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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 commemorative medal - Churchill and the Allied Victory Commemorative Medal (HCR98612)

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

French commemorative medal (HCR98643)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, Pierre Turin

Dating

1945

Obverse

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

Reverse

COLLECTION / SECONDE GUERRE / MONDIALE / 1939 - 1945, Hexagon (representing France?) at bottom

British commemorative medal (HCR98664)

Period

Modern

Person

Frank Kovacs, Sir Winston Churchill

Dating

1945

Obverse

WINSTON CHURCHILL 1945 / F·K, portrait bust of Sir Winston Churchill, right, with bowtie; artist's signature

French commemorative medal - Yalta Conference (HCR98712)

Period

Modern

Person

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

Dating

possibly 2018?; no later than 2020

Obverse

☆ YALTA ☆ / ☆ 4-11 FÉVRIER 1945 ☆, view of Sir Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin, seated; colourised French ribands around

Reverse

· SECONDE GUERRE MONDIALE · / RÉPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE / 1939 - 1945, Croix de Guerre with Marianne (personification of France) in centre, surrounded by laurel wreath; inscription around; various symbols including a caduceus

German commemorative medal - Potsdamer Conference 1945 (HCR99001)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill

Dating

1945-2019

Obverse

· POTSDAMER ABKOMMEN 1945 · W. CHURCHILL · H. TRUMAN · J. W. STALIN, portrait of triple handshake between Sir Winston Churchill, Truman, and Stalin

Reverse

» EINIGKEIT UND RECHT UNT FREIHEIT... « WENDEPUNKTE DEUTSCHER GESCHICHTE / 999, map of Germany, over which two jacketed hands in a handshake

British presentation medal - Churchill War Coalition Cabinet Presentation Medal (HCR95074)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill

Mint

Spink & Son, Ltd., London (Modern)

Dating

1946

Obverse

SALUTE THE / GREAT COALITION / 1940 - 1945, inscription within oak wreath

Reverse

TO / PAUL EMRYS-EVANS / FROM / WINSTON CHURCHILL, inscription within oak wreath

Modern commemorative plaquette (HCR98610)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill

Dating

1946

Obverse

an older suited Sir Winston Churchill, left, smoking cigar, in front of the Houses of Parliament and the Queen Elizabeth Tower ('Big Ben'), London

Commemorative American medal - "Iron Curtain" speech (HCR98938)

Period

Modern

Person

Frank Kovacs, Sir Winston Churchill

Mint

The Danbury Mint (Modern)

Dating

1946-1999

Obverse

☆ CHURCHILL MAKES "IRON CURTAIN" SPEECH ☆ 1946 / FK, Sir Winston Churchill, facing, in bow tie, with right forefinger pointed as if giving a speech; in front, microphones and leaves; ?signature of the artist?

Reverse

AT / FULTON, MISSOURI, / WINSTON CHURCHILL TOLD / THE WORLD THAT RUSSIA'S / POST-WAR CONTROL OF EASTERN EUROPE / HAD CAUSED AN IRON CURTAIN TO / DESCEND ON THAT CONTINENT / AND THAT THE COLD WAR / HAD BEGUN. ☆ 1946 ☆, inscription; eagle standing on banner with year of speech; laurel branches

French commemorative medal (HCR98719)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill

Dating

2nd half of the 20th century

Obverse

SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL, bust of Sir Winston Churchill, left

French commemorative medal (HCR98720)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill

Dating

2nd half of the 20th century

Obverse

SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL / CERCLE DU / BIBLIOPHILE, bust of Sir Winston Churchill, left

French commemorative medal (HCR98721)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill

Dating

2nd half of the 20th century

Obverse

SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL / CERCLE DU / BIBLIOPHILE, bust of Sir Winston Churchill, left

French commemorative medal (HCR98925)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill

Dating

2nd half of the 20th century

Obverse

WINSTON CHURCHILL, bust of Sir Winston Churchill, left

British medal (HCR98613)

Period

Modern

Person

Sir Winston Churchill, Charles Sigrist

Dating

1952

Obverse

The Rᵗ. Hon. Winston S. Churchill, O. M., CH. / Chas: Sigrist. Fecit. 1952, bust of an older Sir Winston Churchill, 3/4 left, wearing his Order of Merit, in bow tie and blazer

Modern plaque (HCR95038)

Period

Modern

Person

William Shakespeare, Allison Macomber

Dating

c. 1958?

Obverse

bust of William Shakespeare, facing

Italian commemorative medal - Churchill Commemorative Medal (HCR95069)

Period

Modern

Person

Costantino Affer, Sir Winston Churchill, Villani Foundry, Milan

Dating

1953

Obverse

WINSTON CHURCHILL / AFFER, head of Sir Winston Churchill facing, slightly to left; signature of the artist

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