Database: variants of Carol I jubilee medal (1906)

Since no research was ever made on the variants of Romanian medals, maybe we can do that here, by sharing photos of awards from our collections and comparing them.

A good medal to start with is the Carol I jubilee medal, a common award with many variations.

This medal was issued in 1906 to commemorate the 40th year of reign of King Carol I. Like some other early Romanian medals, it is inspired after a Imperial German medal, being similar in shape, size and layout to a Bavarian commemorative medal.

It came in two versions: military and civilian. Both versions have the same obverse, with the bust of the king and the words “Carol I rege al Romaniei” (Carol I king of Romania).

The reverse of the civilian medal displays the royal coat of arms, with king Carol’s motto “Nihil sine deo” (Nothing without God) and the years 1866-1906. The reverse of the military version only has the text “In amintirea anului al 40-lea al capitaniei mele” (To remember the 40th year of my leadership), and the same years 1866-1906.

This medal was awarded in great numbers and it is probably the commonest of all Romanian medals from the royal period. It was awarded to all the active military men and to all the civilians in the service of the king.

Other awards established at the same time are the Carol I Order and several unofficial medals related to Expozitia Generala Romana din Bucuresti (Romanian General Exposition in Bucharest).

Here are two medals from my collection: a military version (left) with the engraver's name ("P. Telge") under the bust and a civilian version without engraver.



And the reverses:

I have another variant of the military version, on a medal bar. It doesn't have the engraver's name and the bust of the king is slightly different (he looks a little older on this one, he also has more hair).

A civilian medal, apparently with the signature of the engraver.


Source: The Piersall Collection of Medals

Klietmann mentions three versions with respect to the engraver: medals signed "P. Telge", medals signed "Carniul (Carniol?) Fiul" and unsigned medals.

Here is the Carniol Fiul version which is said to be the first issue. Carol I does look younger.



This post has been edited by Cuza on November 09, 2005 01:17 pm

Thanks for your contribution Cuza. I have also seen military versions with different layouts of the text on the reverse.

This is currently on sale on an on-line auction:



How much would it worth?

Gen. Dénes

This post has been edited by Dénes on November 09, 2005 05:29 pm

That appears to be the Telge version, civil, so I would say $15-$20 US in the US.

Thanks, Cuza.

Here is another medal from the same series, on sale on another auction (this one doesn't appear to have a holding ring, or it was ground off):





Gen. Dénes

It appears that even for the "P. TELGE" medals there is a difference between the portrait on the military medal and that on the civilian medal. Take a look at the line of the neck in the two photos below.

Another variant i've seen has the dates engraved.



Image from Vicmart

And one with high edges and the dates on the bottom from eBay





This post has been edited by boonicootza on November 16, 2005 08:03 pm

Here is the same medal on a medal bar [from eBay]

Gen. Dénes



This post has been edited by Dénes on November 16, 2005 09:07 pm

Another one with the dates engraved, currently for sale on Okazii.

And yet another one from eBay:



I cannot make out the name of the engraver.