The Coronation Police Medal 1911 was a commemorative medal made to celebrate the coronation of King George V on 22nd June, 1911 and awarded to those services on duty.

This followed the practice of awarding a medal for duty on the coronation to the Police Forces in the coronation of 1887, 1897 by Queen Victoria. The Police medals are only struck in silver, with ten reverses for the following services which were sanctioned by the King: City of London Police, Metropolitan Police, County & Borough Police, Scottish Police, Royal Irish Constabulary, London Fire Brigade, St. John Ambulance Brigade, St. Andrew’s Ambulance, Police Ambulance Service, and Royal Parks.

Description:

Materials: The majority of the British medals and clasps are made of solid silver, though some were issue in bronze versions, mainly to Indian non-combatants. The majority of the British campaign awards are circular, usually 36mm in diameter.

Ribbons: Medals are worn suspended from their own specific ribbons. These were first made of silk but cotton was increasingly used as the nineteenth century developed. Their own colours often have a symbolic significance: the equal stripes of the ‘1939 to 1945 Star,’ for example, are dark blue to represent the service of the Royal and Merchant Navies, red, to represent that of the Armies and light blue to represent that of Air Forces.

Ribbon width can vary slightly though it is generally 32mm wide.

Ribbon – Red with three narrow blue stripes

Coronation (Police) Medal 1911 ribbon

Type – Commemoration medal

Suspender - Ring

Eligibility – Police and ancillary service on duty during the coronation

Awarded for – Participation in coronation, or community service

Established – 1911

Designer – Sir Bertram McKennal

Naming – Engraved on the lower edge

Clasps – None

Description – Silver medal 36mm in diameter. The obverse has a crowned left facing bust of King George V with the wording “GEORGIVS V REX ET IND. IMP.” The reverse shows an imperial crown with an ornate surround. The inscription “CORONATION 1911” appears at the foot of the medal and the name of the services (one of ten) at the top.

This guide will help you through all the parts and descriptions of military medals

Sources:

Major L L Gordon ‘British Battles and Medals’

Medal Year Book 2006

< gov.uk/medals-campaigns-descriptions-and-eligibility>

Some of the material on this page was also partially derived from

<en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ King_George_V_Coronation_Medal>

Which are released under the terms of

Creativecommons.org/licenses/by-s/3.0/.