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    Nick

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    Posts posted by Nick

    1. It would be nice to establish any trade mark features on these medals to help identify these fakes, that is if they are as good as they purport to be. Makes you realise if someone can do this as a cottage industry what could be achieved with real industrial facilities and expertise. He got greedy, that appears to be what gave him away. 

    2. And the article highlights the difficult issue of how do you determine who qualifies for such a medal. I am not saying there shouldn't be one,  but for example a campaign medal will be awarded for all those in operational theatre for the prescribed number of days. Doesn't matter you role, whether you are front line at most risk or in a support role, if you are there for the number of days required you qualify. When the conflict is on your home soil  there is no geographical boundary so days served is a bit of a mute point.

      But as has been said already do you give it to only front line staff on COVID Wards/ ITU, paramedics or do you give it to all NHS staff regardless of role. Then there are the thousands of others all risking their health and lives to keep the country going care workers in private nursing homes, social workers, volunteers, key workers, police etc etc, There comes a point when there are so many deserving people where do you draw the line. 

       

    3. In the UK there are 1.2million NHS workers in England alone you then need to factor in Scotland, NI and Wales., if you then consider any other persons such as NHS volunteers 700,000 of them or other public facing key workers involved in the fight  like police, military, Border Force, council employees,  Public Health bodies etc etc Then there are charity workers exposing themselves to help people in unfortunate circumstances. 

      Thats the tip of the iceberg and a lot of people to consider. The criteria would have to be very strict to make such a medal feasible i.e. front line carers exposing themselves to high risk of infection. But then that would denigrate other essential persons who have placed themselves at high risk of infection for example cleaning staff, in hospitals. We need to see how this pans out in the long term, as it is just the beginning.

      You may be right that like WW2 a series of medals needs to be considered dependent on role. Call me a cynic  but the one factor in the UK that will without a doubt influence any such decisions will be the role the military play in this. If they are deployed in significant numbers, then standby for medals to be issued. If not then other than recognising the acts of a few key individuals such as the usual bigwigs at the top,  or those that have sadly paid the ultimate sacrifice or placed themselves at immense risk is the more likely option.

    4. My May 1929 bible of Scotland Yard identifies 'A' Department was for Administration. A3 covered Promotions & Transfers, Pay Rates, Ceremonials, Special Duties, Medical & Sick, Police Orders. Previously called the Executive Branch A3 was mainly clerical duties, but also included Constables attached to Scotland Yard for special purpose such as motor drivers, and wireless operators. It also included the telegraph office. 

    5. The problem with this as previously pointed out, is not so much the profit Weitze makes, it is how dealers artificially influence market prices. Any item is worth what the buyer wants to pay and high end pieces are always going to appeal to a certain market. Weitze is a business man, he wants to squeeze the biggest profit he can, he knows his customer base and obviously judged correctly what someone is willing to pay. This unfortunately just makes collecting become more and more unreachable with many high end pieces now far beyond the price the average collector can afford.

      This is the issue we face as a community, it is a shrinking hobby, becoming more and more exclusive. Many high end buyers being investors as opposed to true collectors. Sure your low end mass manufactured awards are still going to be affordable to most, with prices climbing at a much smaller margin, but their appeal becomes limited over time. You can only buy so many Iron Crosses, Purple Hearts or British War medals. So to keep expanding collections, looking for those rarer item requires deeper and deeper pockets.

      How many previous collectors do you know who are no longer collecting? Ask them why. A large proportion will be for financial reasons I can assure you. The last decade has seen this really hit home. Many specialist medal auctions are inhabited by dealers and investors, with collectors walking home disappointed and empty handed because prices are too demanding. I have seen time and time again good pieces being auctioned off for crazy prices appearing on dealers sites with an even higher price tag weeks or months later. The dealers need to buy stock and auctions is one of their largest suppliers. 

    6.  I have no objection to material being questioned by collectors if supported by a reasoned argument which is conducted in a civil and courteous  manner.

      However the arrogant and somewhat cavalier attitude of the original poster has undermined the worth of the topic and it has therefore been locked. 

    7. This topic is now locked. Although it would be easy for me to give the benefit of the doubt as to the motive for the post in the first place. I cannot help but feel that this has been posted to cause controversy.

      As rules and regulations are so often quoted : Rule 2:8

      Overtly political or religious viewpoints are not considered to be suitable material for publication on this forum other than in a historical military context. It is understood that at times topical news stories or current world conflicts or events may need to be discussed and are relevant to the collecting world. Such subjects can be by their nature be very emotive and lead to tension and disagreement amongst members. Such topics may only be discussed on the proviso that they do not intentionally or indirectly cross such boundaries and if inappropriate may be subject to moderation.

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