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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;lauragarnet, post: 191678, member: 105&quot;]<img src="http://www.coinworld.com/content/dam/cw/insights/2015/January/011915/Readers%20Ask%20Verdun%20Medal/Verdun-Medal--And-Accessories.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>...T<a href="http://www.coinworld.com/news/world-coins/2015/01/1916-Battle-of-Verdun-medal-marks-long-WWI-battle.all.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.coinworld.com/news/world-coins/2015/01/1916-Battle-of-Verdun-medal-marks-long-WWI-battle.all.html" rel="nofollow">he Battle of Verdun stretched from Feb. 21 to Dec. 15, 1916, and was one of the most important battles of World War I</a> — and certainly the longest. French and German armies waged war north of Verdun in northeastern France for an ultimate stalemate. When battle ended, the toll on both sides was more than 250,000 dead and 500,000 wounded. </p><p><br /></p><p>The medal was ordered Nov. 20, 1916, by the Municipal Council of Verdun, in honor of the city’s defense. </p><p><br /></p><p>The medal designer was sculptor Emile Seraphin Vernier, the prolific artist whose name appears with the 1917 date on the obverse, along with a personification of Marianne (representing the French Republic).It also shows the phrase ILS NE PASSERONT PAS (“They shall not pass”) from Gen. Robert Nivelle’s June 23, 1916, speech to his troops. </p><p><br /></p><p>Castle turrets and the date Feb. 21, 1916, appear on the reverse.</p><p><br /></p><p>The medal was originally to be awarded only to those on the Verdun Front between Feb. 23 and Nov. 2, 1916, but it was eventually extended to all those who fought anywhere in the Argonne and St. Mihiel sectors between July 31, 1914, and Nov. 11, 1918...[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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