Brig Posted July 31, 2007 Share #1 Posted July 31, 2007 Description: The bronze medal is 1 3/8 inches in width. On the obverse is a figure of Liberation standing full length with head turned to dexter looking to the dawn of a new day, right foot resting on a war god’s helmet with the hilt of a broken sword in the right hand and the broken blade in the left hand, the inscription "WORLD WAR II" placed immediately below the center. On the reverse are the inscriptions "FREEDOM FROM FEAR AND WANT" and "FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND RELIGION" separated by a palm branch, all within a circle composed of the words "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1914 1945" Criteria: The WW II Victory Medal was awarded to all military personnel for service between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946. Background: a. The World War II Victory Medal was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945. b. The medal was designed by Mr. Thomas H. Jones and approved by the Secretary of War on 5 February 1946. c. The Congressional authorization for the World War II Victory Medal included members of the Armed Forces of the Government of the Philippine Islands. It also specified the ending date would be the date of the termination of hostilities as proclaimed by the President. President Truman officially ended the state of hostilities on 31 December 1946 Additional Note: Though no service stars were authorized, they are sometimes seen worn. Theories of this practice include: a. The recipient was in the combat theater during the surrender b. The recipient was engaged in combat against a hostile former-enemy force after the surrender Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Marine Posted January 26, 2015 Share #2 Posted January 26, 2015 I had some time to post some more comparison shots of original 1945 made medals to recently made restrikes or reissue medals. The modern made medals in this post are official Government issue reissue medals. They should not be considered fakes or reproductions, these medals are made under government contract as replacement medals for issue to qualifying veterans. So, yes they are real US WWII medals, they are just not WWII vintage. If you want to collect original WWII vintage campaign medals you should be able to tell the difference, hopefully these comparison photos with the old and new medals side by side might help. As I said these modern restrikes are ok and some look pretty good. They are very good for use in shadow boxes or displays where you may not want 1940s originals exposed to velcro, sunlight, handling or possible theft. But sometimes either intentionally or just from a lack of knowledge these restrikes are passed off as "real WWII medals". I have seen lots of the recent made restrikes at antique stores and flea markets being sold as originals. This is a WWII Victory medal made in 2014. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Marine Posted January 26, 2015 Share #3 Posted January 26, 2015 An original 1945 WWII Victory medal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Marine Posted January 26, 2015 Share #4 Posted January 26, 2015 The original 1946 medal is on the left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Marine Posted January 26, 2015 Share #5 Posted January 26, 2015 Original on the left Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Marine Posted January 26, 2015 Share #6 Posted January 26, 2015 The backs, notice the sloppy blob on the modern medal on the right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnymac Posted January 26, 2015 Share #7 Posted January 26, 2015 The original 1946 medal is on the left. It is a shame that the new manufacturer "NORTHWEST TERRITORIAL MINT" did not understand the meaning of white threads down both side of the ribbon, which were placed there in 1920. These threads have a name. They were called "peace and calm" and they were placed on both edges of the WWI Victory medal ribbon. All this can be found in the minutes of the Commission of Fine Arts. (Check in my book if you have a copy on page 70, "WORLD WAR I, Victory Medals", sold on Amazon.com). If you notice, the original 1945 medal's ribbon does have these two white treads. The WWII Victory Medal's designer wanted to link the WWI Victory and WWII Victory. So he used the Victory WWI colors on the left and then repeated them for the WWII Victory Medal on the right, with the red in the middle for the blood and troubles for the between years. On the medal's face, he used "Nike the Greece God of War". She took off her helmet and has her foot on it and broke her sword as a symbol that she would not war again. Count the rays around her; there are13. CAGE = Commercial And Government Entity Code On the box is CAGE = 0v7s4 or NORTHWEST TERRITORIAL MINT LLC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Marine Posted January 27, 2015 Share #8 Posted January 27, 2015 Hi Johnny, That is very interesting. I was going to point out the white thread edging on the WWII originals, but lacking on the restrikes. I had no idea about the significance of that simple white edging thanks for enlightening me. Also thanks for the info on your book too, I am going to order a copy. Least week I picked up an Italian WWI Victory medal from one of our forum members and I just looked at it and it too has the white edging. Thanks you for the detailed info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Marine Posted January 27, 2015 Share #9 Posted January 27, 2015 Comparing the 1946 Crimp brooch on the left and the modern one on the right. Notice the 1946 brooch is just bit wider and is unmarked. All recent issue medals have the maker's mark in the brooch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Marine Posted January 27, 2015 Share #10 Posted January 27, 2015 Occasionally you will find WWII Victory medals with the older slot brooch (the medal on the far left). Right about 1945-46 medal manufacturers were switching over from fitting the medals with the older slot brooches to the new crimped brooch type of manufacturing technique so it's not unusual to find both types. Notice too the slot brooch medal had the white threads that Johnnymac was talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Marine Posted January 27, 2015 Share #11 Posted January 27, 2015 The backs of the medals. That's all for now. Thanks Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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