GERMAN MEDAL FOR SOUTH-WEST AFRICA, 1904-6.
GREEK MEDAL FOR GRECO-TURKISH WAR, 1913.
(Reverse.)
APPENDIX III
SALE PRICES
The following short record of average values is based upon auction prices realised during the last twelve years. It is difficult to standardise values, as so many factors are involved in the valuation of war medals. Not only rarity, but condition; not only the number issued, but the importance of the engagement in which they were earned, are taken into consideration by most collectors. Then there are periods during which there is a "slump," and prices do not rule so high. High prices are invariably obtained for the first medals placed upon the market even when, as in the case of the Boer War, it was known that thousands would be issued. Medals for South Africa which sold in 1903 for £1 5s. have now a fairly regular price of about 10s. if in good condition. In 1902 the Khedive's Sudan medal with bar for Khartoum realised £3 15s.; it is now valued at about 7s. 6d. in the sale-room. In the same year the Mayor of Kimberley's siege medal (a star of silver) sold for £6 15s.; it now realises from 10s. to £1. The last new British war medal to be issued, that for Abor, realised as much as four guineas in the sale-room when it first appeared; it dropped in a few weeks to three guineas. A Military General Service medal with the single bar for "Roleria" has fetched as much as £21—and as little as £3 3s., but this was due to the fact that the latter was faked, i.e. some bars had been removed, the medal roll showing that the man whose name was impressed on the edge had served in five engagements, and his medal originally had that record.
On the other hand, because of its exceeding rarity as well as the gallant conditions under which it was earned, the M.G.S. medal with bar for "Benevente" has realised £34. Bars issued with the Army of India medal for "Ava" and "Bhurtpoor" are the most frequently met with, but these realise high prices at auction. At the Gaskell sale a medal with single bar for "Defence of Delhi" sold for £20, a single bar for "Corygaum" £35 (but one of these bars has realised as much as £100), two bars for "Assaye" and "Argaum" £33. Three bars for "Allighur," "Argaum," and "Gawilghur" realised £40, and £60 was paid for one with bars for "Allighur," "Battle of Delhi," and "Laswarree." The "Mutiny" medal has realised as much as £38, the price for which a four-bar medal from the Gaskell Collection sold at auction; but three-bar medals sell at auction for from £2 2s. to £3 3s., and single bars for "Defence of Lucknow" for as little as £1 16s.; but at the present time there is an inclination to pay more for Mutiny medals, and the conditions under which they were earned warrant it. In the later Indian wars the bar issued for the North-East Frontier 1891, owing to the great interest taken in the Manipur Expedition, realised from £3 to £4, but this bar, which is attached to the I.G.S. 1854 Medal, sells for about a quarter of that sum now. The Waterloo medal, to one of the 42nd (Black Watch), has sold at auction for as much as £15, and £20 has been paid for one awarded to the 27th Regiment (Inniskillings); but a poor specimen has found a purchaser at as low as £1 10s.
Great care should be taken to examine the bars and ensure that they have not been tampered with. No medal that has been re-engraved is worth taking into consideration, unless it is one with rare bars which show no signs of faking. Medals with genuine bars, even though the name has been erased from the edge of the medal, realise good prices, and to complete a collection are very useful when named medals fetch very high prices.