Looking for relatives WWI British War Medal

[TParker96]

Hi,

I had great news recently when i discovered a relative had found my great, great grandfathers WWI Victory Medal and he said i can have it. But it made me wonder what could have happened to his British War Medal, as i have checked his MIC i know he recieved both the Victory & British War Medal & I'm sure that it must be in the family somewhere and as i'm positive that the family would never have sold something so precious and valuable but there's always a chance that it could have been sold for it's silver content to make some money.

His details were as follows:

Rifleman

R/24410

James Arthur Gardiner

18th Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps

Killed In Action on 14th June 1917 (We do have his Death Plaque as well) during The Battle Of Messines

Age: 30

Remembered with honour on The Menin Gate, Ypres Panel 53

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Thomas

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

It is more than likely still in the Family somewhere?

despite the horror stories about Medals being sold for Scrap it is only very very recently that Silver has reached such a zenith of high prices,that they would have been worth doing it to in most cases,after the Great War they would have been worth about the price of a Crown;~5/~ in silver,a price they maintained for the best part of half a century!!only being valued at around a pound in the first Spinks Catalogue!! of 1969!!

The most likely scenario is that when the brothers or NoK of the recipient had a medal apiece as a rememberance token this often happened and is the cause of many "split" groups that appear today,having been sold on after the immediate Families have died out. Asking amongst your Family members might prove productive,but beware even Family members can get guarded if too much interest is shown...Good Luck HB