Medal News magazine

19/09/2024

On Sunday (September 22), Phil will be representing the Token Publishing team at the Yate (Bristol) Militaria & Medal Fair.

The fair is in its usual location at: Yate Leisure Centre, Kennedy Way, Yate, near Chipping Sodbury, Bristol, BS37 4DQ.

Please come along and say "Hello!" to Phil, take a look at our books, take out a subscription to MEDAL NEWS and / or pre-order our new MEDAL YEARBOOK 2025!

14/09/2024

Undercover SOE agent Noor Inayat-Khan was killed 80 years ago today at Dachau concentration camp.

80 years on, Noor’s courage and determination are inspirational. Her legacy lives on at Runnymede Air Forces Memorial where we commemorate her along with over 20,000 men and women of the air forces who were lost in .

We are running an Open Day tomorrow at Runnymede for Heritage Open Days 2024.

Join us to learn more about the casualties we commemorate, to find out more: https://ow.ly/onEu50TmBkU

All our tours are free to the public, but if you would like to support us then please consider donating to our charity the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation.

14/09/2024

Our friends at Commonwealth War Graves need your help with volunteering, fundraising and donating - to get involved, visit www.foundation.cwgc.org to find out more! 🙂

14/09/2024

We are here today at the OMRS in Milton Keynes (Kent’s Hill Park Conference and Training Centre) and it’s so lovely to see collectors and authors. Here’s Deputy-Editor Lou with author Martyn Lovell (whose most recent article was in our June/July issue of MEDAL NEWS) 😀

08/09/2024

A special memorial has been installed at Liverpool (Yew Tree) Roman Catholic Cemetery for a previously non-commemorated casualty. Unfortunately, there was no response to the appeal for relatives.

07/09/2024

Next weekend (Saturday, September 14), Lou and Phil will be at the OMRS convention at at Kents Hill Park Conference & Training Centre, Milton Keynes.

For those who wish to join Convention on the Friday, an informal welcome dinner will take place in the evening. On the Saturday, the exhibition, talks and medal fair will all take place and, in addition, there will also be a dinner on the Saturday evening to round off the day’s activities. On the Sunday morning, the intention is to run a private, hosted visit to the famous Bletchley Park Code Breaking Museum.

Please visit https://www.omrs.org/convention/omrs-annual-convention-2024/ for more information.

06/09/2024

MEDAL YEARBOOK 2025!
Here it is - the brand new MEDAL YEARBOOK 2025 which you can pre-order now on 01404 46972 or by following the links below:

STANDARD MEDAL YEARBOOK 2025 at £19.95 https://www.tokenpublishing.com/shop/product/8140/16

DELUXE MEDAL YEARBOOK 2025 at £35
https://www.tokenpublishing.com/shop/product/8141/16

The BRAND NEW 2025 version of the acclaimed MEDAL YEARBOOK will be with us soon and is now available to order! This year we have once again produced two very different versions with the standard softback edition covering only non-commercial British Medals, this allows us to keep the price below £20 again and as it's 360 pages (against the hardback's 696) it cuts down on postage costs too.

The deluxe hardback version will have everything that's in the softback PLUS the Medals of the Irish Republic, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. It will also feature the unofficial medals that are popping up in groups more and more as well as the professional directories and the cumulative index to Medal News magazine - this will also be available as a digital download from our website.

Both versions of this year's book will, of course, feature all the new medals issued in the name of His Majesty King Charles III with a complete look at which obverses are being used on which medals.

05/09/2024

30/08/2024

Our MEDAL YEARBOOK 2025 has gone to press!
We are hoping to launch the MEDAL YEARBOOK 2025 at OMRS on September 14.

The Deluxe edition will be available at £39.95 and the Standard version at £19.95.

WATCH THIS SPACE FOR DETAILS ON HOW TO GET YOUR COPY!

22/08/2024

Here we have the cover of MEDAL NEWS September 2024 - and is is absolutely full of stories of bravery and honour from cover to cover.

