Medal

A medal is a small metal object that is given as an award for doing something important or to commemorate something. There are medals for sports, military, academics, etc. Some medals have religious meaning. The Miraculous Medal has been distributed worldwide, for example. The Nobel Prize is a gold medal given to a few people every year.

Medal distributed by Cecilia Gonzaga's family to political allies. Renaissance Italy, designed by Pisanello (1447)

Three versions of United States Medal of Honor

Military decorations, service awards, and medals are often confused with one another. Decoration is the term for awards which require acts of heroism or achievement (such as the British Victoria Cross or American Silver Star). A service award or campaign medal is awarded for serving in a place and time (such as the Iraq Campaign Medal). In either case, an award or decoration may be presented as a medal.

Olympics

In the Olympic Games and many other sports competitions, medals are give to the top three people who took part in the competition. The winner of the competition is given the gold medal. The silver medal is given to the person who came second. The third placed person is given the bronze medal.

Other websites

• Atlantic Provinces Numismatic Association
• Official Medals of the Numismatic Associations and Clubs of the Atlantic Provinces Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
• Exonumia defined
• Orders, Decorations and Medals Archived 2008-09-09 at the Wayback Machine
• Nobel prize
• Most Comprehensive and Updated Listing of Orders, Decorations and Medals
• Weiss Collection