British War Medals - An Introduction to Collecting British forces Medals

British war medals are very collectible and can change hands for tens of thousands of pounds. The Uk has no equivalent of the U.S. Stolen Valor Act of 2005 and so there is no limitation upon their sale and buy by dealers and collectors. It is vital though for the novice accumulator to be aware of the substantive discrepancy between aid (or campaign) medals and gallantry medals.

Service medals, otherwise referred to as campaign medals, are awarded to every serviceman or woman who has taken part in a single friction or campaign. There is no requirement that the soldier, sailor or airman has behaved in a particular, simply that they were there. The most coarse and collectible are British aid medals from World War One, ordinarily sold in pairs, and unmistakably identifiable from their ribbons, assuming, of course, that the spoton ribbon has been attached!

Every soldier taking part in the Great War received a War Medal and a Victory Medal. The name, serial whole and regiment of the recipient of each medal will be stamped on the side and it will be potential to study details of his war article via the British group article Office and/or the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It is even potential sometimes to trace the recipient's living relatives!

Other aid medals to look out for are the 1914 Mons Star, awarded to members of the primary British Expeditionary Force, and the 1915 Star. For those interested in the Anzac involvement in the Great War, the 1915 Gallipoli Star is also very prized. Be aware though that the recipients of these medals were far fewer in whole and, consequently, the medals become more costly to acquire.

A pair of War and Victory medals will change hands for something in the region of and the Mons Star possibly for . Collate this to the 0,000 you will need to pay for a Victoria Cross and you will immediately appreciate the discrepancy to the accumulator between aid and gallantry medals.

The Victoria Cross is, of course, the top award for gallantry in the British Armed Forces, equivalent to the U.S. Medal of Honor. It is rarely awarded and then, very often, posthumously. More often seen in a museum there are some very large collections of Victoria Crosses in underground hands.

The award of British gallantry medals is also intelligent in that a discrepancy is made between officers and other ranks. For the same act of bravery that would corollary in an officer receiving the soldiery Cross, a member of the ranks would receive the soldiery Medal. Similarly, in the Royal Air Force, where an officer might receive the mighty Flying Cross, a member of the other ranks would receive the mighty Flying Medal.

Collecting British War medals is a very rewarding and intelligent pastime and it is potential to build up a large variety of aid medals. Collecting gallantry medals requires far greater resources and, very often, attendance at devotee auctions.

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