My collection so far - comments/suggestions welcome

[Wessel Gordon]

So far in my collection I have the following and would like some suggestions about other medals to collect:

	Medal	Size	Country
**	Bronze Star	Standard & Miniature	America
*	Congressional Medal of Honor	Standard	America
*	Legion of Merit	Standard	America
	National Defense Service Medal	Standard	America
**	Navy Cross	Standard & Miniature	America
*	Purple Heart	Standard	America
**	Silver Star	Standard & Miniature	America
*	Distinguished Service Cross	Standard	Britain
*	Distinguished Service Order	Standard	Britain
	George Cross	Standard	Britain
	Member of the British Empire	Miniature	Britain
	Military Cross	Standard & Miniature	Britain
*	Victoria Cross	Standard & Miniature	Britain
	Pour le Merite	Standard	Prussia/Germany
	Danie Theron Medal	Miniature	South Africa
**	De Wet Decoration	Standard & Miniature	South Africa
	De Wet Medal	Standard & Miniature	South Africa
	General Service Medal (GSM)	Standard & Miniature	South Africa
	Honoris Crux (1975)	Miniature	South Africa
	John Chard Medal	Standard & Miniature	South Africa
	Military Merit Medal	Standard & Miniature	South Africa
**	Pro Merito Medal (1975)	Standard & Miniature	South Africa
	Pro Partia Medal	Standard & Miniature	South Africa
	Southern African Medal	Standard & Miniature	South Africa
	Unitas Medal	Standard & Miniature	South Africa

 

 

* Means I have one of the medal still to arrive ** Means I have both medals in the set still to arrive. Kind regards Wessel Gordon PS: The Medal of Honor is the Air Force Variant.

Edited June 18, 2019 by Wessel Gordon
Added the variant of the Medal of Honor.

[JohanH]

Hello Wessel!

Are all your orders/medals original? 

If they are, you have a to say the least an amazing collection!

Can we see some pictures of them?

[Wessel Gordon]

JohanH

The only ones I can say with complete certainty are original are the following:

1. Pro Merito Medal (1613)

2. John Chard Decoration (13526)

3. Military Merit Medal (16415)

4. De Wet Medal (19595)

5. Unitas Medal (25844)

6. Southern Africa Medal (50393)

7. General Service Medal (131397)

8. Pro Partia Medal (210966)

As for the rest: the Congressional Medal of Honor, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, Distinguished Service Order and Cross, Military Cross, Victoria Cross, George Cross and Pour le Merite are all reproductions.

Regarding the miniatures I have I can't vouch for any that they are real since they are not numbered.

I'm off on a family vacation to Mauritius with the entire family from the 4th of July to the 9th so all my attention is focused on getting ready for it. Once I'm back I'll take some pictures.

 

 

 

 

I'm fully aware all those reproductions in my collection significantly impacts the resale value but I buy medals that I find attractive or have a context in South African Military history. In some cases the original medal are extremely rare or so expensive that I can't possible afford it.

[Wessel Gordon]

i just received my De Wet Decoration (Full size and Miniature) and it's marked ''3153'' so another original set.

[Wessel Gordon]

And a few minutes later I received my John Chard Decoration (11786).

Things are coming along quite nicely

 

[JohanH]

Miniatures are always difficult to say if they are "original" or period or when they are made. Since so many was privately purchased. 

 

I hope you´ll have a nice vacation and when you get back we want to see some pictures!

I think most collectors have some medals or orders that are not original. Either they know it of not.

I have two that I know are "fakes" or reproductions. One is a gold medal from the finnish winter war (only awarded 7 times to head of states) and one is a finnish gold medal of merit only awarded once to a german. Since they are impossible to obtain I´ll settle with good? reproductions. 

[Wessel Gordon]

Exactly my point.

 

I have a miniature Honoris Crux medal that was the highest military medal for bravery in South Africa from 1952 to 2003. I chanced on a regular one on a website that got sold for R 26 000, not sure how much that is in Euros but it's way over what I'm willing to pay so I guess I'll never have a full sized one.

 

If I see a reproduction medal on Ebay or some other auction site that I'm missing for part of my collection I'm willing to bid on it as long as the seller doesn't try to tell me it dates from 1250 and the paint and metalwork is immaculate.

At the moment I have a Air Force cross (regular size and miniature),  Bronze Star (regular and miniature), Congression Medal of Honor, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart (all regular size), Distinguished Service Cross & Order (regular sizes), Military Cross (regular size) and Victoria Cross (regular size) that is somewhere in the postal mayhem (oops, I mean services) of at least 3 countries so I hope they arrive while I'm gone. Will have to leave strict instructions at the post office to hoard all my post and not deliver till I personally go to pick it up after the trip.

 

 

 

[Wessel Gordon]

I finally received my Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and Distinguished Cross after an epic 117 day Mexican stand off with our local postal service.

Better late than never, I guess.

 

[Wessel Gordon]

Quick update.

I have now received all the medals mentioned in the first post in this thread with the exception of the Congressional Medal of Honor, which I ordered in it's own display box.

If there is overseas enthusiasts who would like images of my SANDF collection feel free to ask since I photographed every medal but the folder of all my medals is 124MB big so it's way beyond what I am able to post here.

Kind regards,

Wessel Gordon

 

[Wessel Gordon]

I received my Congressional Medal of Honor awhile ago so I now have all the medals mentioned in the first post. We are busy renovating the house so the medals are safely stored from prying eyes and sticky fingers, not that I do not trust people but better safe than sorry.