A Beatles NEMS official medallion / medal by Davo struck in bronze and issued to coincide with the band's 1966 German tour, aka the Bravo Blitztournee. 

On one side there's a relief sculpture of the Beatles' heads and the text 'Anno 1966' in the middle with their names around the rim; on the other side there's the band member's signatures in the middle and the text 'The Kings of Beat and Members of the British Empire' around the rim. Made of bronze, the item was available either as a plain coin or with a small hole drilled at the top with a link through it allowing the disc to be worn as a medallion, bracelet, etc. This one has the hole.

Some of these coins / medallions have a signature mark near Ringo's head, some don't. This one does. (Pic 6 shows one that doesn't, included here for information only, and not part of this auction.) There's a debate about which are the originals and which are the later versions. See below for details.

The medallion is documented in Jeff Augsburger et al's Beatles Memorabilia Price Guide 3rd edition as item 259. The medallion pictured in ther book also has the signature.

Condition: Very good. Small tarnished area to bottom right of head side. See pics.

International postage quoted is for USA & Australia. For Europe it would be £11.50. Other territories also differ. Either ask for a revised invoice if you win or pay the full amount and I'll refund any significant overpayment when I mail the item. If I occasionally forget... remind me!

Details:

Firstly, the signature: The medallion was designed by Horst Stellamans, and once you know this, then the signature mark next to ringo's head is obviously an 'H' superimposed on an 'S'. It's customary for medal designers / sculptors to sign their work. Generally speaking, it's more likely that a signed item will be an original than an unsigned. 

Background: The volume of Beatles merchandising produced during 1963-64 used up most available official licences and pretty much exhausted demand for such products. After a quiet 1965, though, what was to be the band's final world tour was scheduled. Because it included entirely new markets like Japan and involved their first return to Germany since their Hamburg residencies of 1960-62, there was renewed interest in producing souvenirs, and the Beatles' management company, NEMS Enterprises Ltd, granted a few new licences.

The Beatles had been made MBEs in 1965, and a couple of companies were keen to cash in on those awards by striking their own commemoritive coins / medals / medallions. One, commissioned by Metalimports and made of silver, was made for the UK market and advertised in various newspapers and magazines, plus the March 1966 Beatles Book monthly magazine. (Incidentally, that medallion was signed by the sculptor Geoffrey Colley; the later Japanese copy was not signed.)

For the German market, the licence for a completely different design - the one offered here - was granted to Teo and Horst Stellamans of Dannenberg. Teo owned the machine-building company Dannenberger Vorrichtungsbau, or Davo for short, and built the machine that stamped out the medal, designed by Horst, whose baby the project was. The medal was advertised via Bravo magazine (see pic 7, included here for information only and not part of this auction), the sponsors of the band's German tour, known as the Bravo Blitztournee.

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I will combine postage where possible.