Victory Liberty Loan Medal

[ph0ebus]

Hi all,

Came across these while researching something else...was curious if anyone on the forum collects these and wondered if there was any danger of counterfits showing up in the market.

Per Check-Six's web site:

The medals were made from German cannons captured by American troops at Chateau Thierry. These cannons were melted, and the metal roiled into sheets, from which the medals are made, and conferred by the Treasury Department on volunteers in the Victory Liberty loan campaign volunteers.

About a half dollar in size piece, the obverse of the medal, exhibits a eagle grasping three arrows in one claw, and an olive branch in the other, flying below the U.S. Treasury Building, and reads "Victory Liberty Loan". The reverse reads: "Awarded - By the U.S. Treasury Department For Patriotic Service In Behalf of the Liberty Loans - Made From Captured German Cannon". Here are the obverse and reverse:

-Daniel

[ph0ebus]

A bit more info re: these medals...

Here's an account from the April 14, 1919 issue of "Greater New York - Bulletin of the Merchant's Association of New York" (Volume 8, No. 15, p. 24) describing the creation and distribution of the Victory Liberty Loan Medal:

Apparently, the blank line on the reverse was where recipients had their names engraved. Per another newspaper account, the monies raised via the Victory Liberty Loan helped pay the cost for bringing American troops home and also helped offset the overall cost of the demob effort.

-Daniel

[ph0ebus]

Another article circa 1919:

So, it appears these were indeed Treasury issued, postwar. I have an email out to the US Mint to see if they know more.

-Daniel