Representative group, what to look for?

[Gerd Becker]

Gentlemen,

lately i am looking a little deeper into British Awards and see, that named Medals are deeply researchable. Now i am thinking about to add one or maybe little two groups to my collection and would like to have something representative for WW 2? What would i have to look for? What should be part of the group? Lets assume a pricerange of 200 Dollar. I have no particular interest, Army, Navy, Enlisted, Officer, whatever....

Also, a (not too expensive, i might add) reference for Medals of Great Britain.

Look foward to your suggestions.

Thanks in advance

regards,

Gerd

Edited August 30, 2006 by Gerd Becker

[Ed_Haynes]

You want named "British" medals for WWII? Then think: Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, or India (post-1947 meaning). Others issued unnamed and groups are faked like crazy. If, as anticipated, WWII medal rolls become available soon, a lot of cherished faked "groups" will self-destruct! Though, at least for an all-named Indian group, you'd have trouble staying under $200 in the West (I shall not discuss the perils of eBay!). Many faked groups have come of late out of Pakistan and, especially, the UK.

Reference: it has many flaws, but the Medals Yearbook -- ignore prices and focus on information -- which is also flawed in places.

Welcome to another slippery slope . . .

[Gerd Becker]

Thank you, Ed. Thats a start. I will try to get ahold of the Medal Yearbook asap. This seems to be a very complex area of Medal-Collecting.

Thanks again

Gerd

[Ulsterman]

Gerd:

As an aside-one place you can start with a reasonable degree of confidence is the WW1 trio-where medal cards are availabe on-line. You can still pick up a hard-won pair of WW1 medals to a line regiment private for $40. Also, groups with the ISM seem to still be availble.

I had no idea about the Pakistani fakes though-sigh.

Edited August 31, 2006 by Ulsterman

[Gerd Becker]

Gerd:

As an aside-one place you can start with a reasonable degree of confidence is the WW1 trio-where medal cards are availabe on-line. You can still pick up a hard-won pair of WW1 medals to a line regiment private for $40. Also, groups with the ISM seem to still be availble.

I had no idea about the Pakistani fakes though-sigh.

Thank you I am already keeping an eye on ebay UK and thought about to start with a nice WW1 Trio. When i have something, i consider to bid on, i?ll post it here for review.

[Ed_Haynes]

If you MUST eBay, rather than work with real dealers, look for an award to a regiment (not to a corps or artillery) -- easier to research!

Actually, the 2007 Medal Yearbook is due out soon, wait for that one maybe??

Edited August 31, 2006 by Ed_Haynes

[Laurence Strong]

Hi Ed

I am like Gerd, thyinking of stepin g out on that slope Could you point the way to a couple of reputable dealer's. I would like to check out the Pakistan or India side of things, they seem to have a nice range of medals, beside curry is yummy

[Ed_Haynes]

Dealers? Not sure this is kosher (shuddh? halal?) but these are the ones I use the most (in alphabetical order):

Philip Burman - http://www.military-medals.co.uk/grandlist.htm

Chris Dixon - http://www.dixonsmedals.co.uk/

Frontier Medals - http://www.frontiermedals.com/

Liverpool Medal Company - http://www.liverpoolmedals.com/

There are others. I am not bothering with the "mainly-auction" places like DNW or Spink.

If inappropriate for the forum, this can surely be deleted.

[Laurence Strong]

Hi Ed

I'm sorry I never thought of that ethical part of that question. Mea culpa. However I saved them awful fast incase it get's deleted Thank you

[Ed_Haynes]

Hi Ed

I'm sorry I never thought of that ethical part of that question. Mea culpa. However I saved them awful fast incase it get's deleted Thank you

I don't THINK any such problem exists on this forum (unlike others), but I always feel a bit ethically queasy doing these public recommendations. All I'll say is that these are the guys I use. Period. Why I deal with them and not others reflects my interests and what they stock. Other fine UK dealers never bother with medals to Indians so I don't bother with them.

[Hauptmann]

I don't THINK any such problem exists on this forum (unlike others), but I always feel a bit ethically queasy doing these public recommendations. All I'll say is that these are the guys I use. Period. Why I deal with them and not others reflects my interests and what they stock. Other fine UK dealers never bother with medals to Indians so I don't bother with them.

Hi Ed,

To me at least it's very helpful when a fellow member here makes such recommendations. I'm very leery about dealing with new folks, especially in an area where I don't have a ton of expertise or am just starting out. So such recommendations are extremely valuable. Just as when someone should be avoided... I want to know. I'm sure that at least most if not all of us feel this way. It's so easy in all this to lose our hard earned money to crooks and by the same token it's always nice to be able to feel comfortable dealing with someone new knowing that they have a very good rep to start with.

Dan

Edited August 31, 2006 by Hauptman

[Gerd Becker]

Excellent advice, Ed. And thanks a lot for the links. I think, i quite found, what i am looking for. I?ll probably start off with a simple trio 1914/15 star-British War Medal-Victory Medal.

Thanks again to everyone