British Military Medals

Why British? Except for World War 2 most medalsas the first medal over any other medal or order. A
are named on rim so they are very easy to identify.business guy who sold his company for over 350
There are hundreds of different regiments and ofmillion has bought over the years 100 VC groups for
course different ranks for medals from 1799 to thearound 20 odd million dollars! There are hundreds of
present day.different Gallantry and Campaign medals. I have seen
Lots of very good replicas of British Military Medalsprices up to $500,000, which wasn't a VC group.
and replacement medals are sold to museums. ReplicaTo an officer in the Royal Air Force, the famous C.B.
Medals are exact copies of the original British MilitaryC.B.E. Fighter Operations D.S.O. and 2 Bars, D.F.C. and
Medal for a certain campaign and supplied with ribbonBar Group of Nineteen to Air-Vice Marshall J.E.
and a plastic envelope to protect the medal. These"Johnnie" Johnson, Royal Air Force - the Officially
are cast medals in high quality alloy if they come fromRecognised Highest Scoring R.A.F. Fighter Pilot of the
a good dealer.1939-45 War - went for a World Record price of two
The replacement medals are die-struck so they arehundred and forty one thousand, five hundred pounds!!
more expensive. Struck in nickel gilt and polished inSo, as you have gathered, there is quite a good
silver gilt they cost more because these have mademarket in British Military Medals and each year a Medal
by a master craftsman who has carved out by handyearbook with price guides is published. There are also
and small machine - a "die". This "die" can cost aroundMiniature Medal Collectors and even an association of
two thousand dollars alone. Then you have the actualMedal Ribbon collectors.
striking which is completed by a machine usually with aOther reasons why there is such a vibrant market is
250 ton press capacity.the British have been in so many wars over the years.
Collectors, dealers, ex forces associations and evenWe have wars when we, as ex-soldiers, were part of
whole families frame replicas for show. This way,a forgotten army. Talk to people about the Malayan
members of the same family can display theirwar which lasted from 1948 to 1960 or the Borneo
ancestors medals. It is usual for owners to keep theconfrontation of 1962 to 1965 and you get blank looks
original medals in a safe or bank. Part of the reason isfrom people who were around during those times.
British Military Medals can command a very highMedals have been a very good investment over the
premium indeed.years. Now they are becoming scarce. Families are
Victoria Cross groups fetch $300,000 whereas awaking up to the fact that their parents, grandparents
replica group to a Victoria Cross winner at Rorkeshad a history. People are searching for details of their
Drift, (11 won in one day at Rorkes Drift - Zulu the filmancestors. It's now all very searchable and the main
was based on this battle) with the VC and Zulu Medalreason is the Internet.
is only about $30. The Victoria Cross is the highestOne thing is certain. British Military Medals are here to
award in England and the Commonwealth, and is wornstay. It's history.