Our cover story this month comes from the National Army Museum -and tells us about The First Civilian Recipient of the Victoria Cross (written by Anna Lavelle). We also have:
Squadron Leader A. H. B. Friendship, DFM* - Uncle Basil: Part 1 (John Hamperl);
An Assistant Surgeon and his Malabar George Cross (Martyn Lovell); Lost Battleships 14– HMS Cornwallis (Chris Bilham); Kukris and Blowdarts—Part II: Abor 1911–12 (Andrew Wilson); The ship that fought for the Kaiser and Mussolini (Lew Darlington); Collecting Medal Ribbons (Michael O’Brien); Old Wine in a New
Bottle: A review of the forthcoming Wider Service Medal (J. A. Hart); Brothers in Arms—II (John Pearson) and our regular Talking Miniatures feature written by Colin Hole . In addition to this, we have our usual News and Auction Highlights from the world of medal collecting. 😀

To subscribe today, call 01404 46972, visit https://www.tokenpublishing.com/subscribe/medal or email us at info@token publishing.com 😀

21/08/2024

And hear is the full-size group. It's not very often that I mount 16 medals. That is some service.

05/08/2024

Florence the Token Publishing pup has been working very hard today reading new article submissions which have come in to the MEDAL NEWS office. She needs to run her decisions past the Editorial team before she can have a snooze 🥰

01/08/2024

Here it is - the cover of MEDAL NEWS August 2024!

We have so much lined up for you this month.... our regular NAM feature, Talking Miniatures and Auction Highlights, Normandy 80 - a look at the Heroes who returned this year; The Buckinghamshire Yeomanry Coronation Medal (Philip J. Haythornthwaite); One of Gordon's Sailors (Mark Reid); Dicing with Death (Ken A. Marsh); Lost Battleships 13 - Invincible (Chris Bilham); Kukris and Blowdarts (Andrew Wilson), and, On Fragile Wings (John Stackhouse).

The August issue of MEDAL NEWS will be available to buy in newsagents form tomorrow (August 2) but you can subscribe or order today on 01404 46972 / visit https://www.tokenpublishing.com/issue/medal or email [email protected] 🤩

01/08/2024

Important Medieval Hoard Melted Down!

At our June meeting, the Crewe society was treated to a fascinating presentation on the 12th-century Tealby Hoard by Alan Dawson, of the Ormskirk & West Lancashire Numismatic Society. The coins themselves are enigmatic, often badly struck and, with 30 mints and 123 known moneyers, very difficult to identify correctly. Mystery surrounds their finding in 1807, since the ploughed-up jar in which they were found was a thousand years older than the coins themselves.
More surprising however is the story of their disposal. The original finders may have kept a few of the coins for themselves but 5,731 coins of the hoard were passed by the landowner Charles Tennyson to his friend Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society. Banks was also a member of the Privy Council Coin Committee, responsible, among other things, for the supply of metal for coinage. Banks arranged for around 300 coins to be sold to collectors for a few shillings each and a similar number were either kept by Banks or returned to Tennyson. However, the remaining 5,127 coins were sent to the Royal Mint in the Tower, where they were melted down! An ingot was reportedly made of the metal. Its fate is not known but it may have been used by the mint in the re-coinage of 1816. So if you own a British silver coin of that date, it’s possible that it contains a tiny amount of Tealby silver.

The Crewe society meets on the second Tuesday of most months and visitors are always very welcome. Please contact the Secretary, Stuart Hallworth, on 07828 602611 for details. The next meeting will be on September 10, when we shall have a private visit to the Grosvenor Museum in Chester and the opportunity to see several hoards dating from Roman to Civil War times.

23/07/2024

This week at Exeter Higher Cemetery the grave of a Polish airman we commemorate, killed 82 years ago, was visited for the first time by his descendants.

Zbyszko Lissowski, who served in the Polish 307 Squadron during the Second World war, was killed on 18th July 1942, together with his pilot Władysław Illaszewicz when their Beaufighter crashed into the English Channel approximately 15 miles off Dartmouth during a convoy patrol.

21/07/2024

French soldiers pose with the 'howitzer that destroyed one of the German "Big Berthas"'.

IWM (Q 70065)

21/07/2024

Here are Carol and Lou, busy at Mark Carter’s Medal and Militaria Fair in beautiful Stratford-upon-Avon. It’s been a busy morning meeting lots of our lovely readers of MEDAL NEWS and genuinely catching up with the medal fraternity.

