill, 3/4 facing, in bow-tie and suit

Argentine ?Stalinist? commemorative medal (HCR96939)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt ('FDR')

Dating

1943?

Obverse

UNIDOS ASEGUREMOS EL TRIUNFO DE ESTA GUERRA LIBERTADORA, bust of Joseph Stalin, left

Reverse

jugate bust of F. D. Roosevelt and Sir Winston Churchill, left

Argentine ?Stalinist? commemorative medal (HCR96940)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt ('FDR')

Dating

1943?

Obverse

UNIDOS ASEGUREMOS EL TRIUNFO DE ESTA GUERRA LIBERTADORA, bust of Joseph Stalin, left

Reverse

jugate bust of F. D. Roosevelt and Sir Winston Churchill, left

German satirical propaganda medal - Churchill and the sinking of the "Athenia" (HCR98598)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, Guido Goetz

Dating

1939

Obverse

VORS(SICHT) HÖLLEN- / MASCHINE / AN MR. / CHURCHILL / EIN MEISTER DER LÜGE, full figure of Sir Winston Churchill seated on a wooden shipping crate; he holds in his left hand a balance scale, a bomb marked with a Union Flag in the far balance, a torpedo with swastika in the near balance which Churchill points out with his right hand as his left hand tips the scale to weigh down the torpedo

Reverse

ATHENIA / 4 SEPTEMBER 1939 / GUIDO GOETZ, passenger liner inscribed; breaking waves steaming to right; Skeleton figure of death straddles the bow, facing, slightly to right, holding a torch in its right hand, and a bomb with a Union Flag in its left hand

German satirical propaganda medal - Churchill and the sinking of H.M.S. "Courageous" (HCR98599)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, Guido Goetz

Dating

1939

Obverse

RULE BRITANNIA ! / COURAGEOUS / GUIDO GOETZ, Neptune rising from the sea, holding on his right shoulder the sunken aircraft carrier "Courageous"; the name of the ship inscribed on the port side of the bow; aircraft visible on the flight deck; in his left hand he holds a trident; a small Union Flag hangs at his left side

Reverse

TORPED. / VON / DEUTSCH. / "U" / BOOT / 18. SEPT 1939 / DIE HIOBSBOTCHAFT AN CHURCHILL, cloaked skeleton figure of Death emerges from the sea to right, holding in its left hand a paper headed by a large incuse swastika

German satirical propaganda medal - Churchill and the sinking of H.M.S. "Courageous" (HCR98600)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, Guido Goetz

Dating

1939

Obverse

Reverse

German satirical propaganda medal - sinking of HMS "Ark Royal" (HCR98601)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, Karl Goetz, Guido Goetz

Dating

1939

Obverse

WIE SAG ICHS MEI NEM VOLKE / W CH / L ✡ B / H / DEUTSCHE / BOMBER / GEGEN / BRIT. SEE - / STREITKRÄFTE / 27. SEPT. 39, trio of half-figures: Chamberlain, facing, hands clasped in thought; left, First Lord of the Admiralty Sir Winston Churchill, smoking a cigar; right, Leslie Hore-Belisha, with hands covering face; Churchill's right hand partially obscuring an inscribed paper

Reverse

ARK / ROYAL / ? / GUIDO GOETZ, German bomber decorated with swastikas above a skeleton (representing Death), looking upwards to right, holding a Union Jack among waves and explosions

German satirical propaganda medal - Churchill and the sinking of the "Athenia" (HCR98604)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, Guido Goetz

Dating

1939

Obverse

Reverse

Argentine ?Stalinist? commemorative medal (HCR98733)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt ('FDR')

Dating

1943?

Obverse

UNIDOS ASEGUREMOS EL TRIUNFO DE ESTA GUERRA LIBERTADORA, bust of Joseph Stalin, left

Reverse

jugate bust of F. D. Roosevelt and Sir Winston Churchill, left

Argentine ?Stalinist? commemorative medal (HCR98743)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt ('FDR')

Dating

1943?

Obverse

UNIDOS ASEGUREMOS EL TRIUNFO DE ESTA GUERRA LIBERTADORA, bust of Joseph Stalin, left

Reverse

jugate bust of F. D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, left

German satirical propaganda medal - sinking of HMS "Ark Royal" (HCR98827)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, Karl Goetz, Guido Goetz

Dating

1939

Obverse

Reverse

ARK / ROYAL / ? / GUIDO GOETZ, German bomber decorated with swastikas above a skeleton (representing Death), looking upwards to right, holding a Union Jack among waves and explosions

Modern commemorative plaque (HCR95084)

Period

Modern

Person

Percy Metcalfe, Sir Winston Churchill

Dating

mid-late 20th century

Obverse

bust of an older Sir Winston Churchill, left