101611 | FRANCE. Victory and Tanks Art Deco bronze Plaque.

101611  |  FRANCE. Victory and Tanks Art Deco bronze Plaque. Issued circa 1945. "Les Chars Avant-Garde de La Victoire" (Tanks — the vanguard of victory) (95x55mm, 217.28 g, 12h). By P. A. Morlon at the Paris mint.

 

Victory flying left, holding shield and sword; below, four tanks advancing left; in three lines to right, LES CHARS / AVANT–GARDE / DE LA VICTOIRE / Field mostly blank for engraving; above, medieval helmet over crossed cannons; oak leaves in the margins in background. Edge: «cornucopia» METAL - D.

 

Choice Mint State. Yellow-bronze surfaces, a few light spots. An engaging World War II-era restrike of the 1919 original, originally issued just after World War I.

 

Seldom encountered in numismatics, this type presents WWI-era tanks being guided across the battlefield. First introduced in 1916 by the British at the Battle of the Somme, tanks were quickly adopted by other powers to be used during warfare.