Miniature circular bronze medal with laterally-pierced ball suspension; the face with two classically dressed female figures holding mail encircling a globe, circumscribed ‘UNION POSTALE UNIVERSELLE’ (Universal Postal Union) and dated ‘1874-1949’; the reverse with the image of the first Belgian Stamp (Ten cents of 1849 with the portrait of King Leopold I) imposed on envelopes within a laurel wreath, circumscribed ‘LE TIMBRE-POSTE EN BELGIQUE 1849 – 1er Juillet 1949 (The postage stamp in Belgium, 1849 – 1st July 1949); diameter 12.11mm (0.47 inch); slight age oxidisation; on probably replaced correct ribbon. The medal was instituted on 2 May 1949 to commemorate two anniversaries – one hundred years of postage stamps in Belgium and 75 years of Belgian membership of the Universal Postal Union. It was awarded on 1 July 1949 to employees of the Belgian Post Office who had completed 25 years’ exemplary service.
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