Buying/selling Medals Superthread [merged]

[Michael OLeary]

I dont believe its right to sell any medals that were earned during war.

What, may I ask, do you consider acceptable fates for medals?

 

[slowmode]

This is just my opinion but I believe medals should be either kept in the family, going through generation to generation. If not that, the families should give them to a musiem to show the Canadians. I dont dont feel its right to buy a medal that was worked hard for. A soldier works hard to earn the medal. Thats just my opinion, everyone else believe somthing different.

 

[Michael OLeary]

This is just my opinion but I believe medals should be either kept in the family, going through generation to generation. If not that, the families should give them to a musiem to show the Canadians. I dont dont feel its right to buy a medal that was worked hard for. A soldier works hard to earn the medal. Thats just my opinion, everyone else believe somthing different.

Families, great if they actually keep them.  Not all have done so.

Museums, a nice thought but don't for minute believe that every group of medals in a museum's collection is on display.  The remainder will sit in boxes and drawers, never seen by the public, never researched, their history and original owners forgotten.

Soldiers do 'work hard' for those medals, they do deserve to be remembered.  In many cases where families no longer exist to retain the medals, or have lost interest, it is the collectors that treasure, value, save and research these medals, the soldiers and their history.

 

[Nfld Sapper]

How about giving them to members unit? or maybe to any unit I'm sure the regimental museum would take care of them.

 

[slowmode]

I totally agree with you. I collect WW2 items, I have been doing so for 2 years now. I've been trying to avoid buying an medals because its just somthing I dont believe should be bought. Maybe later I will buy one but currently I dont believe in doing so. But you have a really good point.

 

[larry Strong]

I might be wrong (the article didn't go into detail) but the sad thing is that this medal probably found it's way into a militaria dealers shop from some relative who didn't give a rat's tail about his relatives military service. Now everyone is feigning indignation.......... I guess the world will become a better place if all us collectors simply boxed up everything we own and turn it in to our local governmental re-distribution center (down the street from the re-education center) where they will determine whether or not it is politically correct to display in a museum or just destroy it for the betterment of civilization.........

 

[slowmode]

Good point, I guess its not always bad to buy medals, keep them preserved instead of them becoming destroyed.

 

[reccecrewman]

No matter what, it is absolutely sickening that a family member be it wife, mother or any other that was presented with a Memorial Cross could have the audacity to sell it.  At the very least, if it brings back painful memories of the deceased, give it to another family member that wants it rather than use it to make a quick buck.  Our men and women that have given their lives in service of their Country deserve at least that.  Not to mention that troops generally max out their SISIP policies prior to departing.  It is a prudent action to take to ensure that your family is taken care of should the worst occur, so what's a few extra bucks when SISIP has already presented you with a cheque for $500,000 as well as the money the Military gives. (Not 100% sure, but I think I remember seeing someplace they get two years of the member's pay......... someone feel free to correct me on this, but in any event, the SISIP policy alone should be more than sufficient)

In any event, to hell with someone who has no respect for the fallen that they are willing to sell off a medal that can only be earned by dying for your Country.  And when you look at it in that sense, the MC carries a value that surpasses any bravery medal.  A bravery medal can be won and the recipient can still be alive to wear it (Not always of course, but quite often)  The MC costs a soldier their life.  So, sweet dreams to someone who feels their loved one is worth $200 (Just a number) because in a sense, when they sell that medal, they are placing a dollar value on that life, and that's just nauseating........... I could rant about this one forever, but I think I've said the point of my thought's on this subject.

Regards

 

[Michael OLeary]

I think you are confusing a number of separate issues.  The principal direction of the discussion thus far has not been the surviving mothers/spouses selling Memorial Crosses or other medals, and to direct strong indictments against them is, perhaps, unneeded.

Families may let medals go to the market for various reasons, it could be a disinterested granddaughter or great-nephew that never knew the soldier, had no emotional connection to the medals, and was required to clean up an estate after the death of a preceding heir to the items.  Despite what our personal feelings are to medals and Memorial Crosses, there are times when there's no-one left in the recipient's family who can, or wants to, care for them. 

The question then becomes, what should happen to them?  Museums (whether national, regional, local or regimental) do not display every artifact they take into their collections.  If they were required to, most would soon close for lack of space and funding to meet such an expectation.  Similarly, few museums have the resources to conduct additional detailed research into every artefact (medals or other) that they receive.

If these items had "no value", then even auctioneers and dealers wouldn't take them off the last owner’s hands.  They would then end up going to the dump with the other unsold bits of the estate.  And that would be a true tragedy.  Similarly, I believe that if any such law was enacted "outlawing" the sale of medals, then those who now let an auctioneer sell them may not even bother to find an alternate resting place for them, and they would as often be discarded.

Collectors get involved in medals not because of their market value, but because of their interest in, or connections with the medal recipients, their regiments, campaigns and services.  Many collectors spend time and money researching the soldiers, sailors and airmen who received the medals.  These collectors become, for lack of any better description, the de facto “family” of the medal recipient, preserving the memory that the family didn't (or couldn't by virtue of there being no further descendants).

 

[orange.paint]

Question would be Mr Leary:
Do you currently have a plan for what happens to the medals on your passing?Or will they hit the cycle of your family putting them back on E bay?
This is where I believe they should be sent to the units,museum's etc.At least then interested per's as yourself could study it there,provide a history of the item,and allow it to remain for those who appreciate these things.

But that's just my opinion.

How about donating to local legions when the history is confirmed?

 

[Michael OLeary]

As for the medals in my own collection, it is my intention that they will pass to the Regimental Museum on my passing.  With them will go any associated research and collected documents.

