FRANCE Veterans of 1870-71 War medal
$20.00
FRANCE, Veterans of 1870-71 War medal, no date, Obverse: armor, banners, weapons, OUBLIER JAMAIS on ribbon below, Reverse: blank, slightly hollow, 29x35mm, cheap looking, I assume 20th century version of what was originally a private medal anyway,VF
Out of stock
Description
The medal was privately struck by the Veterans’ organization of soldiers in the Franco-Prussian War. There have been restrikes, like this one.
In France uniform detail and wearable awards became immensely popular from the 1850s to the 1950s, after which people got out of the habit. Everybody was going about their business wearing their award medal. Showed who they were, in a way.
Medals, awards, decoration, insignia, documents, equipment, of military, police, private, and irregular military style organizations. We sometimes sell small weapons but we do not sell working firearms. If a thing happens to be military but is hundreds of years old I stop thinking of it as a military thing and start thinking of it as a relic or an antiquity. I suppose that means that “militaria” really starts around the middle of the 19th century or so, when uniforms became normal. Does that seem right to you?
Over the decades I’ve been selling collectibles my market has been about 97% coins, 2% paper money, 1% everything else.
