Bronze circular medal with bar for ribbon suspension; the face with a head and shoulders portrait of King Umberto I facing right, crowned and in military uniform, signed ‘SPERANZA’; the reverse inscribed ‘CAMPAGNE D’AFRICA’ encircled by a laurel wreath; on probably replaced but correct ribbon with rare ‘SPEDIZIONE 1887’ bar. The medal was created by Royal decree 463 of 3 November 1894 and awarded to military who served during the first Italian attempts at colonial expansion in the Horn of Africa. The Expedition of 1887 was the earliest of these and established Italian control over parts of Somalia.
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