I have confidence in their storage and display at the regimental museum as they are very specific to the Museum's collection aims and the Museum has an endowment of funds that will help to shelter them in the long term.

With regard to Legions, I applaud the various Legion Branches for holding the artifacts that they do, but I do wonder what happens when a Branch closes, as many already have.  What is the RCL's overall plan (if there is one) for protecting these items when a Legion Branch closes?

 

[reccecrewman]

The following is a story in the papaer I found this morning, the widow is still living and family members found the cross on eBay. Now the question is...should it be illegal to sell historic war medals on on-line auctions?

Mr. O'Leary, this was the original post on this thread and thus what my reply was directed at.  I am aware that the bulk of this thread strayed from the original post, however, I was responding to the original post about an MC being placed on ebay when the widow is still living.

Regards

 

[the 48th regulator]

Mr. O'Leary, this was the original post on this thread and thus what my reply was directed at.  I am aware that the bulk of this thread strayed from the original post, however, I was responding to the original post about an MC being placed on ebay when the widow is still living.

Regards

Then what has happened was theft, has nothing to do with the actual item, it could be any heirloom taken from the widow.  It is then considered illegal if it was taken against her will or knowledge and sold.

Therefore, if in interest of the original post we should discuss the sale of stolen goods.

dileas

tess

 

[Michael OLeary]

Mr. O'Leary, this was the original post on this thread and thus what my reply was directed at.  I am aware that the bulk of this thread strayed from the original post, however, I was responding to the original post about an MC being placed on ebay when the widow is still living.

Regards

Thank you for the clarification, without a referring quote or comment, replies are normally considered to be in response to immediately preceding remarks.

As for the Memorial Cross (an "MC" is a quite different article), was the one on e-Bay the Cross issued to the widow?  Or were two issued and perhaps it was the one issued to the serviceman's mother?  Since the story link is now empty and we know how the media drifts away from a story once they can no longer kindle anyone's sense of outrage, we will probably never know the full history of the Memorial Cross(es) and how that one got to a public auction.

 

[reccecrewman]

Seen..........

My bad as well.......... I've been here long enough and should have had the original post quoted. 

Regards

 

[the 48th regulator]

There, now people can also take a hobby and help others by it;

'Medal detector' reunites veterans with war medals

  Dave Thomson appearing on Canada AM on June 28, 2007. 

Hugh Gale appearing on Canada AM on June 28, 2007.

CTV.ca News Staff
 
Updated: Thu. Jun. 28 2007 12:16 PM ET

A man who has been reuniting the families of war veterans with medals through the use of the Internet has been nominated for a Governor General's Award.


Dave Thomson, of St. George, Ont. who has been nicknamed the 'medal detector' for his work, has been obtaining the medals using the online auction website eBay.


The website has acknowledged Thomson's work and has nominated him for the Governor General's Caring Canadian award recognizing his efforts to preserve Canada's war heritage.


"It's quite an honour, unexpected," Thomson told CTV's Canada AM on Thursday. "I appreciate eBay's interest in what I'm doing because it's their website that makes it possible to do."


Thomson, an auto parts salesperson by trade, actually became involved in returning the medals almost by accident.


"On eBay one day I just happened to troll over to (the) militaria (area of the web site) and found a medal from a fellow named Huff from Princeton, Ontario which is just outside of Brant County and I bought it and donated it to the museum and it sort of spiraled from there," Thomson told CTV's Canada AM.


After retrieving this medal, Thomson continued with the practice. He has now bid on and won more than 65 medals and has returned them to soldiers' families or community museums. His work is clearly being appreciated by the families of the soldiers.


Hugh Gale received a call from his cousin in North Bay, Ont. who had found out that a local newspaper was looking for Gale's mother because the medals of her first husband, Tony Eaton, were being auctioned on eBay. They were able to retrieve their medals through Thomson.


"Well, for my mother it's been quite an emotional experience," Gale told Canada AM. "She hadn't seen the medals for over 60 years. So that was quite exciting and it certainly brought back some wonderful memories of her relationship and of course it came at a cost, with some pain as well, because it is a memorial."


Eaton, who was a soldier from 1940 to 1945, was killed in an accident over England during a training exercise when his plane collided with another aircraft.

As well as using local newspapers, Thomson has tracked down a number of families through local Royal Canadian Legion branches and genealogical societies.

Thomson spends over 20 hours a week tracking down medals and spends 2-3 hours on any medals he locates.

The reason war medals become available for sale on online auction web sites are because they have been lost, stolen or sold by families.




© 2007  All Rights Reserved.

Canada AM Video

dileas

tess

 

[villecour]

Nice to read about such a story, he is a great guy.

       

 

[Reccesoldier]

Medals also get sent back to the origin.  Where I work we have a box in our vault of returned medals, some were returned by the member themselves (out of anger) and others were returned by families who didn't want them or didn't know what to do with them.

We are supposed to destroy them all, but somehow we keep on forgetting to do that.

I had the opportunity to return a members medals (he had been one of the angry ones, a post Somalia casualty), a nice rack of 5.  He was very grateful to have them, and that they were the originals without (R) for replacement engraved on the appropriate medals.

Although our vault isn't that big, I think it would take quite an influx of returns for the people here to follow the letter of the policy and melt them down.

 

[Greymatters]

...  for the people here to follow the letter of the policy and melt them down.

I didnt see that on this thread.  Do you have a link?

 

[Reccesoldier]

I didnt see that on this thread.  Do you have a link?

I think you're misunderstanding me.  At the Directorate of Honours and Recognition the policy for medals returned by members or families of members who expressly state that they do not want them any more is that the medals be destroyed.  But as I stated earlier, somehow we keep on forgetting to do that.