Antique Medals
A small gold disc or oval with a religious subject and a loop at the top, made in France to be worn on a chain at a baptism, communion or wedding.
Antique Medals
The heading says medals, but what dominates on Sellingantiques is French gold devotional jewellery. Of 195 listings, 164 say gold, 160 say pendant and 132 say French, and 18k appears in 134 titles. These are struck or cast discs, ovals and cut-out plaques in yellow gold, made from the outset to hang from a chain rather than sit in a case.
The Virgin Mary is the single commonest subject, named in 71 titles, with Madonna in another 18 and the Sacred Heart in 12. Beyond her come St Christopher, St Thérèse, St Joseph, St George, St John the Baptist, First Communion chalices and the Chi Rho. Charm appears in 59 titles, so the same small medal is as often sold as a charm as a pendant.
A secular strand runs alongside the saints: zodiac starsigns across at least five signs, love medals reading 'Plus Qu'Hier' or 'Le Coeur Ne Vieillit Jamais', good luck pieces, a blood group medical medal, a hunting horn, a monogram. Separate again is a small British group in silver and 9ct gold, sporting, agricultural, masonic and fire brigade award medals and watch fobs.
Dating is unusually tight for a jewellery category. 184 listings carry a clean year, the span runs 1850 to 1960, and roughly three-quarters of dated pieces fall between 1900 and 1939. The 1910s alone account for 55. The 1940s are the thinnest decade of the whole run, and pre-1900 material is scarce.
Where The Range Splits
Metal sets the floor. 18k gold runs through the category, and the pieces that sit lowest are the silver and 9ct British fobs and award medals. Above the plain gold medals come those combining yellow with rose or white gold in one piece, and those with the ground cut away around the figure to leave an openwork silhouette.
Decoration lifts a medal furthest. Plique-à-jour enamel turns up in only nine titles and every one of them sits high in the range, the light-through-glass effect setting them apart from a struck disc. Pearls appear in 17 titles, with seed pearl, mother of pearl, diamond and ruby named among the highest-priced listings.
A signature counts too. Where an engraver's name appears in the title, and 27 carry one name and 8 another, the piece sits above the unsigned 'French Virgin Mary 18K' listings that make up the bulk of the middle. Size works the same way: 'large' is used as a distinguishing word, and those medals sit in the upper part of the range.
Antique Medals Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical UK retail prices for medals, calculated from the Sellingantiques database of over a million retail prices indexed since 2003. This retail price guide relies exclusively on Sellingantiques data; no external sources or auction records are used, so the figures do not describe the wider market.
The most expensive medal ever sold on Sellingantiques was a large French Perriat Saint Christopher pendant medal in 18K yellow gold, in November 2024.
The Antique Medals Glossary
- 18k / 18kt
- Eighteen carat gold, 750 parts per thousand. The standard French fineness and the metal named in most titles in this category.
- Medal pendant
- A struck or cast medal fitted or designed with a suspension loop so it can be worn on a chain. Charm is used for the same object in 59 titles.
- Miraculous Medal
- The oval Virgin Mary devotional medal carrying the 'O Marie conçue sans péché' legend, named in several titles.
- Sacred Heart
- The flaming heart of Christ or Mary, often struck on the reverse of a Madonna medal rather than as the main face.
- Plique-à-jour
- Backless cloisonné enamel that lets light through like stained glass. Nine titles use the term.
- Fob
- A medal or seal hung from a watch chain, the usual form taken by the British sporting and club pieces.
Antique Medals: Frequently Asked Questions
Are these military or campaign medals?
Very few. Against a field of French devotional jewellery, only two British campaign medals appear in the sample: an 1848 Military General Service medal and an 1894 Hong Kong Service medal on its original silk ribbon.
The British strand that does recur is award and club medals, golf, football, cricket, tennis, polo, darts, curling, agricultural and masonic, along with watch chain fobs.
Why are so many of them French?
France dominates the origin picture: 132 titles say French and 25 say France, and no other country is named often enough to register in the counts.
From the later 19th century French goldsmiths and medal engravers made small gold devotional medals designed to be worn as pendants and given at baptisms, communions and weddings. That production is what fills the category.
What subjects turn up besides the Virgin Mary?
Saints are the next block: St Christopher, St Thérèse, St Joseph, St George and St John the Baptist all appear by name, along with the Sacred Heart, cherubs, First Communion chalices and the Chi Rho.
Secular subjects run to zodiac starsigns across at least five signs, love and sentiment medals with French legends, and good luck charms.
One-offs occur too: a blood group medical medal, a dog house charm, a deer hunting horn, an EC/CE monogram and a red enamel Maltese cross.
Which decades do most of them come from?
The dated field runs 1850 to 1960, and 184 of the 195 listings carry a clean year, which makes this a well-dated category by jewellery standards.
The 1910s are the busiest decade with 55 listings, followed by the 1900s, the 1930s and the 1920s. Roughly three-quarters of dated pieces fall between 1900 and 1939.
Do the medals come with a chain?
Generally not. One title mentions a necklace; the rest are the pendant or charm alone.
Boxes and ribbons are equally uncommon in the listings, with a box noted once and a silk ribbon once, on the Hong Kong Service medal.
How often do they come up for sale?
Around 30 come to market in a year on Sellingantiques, and 20 different dealers have listed them, so supply is steady and spread widely rather than sitting with one or two specialists.
The French 18k Virgin Mary pendants are the block you meet most often; plique-à-jour and pearl-set pieces are the scarcest, at nine and 17 titles.