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Circular bronze medal with integral bar for ribbon suspension with laurel and oak leaf decoration; the face with a helmeted figure facing left, representative of the French Republic, holding laurel leaves and the hilt of a sword as a cross, signed ‘A MORLON’ (for the great French engraver and medallist Pierre-Alexandre Morlon, 1878-1951); the reverse inscribed ‘GRANDE GUERRE 1914-1918’ and circumscribed ‘REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE’, with maker's mark of Léon Chalin, Paris; on probably replaced correct ribbon.
The Medal was created on 23 June 1920 and presented to all military and auxiliary services who served between 2 August 1914 and 11 November 1918.
Almost all examples bear the Paris Mint cornucopia mark whilst this rare example is by the great Paris master silversmith Léon Chalin who was active in Paris at 12 rue de Crussol between 1885 and 1929.
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