The World War II Victory Medal

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The World War II Victory Medal

April 18, 2013

Today I will be reviewing the World War II Victory Medal, which was only considered the Victory Ribbon prior to 1946. The medal was officially released early 1946 and awarded to all branches of the military for service from 1941-1946. Although the war basically ended in 1945 Truman did not officially end World War II until the last day of 1946. These medals are very easy to find and you will find them in all sorts of condition, from mint to just the medallion with no ribbon or ribbon ring present. In my opinion all WWII medal collectors should a this medal in his or her collection! Here's the best part about this medal... It's usually under $20.00!

AVERAGE PRICE:

Un-boxed- $8-$15
Boxed- $10-$25

Left- 1946 issue
Center- 1947 issue
Right-1970's issue

MARKINGS:

The medal's front depicts Nike standing victorious, holding a broken sword, representing the broken power of the Axis, with one foot upon the helmet of Mars, the Roman god of war, representing the end of the conflict.

This is an example of a first issue 1946 United States Victory Medal, notice the slotted sewn brooch. The initial issue of these medals was on a slotted sewn brooch. So if you see one of these, rest assured it is the earliest type of the Victory medal.

This example is a later 1946-1947 issue, notice the un-marked crimped brooch. These brooches are just a little wider than the 1949 and on US crimp brooch.

Lastly we have here a Vietnam era WWII Victory Medal re-strike, notice the mark L1G1 on the reverse brooch. Many beginning collectors miss these kind of details. I myself had 12 out of 17 re-strikes when I first started! I had no idea the US Government officially re-struck these medal from the 1970's through current. You can see the detail on these later strikings is terrible compared to the original 1940's counterparts. (Where's the sun-rays?)

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