A Continuing Thread ~ Post Your Tokens, Medals, Exonumia Acquisitions

I once had an old complete library of Charles Dickens in my bedroom as a kid. Only read a couple and not all the way through. What became of them, I don't know. Probably would be worth reading now and worth some money today.
I think they looked just like these.

That is one big honkin medal! Thanks for the latest posts.

A repop of the 98 Norfed pattern.

As we all or mostly know, tokens can often be of personal significance to us while having no significance for others. This token is one of those I suppose.

For probably a decade now I have been going right up the street to fill the five gallon jugs of water that my family uses for cooking and drinking. I was there last week and the District Manager for that station happened to be there. We got to talking, and I told him about how long I'd been coming there. He took me inside of the little building, showed me how things worked, talked about the filters, etc. And then , I thought, I should have a token from this place in my collection. So I told him I was a coin and token collector, and asked if I could buy one of the tokens they have to put in for a gallon to come out when they are testing the system. He kindly gave me two for free.

Very nice story about the Watermill tokens. I totally agree that a lot of our medals and tokens are for personal collecting. Love the Aztec design and Hawaiian Liberty Round.

Excellent!

Verdun - On ne passe pas ("They shall not pass"*). Medal awarded to participants in the Battle of Verdun 1916. Design by Vernier and manufactured in different materials and sizes during the 20th century.




The battle of Verdun commenced 21 February 1916. It was the longest battle during World War 1, lasting until 18 December 1916. Verdun had a certain strategic significance, but it was mostly out of prestige that France threw in massive forces to stop the German Army from capturing the town. It was General Robert Nivelle who ended his Order of the Day with Ils ne passeront pas! (They shall not pass!), after the Germans had captured a strategic hill north of Verdun. It is calculated that the French casualties counted 377,000 men and the German 337,000. In France, Verdun has become the symbol of the destructiveness of the Great War as well as of the determination of the French Army.

The medal is not an official award but one instigated by the city of Verdun and offered exclusively to French and Allied soldiers who served in the Verdun sector under cannon fire, between Argonne and St-Mihiel. That was later extended to include those who took part in the liberation of Verdun in Aug-Sept 1944, during WW2 (mostly Americans). Receivers of the medal can also have their name entered into the Livre d'or des Soldats de Verdun ("Golden book" of the Soldiers of Verdun), kept in the crypt of the Victory Monument in Verdun.

The medal can in principle still be claimed (would be to WW2 participants I suppose). New medals were awarded as late as 2014 at least.

The example I have is made of bronze and measures 27 mm. The accompanying letter is not dated, but from its style and the signatures on it, it is from 1925-33.

It is an inspiring thought that this medal has been in the hands of someone who actually participated in the battle of Verdun. What I have only read about in history books, feels much more real.

* A more literal translation is "One does not pass." The phrase "They shall not pass" corresponds to the original statement "Ils ne passeront pas" by Gen. Nivelle (see the text).