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Remembered Today:

What would this collection be worth - best guess?


John_Hartley

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No, I havnt started collecting, nor am I selling. But I'd be interested in your views about how much this lot would be worth if ever it came up (which isnt likely, I gather).

It's a trio, with MC & Bar.

Guy is a pre-war regular, holding the rank of private, with 1st Lancashire Fusiliers. He's a first day-er at Gallipoli and is also a first day-er on the Somme. Later commissioned, into a another battalion of the LFs, he gains his MC and bar. Survives the war.

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It's a trio, with MC & Bar.

John,

Military Cross and Trio groupings are popular and are currently selling for an average of 2000 pounds, i.e. 1700 - 2200 pounds. The Military Cross Bar is rare, with only 2983 first Bars being awarded, so to a Collector anxious to get an MC and Bar, or someone having a special interest in the Lancashire Fusiliers, 2500 to 2750 pounds for a Military Cross and Bar grouping, I think, would not seem unreasonable.

Regards,

LF

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John,

An MC and Bar grouping ( photo attached ) sold in London this past June, for 2400 pounds plus Auction House commission.

LF

post-63666-0-85793700-1386942563_thumb.j

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Blimey, my old collection's sole MC & Trio (KIA Lys 1918, MID x2 with certs.) cost £22.50. Mind you, that was in 1970...

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Blimey, my old collection's sole MC & Trio (KIA Lys 1918, MID x2 with certs.) cost £22.50. Mind you, that was in 1970...

I know Collectors who also bought groupings back then, all have proved to be a great investment, and with the upcoming anniversary of the start of WW1, I am sure we will see prices going even higher.

Regards,

LF

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Hmm. At the same time Military Medals were a fiver.

I can still recall a shop in Camden Passage would have a bucket of MMs a fiver each! it was 1974 and iwas earning £15 a week take home about £12!

Today, that bucket of Military Medals would be worth many thousands of pounds, as they are no longer 5 pounds each, more like 300 pounds each for the single medal.

Regards,

LF

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I know nothing about medals, but if a normal trio with MM is selling for GBP2,000 - and this is MC and bar, with 1st day Gallipoli and 1st day Somme - then from a purely layman's perspective I would have thought at least double - i.e. GBP4-5,000. If not more.

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Today, that bucket of Military Medals would be worth many thousands of pounds, as they are no longer 5 pounds each, more like 300 pounds each for the single medal.

Regards,

LF

Indeed first MM i bought was a Welsh Guards CSM WO with trio ,plaque ,scroll and photograph of the lad also documented he fought in Mexico in 1914 after jumping ship and returned to join up ,i recall thinking is £120 to much? now i look at some of the other bits in the collection and do wonder?
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I know nothing about medals, but if a normal trio with MM is selling for GBP2,000 - and this is MC and bar, with 1st day Gallipoli and 1st day Somme - then from a purely layman's perspective I would have thought at least double - i.e. GBP4-5,000. If not more.

Had the recipient been ' Killed in Action ' at Gallipoli or the 1st Day of the Somme, the price would have been much higher.

Again, same well known Auction House, this past June 13, Military Cross and Bar with Trio - 1900 pounds.

also in June - Military Cross and Bar to NZ RFC Ace killed in a flying accident 1917 - auction estimate 4000 to 5000, sold for 12,000 pounds.

Sometimes medals will, for whatever reason, sell for below their estimate, and sometimes for considerably more, often it depends on who is bidding, and how strong the bidder's interest is in that particular medal or medal group.

Regards,

LF

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I know nothing about medals, but if a normal trio with MM is selling for GBP2,000 - and this is MC and bar, with 1st day Gallipoli and 1st day Somme - then from a purely layman's perspective I would have thought at least double - i.e. GBP4-5,000. If not more.

MM and trio around 600 - 700......not £2000!

This MC and bar, non casualty between £2000 and £2500 depending on date of award, regiment, engagement etc.

I had one to the Border Regiment that cost me £600 late '90s. Wish I still had the group now!

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Hindsight is an interesting thing. Still kicking myself for not buying up victory medals at 50 Irish pence in the early '80s. Pocket money even then.

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If i knew then what i know now would be buying 1940 pattern BD for 10p in 1970 and selling them for £150 plus on the internet not pretty or glamrous and shiny but what a return?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Since we've already digressed from the OP's question, I'm reminded of a discussion, I forget who with, at Camden Passage market in the mid 80s. He was telling me of someone he knew who only collected 1st July trios with plaques and had about 300 of them. We thought it a bit strange at the time. Now it's house money. I've occasionally wondered who that collector was, and whether he still has them.

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There were a few collectors back then i recall who only collected officer casualtys with plaques ,one bloke i knew only went for pre 23rd September 1914 casualtys ! they must all be pushing on a bit and you tend to think there are some stunning collections to be unloaded sooner or later?

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Hussarbob is pretty much on the money for a private sale.

Sell to a dealer and you'll get less

Sell at auction (spink, DNW, etc) and you might get more, but commission will be between 10%-15%

Jon

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Hi John,

I only collect to LF. Gallipoli lander medals to 1st Bn go for around double the usual if not more (singles and groups), 1st Day of the Somme to 1st and 2nd Bn are the same.

An MC and Bar to a MAJ went for 3000 in 2010 and it didn't have this sort of providence. I would say at least 5000, probably quite a bit more.

Rgds

Tim D

PS. Would be interested in who this is if you could PM me?

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Ah well, I tried but failed. Looks like the first line of my post was wrong, but I take comfort in the fact that the second and third lines are still valid!

As Hussarbob said in his post: "depending on date of award, regiment, engagement etc", so I gladly defer to those with knowledge of the specific Regiment and circumstances under discussion.

Cheers,

Jon

P.S. I agree; will be good to see some of the older collections come to market ..................... but I still wont be able to afford anything really interesting!

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In some respects WW1 medal group prices will always be relatively low because so many were issued. The monetary value of a WW1 MM group is around £6-800, two Falklands conflict MM groups were sold recently for £70,000 and £40,000 respectively. We have one from Aden (with MID from Northern Ireland) coming up with a guide of £15,000.

With WW1 medals and plaques it is often the available information that dictates the price: our highest price this year for a plaque was for an ASC casualty who died from a burst appendix. The correspondence and records available(a full file of over 30 pages) made it a fascinating lot to a collector

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At what point does fashion dictate collecting ? when i first started back in 1968 ,the more mature collectors were going for Officers Waterloos and even NGS medals bar Trafalgar from each ship involved to officers ,these still seem to hold their price and move whith the times and collectors seem to be a pretty flush international bunch ,but we may get to a time when even those are not regarded as they are now , 1879 Zulu War medals also have a high demand , but back in the day collectors went for IGS medals with various bars and would try to get the full collection of all regiments and all bars! Those days seem to have moved on and who now collects with that approach ?

Must admit ASC plaque even with a burst appendix and 30 pages of service history would not do it for me .

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Must admit ASC plaque even with a burst appendix and 30 pages of service history would not do it for me .

It still amazes me, that even today with so many detailed publications breaking down the various units that made up the corps that there is still a lack of interest in medals to corps. Horses for courses, or maybe horses for Wold Waggons? ;-)

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