21/07/2024

Today (July 21), Carol, Phil and Lou will be representing the Token Publishing team at Mark Carter's Stratford Upon Avon Military and Medal Fair at Stratford Leisure Centre, running from 10:30am-2pm. We will have our full range of books and magazines and will also be taking subscriptions for MEDAL NEWS.

Please come over and say "Hello" to us! 😀

The venue is just off the A439 Warwick Road, close to town centre and only 10 minutes from M40 (Junction 15). There is plenty of pay & display parking (please note that payment for parking is by card, online, by phone, by text or by app through RingGo).

Stratford upon Avon Militaria & Medal Fair 2024 Stratford Leisure Centre
Bridgefoot
Stratford upon Avon
Warwickshire
CV37 6YY
Contact Mark Carter Militaria and Medal Fairs
Telephone : 01753534777+ 07871777062

Admission £3.00 (accompanied children free).

Preview 9.30am - 10.30am £4.00 (open to all).

19/07/2024

On Sunday (July 21), Carol, Phil and Lou will be representing the Token Publishing team at Mark Carter's Stratford Upon Avon Military and Medal Fair at Stratford Leisure Centre, which runs from 10:30am-2pm. We will have our full range of books and magazines and will also be taking subscriptions for MEDAL NEWS.

Please come over and say "Hello" to us! 😀

The venue is just off the A439 Warwick Road, close to town centre and only 10 minutes from M40 (Junction 15). There is plenty of pay & display parking (please note that payment for parking is by card, online, by phone, by text or by app through RingGo).

Stratford upon Avon Militaria & Medal Fair 2024 Stratford Leisure Centre
Bridgefoot
Stratford upon Avon
Warwickshire
CV37 6YY
Contact Mark Carter Militaria and Medal Fairs
Telephone : 01753534777+ 07871777062

Admission £3.00 (accompanied children free).

Preview 9.30am - 10.30am £4.00 (open to all).

01/07/2024

The Hammer Finally Falls at Crewe

The society’s online auction, which was due to take place in April, had to be postponed due to a technical problem and will now be held on 9th July. Following on from the success of last year’s event, thirty lots, varying from medallions to numismatic books and from medieval to modern coins will be offered with finishing times two minutes apart during our club night. Live bidding will be projected onto a screen during the meeting so that members can follow the progress of their lots and watch the bids climb. It makes for a lucrative and entertaining meeting.

The society does not meet in August but in September the programme resumes with a private visit to the Grosvenor Museum in Chester, where we will have the opportunity to examine coins from the Willoughby Gardner collection of Saxon silver pennies, along with coins from Roman, Viking, medieval, Tudor and Civil War hoards. The visit is sure to be of interest to coin collectors and metal detectorists, historians and archaeologists alike.

In October we shall be holding our popular Autumn coin fair. These events are increasingly well attended and attract local, regional and national dealers. In November Steve Bentley will describe the history of the Crystal Palace using medallions.

The society meets on the second Tuesday of the month, except for January and August. Visitors are always very welcome at our usual venue, Wistaston Memorial Hall, near Crewe. Please contact the Secretary Stuart Hallworth on 07828 602611 for details.

14/06/2024

We have a few copies of Worcestershire Medal Services’ “For Service in the Cause of Humanity – The Life Saving Awards of the Order of St John” – Price £39.99 plus p&p.

Allan Stanistreet reviewed this title in MEDAL NEWS May 2024. Call now on 01404 46972 for more information or to order your copy. 😃

07/06/2024

Four 'stick' commanders of 22nd Independent Parachute Company, 6th Airborne Division, synchronising their watches in front of an Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle at about 11 pm on 5 June 1944, just prior to take off from RAF Harwell in Oxfordshire. They were among the first troops to land in France.

IWM (H 39070)

06/06/2024

It is June 6, 2024.

80 Years ago today, the largest amphibious assault ever seen took place on the beaches of Normandy to start the liberation of Europe.

Previously, in the early hours of the morning, thousands of American, Canadian, and British airborne troops had landed at key points, either parachuting in or being flown in by glider.

The bridges over the Orne River and Caen Canal (the now famous "Pegasus Bridge") were captured just after midnight on June 6 by the glider-borne men of the Ox and Bucks Light Infantry led by Major John Howard. They had previously practiced their "Coup de Main" on the bridges over the River Exe and the Exeter Canal, less than a mile from where I am sitting writing this.

