Rank differentials in medal prices

[PhilB]

There seems to be little price difference in medals between ORs and NCOs, but a big jump to even the most junior officer. But what about warrant officers? Should their medal prices be like ORs, officers or somewhere between? Phil B

[welshdoc]

I dotnt think theres that much difference between OR and WO WW1 pairs , as you say the price probably is a little higher than OR. The only thing about WO is they do tend to be with others such as campaign , long service or meritorious medals so its difficult to estimate relative values. The majority on the market seem to be from Corps which means you need to compare like with like. Gareth

[Guest KevinEndon]

WO's medals are slightly higher because the chances of being a low number is greater and a lot of collectors go for 1, 2 and 3 digit numbers.

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

A contributing factor,but would normally only make around a 10~20% increase,other factors would have much more influence on any Medal group price,a Warrant Officers trio of Medals to one of the Corps,could well be a third of the price to that of a private to a highly collected Regiment.

These days valuation of Medals goes way beyond "Catalogue Price" such as can be used to value Coins or stamps,where there is no uniqueness,each named Medal group is unique & consequently different aspects of each one can attract different buyers,wether it be numbering,Rank,name,Regiment,etc;

One of the most positive aspects of WO's awards is that they are more likely to be recorded in various records,that possibly other OR's aren't

[SPotter]

Pro rata there were significantly fewer WO Is and IIs, so their medals are correspondingly scarcer. However the price uplift (maybe only a pound or two) doesn't seem to reflect this. The only advantage is that there is a slightly greater chance of these exalted ranks being mentioned in any documents compared to the rank and file.

But you are right, the increase from OR to 2/Lt does seem out of all proportion.

Regards

Steve

[PhilB]

Let`s take a hypothetical example. 14/15 trios (no plaque), 8th East Yorks, KIA 14/7/16 Bazentin Ridge. A decent action, decent unit and we have 4 groups to a private, a WO2, a WO1 and a 2/Lt. None named in the regimental history. How much? Phil B

[PhilB]

Don`t be shy!

[Guest KevinEndon]

A hell of a lot depends on a load of things. Condition, Name, Number, even soldiers own history. It is very difficult to put a price on each item because as you will know you could have a dozen or so wishing to buy one of them and no one wanting another therefore the privates medals could go for £80 the officers for £50 if you are meaning that they were to go on ebay.

[auchonvillerssomme]

Lets just accept online auction sites make no sense and cannot be used as a price guide. I once had for sale an Aircrew Europe group which I was expecting about £150 travel upwards to £450. I have recently paid £700 for a group of odds n sods which although included an MC an erased 15 Star, erased BWM and named Victory. all I wanted was the Victory Medal and for which I would have paid well over the odds just for that. There is no way in the world a single Victory medal named to an officer died of wounds awarded an MC in Italy would be worth as much as I would have paid for sentimental reasons.

Mick

[PhilB]

Medals to WO1s KIA must be among the rarest. There`s only one in an infantry battalion and I suspect he would be held back from most attacks. Probably as rare as Lt Cols KIA? Can SDGW give figures for the numbers of WO1s, WO2s etc KIA? Phil B

[Coldstreamer]

Lets just accept online auction sites make no sense and cannot be used as a price guide. I once had for sale an Aircrew Europe group which I was expecting about £150 travel upwards to £450. I have recently paid £700 for a group of odds n sods which although included an MC an erased 15 Star, erased BWM and named Victory. all I wanted was the Victory Medal and for which I would have paid well over the odds just for that. There is no way in the world a single Victory medal named to an officer died of wounds awarded an MC in Italy would be worth as much as I would have paid for sentimental reasons.

Mick

Mick

an MCs what, £500 or so now - two erased medals £20 each

Thats £160 for the victory and what ever else in the lot - Id buy a CG officer casualty victory medal for this price any day of the week

Ian

[Coldstreamer]

QUOTE (Phil_B @ Aug 9 2006, 09:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There seems to be little price difference in medals between ORs and NCOs, but a big jump to even the most junior officer. But what about warrant officers? Should their medal prices be like ORs, officers or somewhere between? Phil B

Phil

To me its a matter of research. You get more mentions of SNCO in books and diaries simply because most seem to be written by officers who didnt mention the privates etc

WOs are scarce - CG had 27 drafted to France during the war from the reserve Btn compared to 14325 privates