Unknown medal., Information needed please

Can anyone supply any information about this bronze medal which I have recently added to my collection? It measures 40 mm in diameter.




I am reasonably certain that the equestrian statue depicted is that of Matei Corvin, by the sculptor Janos Fadrusz, located in Piata Unirii, Cluj Napoca. This image is from Wikipedia.


Can someone please confirm that the image on the medal is that of the statue?

The next question is what do the letters KAC and the coat of arms type shield on the reverse denote? Presumably there is a strong chance that K is for Kolsozsvar, or Klausenburg?

Also, what does the date of 1880 on the reverse of the medal refer to? The statue in Cluj was not unveiled until 1902, so it is not that.

Lastly, any ideas about the date the medal was actually produced?

I would say it's 100% sure the embossing represents, what the medal makers knew as King Mátyás (Matia in Rumanian, not Matei), the celebrated ruler of Hungary.

I don't know what the letters mean, but I would suggest K stands for Kolozsvár (Cluj), or kolozsvári (from Cluj).
The year may represent the date when this organisation (?) was founded.

Gen. Dénes

Gen. Denes.
Thanks you very much for your response.

Alan in Bradford

In my opinion KAC = Kolozsvári Atlétikai Club
However I read in one place that the KAC was founded in 1884, in another that it was founded in 1885.

This post has been edited by Ertogrul on April 22, 2009 10:20 am

Thank you very much for the extra information Ertogrul.

I did a web search on Kolozsvári Atlétikai and found a Danish site http://www.foot.dk/VisUngklub.asp?ID=81
that seems to quote 1880 as the date of founding for the club. That date fits exactly with the medal.

So it appears that I have a post 1902 medal celebrating the founding of Cluj Athletics Club in 1880.

Another site
http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/crossborder.html#1romh
gave the following information for the club's football team:
Kolozsvári AC (Kolozsvári Atlétikai Club) played as CA Cluj (Clubul Atletic Cluj) in the Romanian second division 1934/35 and 1935/36. They lost their second level status following the reduction of the division from six to two regional groups, and played at regional level until World War II. After their success within the Hungarian league structure during the war, they were included in the Romanian top flight 1946/47 under the name Ferar Cluj. As such, they finished 6th in 1946/47 and 9th in 1947/48 before merging into CFR Cluj (the local railway team), who had withdrawn from their second level group halfway through the 1947/48 season. The merger club was named CFR Cluj and took Ferar's place in the top flight but the identity of the railway club. This club won a first ever Romanian league championship as CFR Cluj-Napoca in 2007/08.

Alan in Bradford

Nice medal.

It has the old coat of arms of the town on it.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...stema_veche.png