FV-ML-0014
Collection
Militaria
Campaign material, medals, equipment and documents with known service history.
How we catalogue it
Preference is given to material that can be tied to a named individual or unit through surviving records. Groups are kept together wherever possible. Copies of the records consulted are supplied with the object.
Campaign · Medals · Documents
Currently catalogued01
Buying in this department
What we look for
Material that can be tied to a named individual or unit through surviving records. A medal is a piece of metal; a medal with the service record behind it is a biography, and the research is most of the work.
Naming is the first thing checked. Erased and re-impressed naming on medals is a known practice and can be convincing. We examine naming under magnification against the correct style for the issue and we report what we find.
Groups and records
Groups are kept together wherever possible. Breaking a group for margin destroys the thing that made it worth having, and it cannot be undone.
Copies of the records consulted are supplied with the object: service papers, medal rolls, unit diaries and any photographs or documents that came with it. Where research has not been completed we say what has been checked and what has not.
Worth asking
Is the naming original to the medal. Is the group as issued, or has it been assembled. Which records were consulted, and are copies supplied. Are any elements replacements.
Further reading
- How we establish provenance and authenticity sets out what we check before an object is offered, and what we will not claim.
- Shipping and export covers packing, insurance, UK export licensing and import duties.
- Private acquisitions is the route when what you want is not in the catalogue.
- Consignment if you own something in this department and want it catalogued and placed, orsubmit an object for an initial view.