I knew John Howard reasonably well, he used to come to dinner at my mother's house and I was with him during the 50th-anniversary celebrations in 1994 at the Royal Albert Hall.

Over the past 30 or so years, I have also been lucky enough to meet many others who took part in that momentous day through the work of the Spirit of Normandy Trust (who you will see mentioned in MEDAL NEWS from time to time). It has been my absolute privilege to have known them all.

Their memory will live on as long as we do. We will remember them

Phil

05/06/2024

Lou and Carol came across this beauty last week - MEDAL NEWS March 1993! Costing only £2.20, it was totally black and white apart from the cover. Compare this to today’s magazine and you’ll notice loads of differences - not just the use of colour now 😁

01/06/2024

Faces from the Past at Crewe

The intriguing image in this illustration, with a face peering out like a ghost from the past, is a Henry II penny of the type found in the Tealby hoard. It comes from the collection of Alan Dawson, a founder member of the Ormskirk & West Lancashire Numismatic Society. On June 11, he will be telling the Crewe society how this 6,000-coin hoard was found in 1807 and the story of its subsequent disastrous disposal.

Alan has a lifelong interest in English hammered silver coins and has been collecting them for 55 years. He finds the Tealby type pennies particularly fascinating. When I asked him why, he replied; "Well, it certainly isn’t the beauty of their appearance, in fact quite the opposite. The coins were badly struck and are extremely difficult to correctly identify. And with over thirty mints and a hundred plus moneyers to go at, they are a numismatic challenge that is not for the faint-hearted!"

This talk is sure to be of interest to coin collectors and metal detectorists, historians and archaeologists alike and all are welcome at our usual venue, Wistaston Memorial Hall, near Crewe. Please contact the Secretary Stuart Hallworth on 07828 602611 for details.

Later in the year, we look forward to a visit to the Grosvenor Museum in Chester, a talk on the medallions of the Crystal Palace and a landmark meeting in December, when we shall celebrate the society’s 600th meeting with a special Good Old Days-themed evening.

The society meets on the second Tuesday of the month, except for January and August. Visitors are always very welcome.

Steve Bentley – Chairman, Crewe and District Coin and Medal Society

23/05/2024

Here it is - the cover of our double June/July issue of MEDAL NEWS magazine!
This month, we have really spoiled you 😄 with a huge range of articles:
"Crimean War Medal Returns Home" by Sophie Stathi (NAM),
"The Nuclear Test Medal" by Michael O'Brien,
"British Red Cross Society Medals" by Martyn Fuller,
"Pickett's charge" by Mark Simmons,
"The Last Albert Medallists of the Sea" by Paul Street,
"Two Brothers from Galashiels" by David Walker,
"What Medals would you choose?" by John Sly,
"Russian Battleship Novorossiysk" by Lew Darlington,
"The CWGC Eyes on Hands On Project" by Mark Relf and Martyn Lovell,
"Lost Battleships 12—The Other Queen Mary"
Our regular "Talking "Miniatures", and
"My Collection and Me" by Jayne and Clare Hart.

It really is an issue you just can't afford to miss!
We have so many more amazing articles to bring to you over the coming months. If you are a regular subscriber, your issue will be with you soon. If you'd like to buy a copy or are thinking of subscribing, call us now on 01404 46972 or visit [email protected]

16/05/2024

15/05/2024

This Sunday (May 19), Phil will be at the Mark Carter Yate (Bristol) Militaria & Medal Fair 2024.

The fair is held in its usual location - Yate Leisure Centre, Kennedy Way, Yate, near Chipping Sodbury, Bristol, BS37 4DQ - the fair runs from 10.30am - 2.00pm and entry is £3.00 (with accompanied children entering for free). The fair preview from 9.30am - 10.30am is £4.00 and is open to all.

If there is anything specific you would like Phil to bring, please let us know by Thursday, May 16.

See you there!

14/05/2024

12/05/2024

Lincolnshire woman receives WW2 medal after almost 80 years

Evelyn Hillier, 97, was given the medal in a surprise ceremony at her care home near Stamford.