Noun

Singular medal

Plural medals

medal (plural medals)

1. A stamped or cast metal disc, particularly one awarded as a prize.

Derived terms

• gold medal — a medal designed for first-place winners
• silver medal — a medal designed for second-place winners
• bronze medal — a medal designed for third-place winners

A Medal is usually a coin-like sculpted object of metal or other material that has been (generally) die-struck with an insignia, portrait or other artistic rendering. A medal may be awarded to a person or organization as a form of recognition for athletic, military, scientific, academic or some other kind of achievement. Medals may also be created to commemorate individuals or events or even as works of artistic expression in their own right. There are also devotional medals, which may be worn as a matter of religious faith. Medals are popular collectible items either as a form of exonumia or of militaria phaleristics.

The most common form is round and made of bronze, but they may be produced in any shape desired and of any material suitable for sculpting, molding, casting, striking or stamping. A Medallion is a large medal which may be commemorative or produced as a work of art or souvenir, and occasionally referred to as a “table medal”; in colloquial use, the term Medallion is sometimes used to refer to ornamental jewelry worn as a pendant as part of a necklace. Art medals can also be produced in a rectangualar shape as a Plaquette or larger plaque (the latter term also having non-medallic applications).