Luxembourg Small and Rare

Now here is one you will not see too often. This is the Medal of the Order of Resistance for resisting the WWII German occupation. Exactly what one had to do is unknown to me but in a small country like the Grand Duchy which only had a tiny 500 man armed force I’m sure resistance to the occupation was the only option. The obverse of the medal has Grand Duchess Charlotte’s portrait. The reverse has the Crowned Arms of Luxembourg within a double legend which roughly translates “The People of Luxembourg are grateful to their liberators.” and the inner legend, “We will remain what we are, Luxembourg.”

Researching this medal really brings out how much better coin collectors have it than military medal collectors do when it comes to available books and information. For U.S., British and Germany medals there are plenty of good books but try to find anything off the beaten track like Luxembourg. I sure wish there was a Standard Catalog of World Military Medals.