MBE value?

[Colin O.]

Hello Gent's,

my friends gran died recently, when he cleared out her attic he found his great grandads service medals, his grandads and his grans all of who served in the RAF in addition to this he found an MBE... it is in mint condition in its original case which is unmarked and still in its own protective cardboard carton, it was awarded to a woman pilot called G. Hume, inside the case is the letter from Buckingham Palace signed by George R which congratulates her and expresses regret at not being able to present it in person, there is a letter from the Air Ministry congratulating her, i couldnt make out the signature, various telegrams of congratulations and newspaper cuttings with a photograph of her in uniform saying about the award being awarded in the new years honours list 1945, he intends to keep the family medals but is considiering selling the MBE, i told him that it was an important and interesting thing and that i would try and find out a ball park figure for him, it really is a nice set , i'm working for him next tuesday and he's agreed to let me photograph the whole group to post it here.

so, does anyone have a rough price guide for the MBE?

Thanks for any help.

Col.

forgot to say, on the case lid it say's MBE (MILY)

Edited November 29, 2007 by Colin O.

[JimZ]

I had a civilian MBE group which I sold last year as fuel for my Russian collection.

If I remember it sold for approx $850 but a) its a mini group, b) its civilian and most importantly c) it was awarded to a Maltese man making it highly uncommon!

On the other hand.... this is a military MBE awarded to a female pilot accompinied by all its docs, letters, cuttings etc. so its hard for me to say. I'd say similar levels would sound fair to me. Of course do listen to what other members may advise. My sale was over a year ago and if prices shifted.....

As far as this particular MBE is concerned, tell your friend to keep and treasure his family's medals and not to sell any off. Of course, if he insists, then its a nice MBE to own if you're into British medals. But its a pity to see family groups and medals leave the relatives especially if the seller does so to buy something trivial.

Regards,

Jim

Edited November 30, 2007 by JimZ

[geoff]

Hi Colin, listen to JimZ, ask any medalmilitaria collector and their advice will be not to split groups, family military/civilian, the historic value of the family items totally outweigh the value of the single item.....medal collectors spend a lifetime trying to reunite medal groups that have been split.....please ask your friends to reconsider it's difficult to put a price on the MBE as there is obviously quite a bit of research required to pinpoint what she was awarded the MBE for ie the role she had as a pilot, if that can be established then the price could go anywhere! todays figures I would suggest a run of the mill (no disrespect meant), Civilian MBE >?150GBP, Civilian/Military MBE, well depanding on its proven history the price could go anywhere!!!

My advice, get a reputable dealer to have a look at the whole and see what he says don't take our suggestions as gospel, the market is a minefield for the unwary!!!

Best regards

Geoff.

[JimZ]

Oh.. I was just speaking of various groups of medals belonging to an heir being sold off as GROUPS.

If in anyway we are discussing an MBE which is part of a group of medals awarded to the same recipient, being split than this is indeed a massive NO NO!!

I have seen (as well as many members) so much damage done to groups of medals being split for commercial profit alone especially with Russian and to a lesse extent, British groups that it is sad to even consider this.

So much damage is indeed done to these relics of history of which we are indeed nothing more than guardians, and with which we have been entrusted for an odd number of years before passing them on to other guardians! Not my words of course but the thoughts of many other members of this club!

Could this female pilot have only been awarded an MBE and nothing more? I somehow doubt it. Perhaps some researchers can help throw more light on this recepient and her decorations.

Jim