What collecting medals involves

Most of the time goes to looking and reading, not buying. A typical evening is an hour or two at a desk: comparing a dealer's photos against a reference, checking a name on a rim against service records, or cataloging a new arrival. Purchases come from dealers, militaria and coin shows, auction houses and online listings. Collectors nearly always narrow down to one theme, such as a single war, country, regiment or sculptor, because a focused group of ten medals teaches more and resells better than fifty unrelated ones. The study of orders and decorations has its own name, phaleristics, and is treated as a branch of history.

Enamel orders and medals on red ribbons lying in open red cases on a table — Orders in their cases of issue

Three ways to start

Military MedalsCampaign, service and gallantry medals issued by governments, worn on a ribbon. British medals are usually named to the recipient on the rim, which makes them the easiest to research. Most US medals were issued unnamed.

Start here

Pick one common campaign medal from one country and one war, then read 20 dealer listings for it before you buy. Write down the price range and what every genuine example has in common.

Orders and Medals Society of America

Art and Commemorative MedalsMedals struck to mark an event, a person or an anniversary, designed by sculptors and meant for a desk or cabinet. They have no ribbon, run 1.5 to 3 inches across, and good bronze examples are cheap because fewer people collect them.

Start here

Choose a theme you already care about, such as aviation, a city or a world's fair, and search an online museum collection for bronze medals on it. Buy one signed by its sculptor for under $40.

Medal Collectors of America

Family MedalsMedals awarded to a relative. There is nothing to buy. The work is identifying each piece, finding the service record behind it and storing the group so it survives another generation.

Start here

Ask relatives what medals are in the family, photograph both sides and the rim of each, then request the veteran's service record to learn what each one was awarded for.

National Archives: Veterans' Service Records

Open a direction to see its first step. Military Medals adds a reference book and a shadow box to the kit. Art and Commemorative Medals adds its own reference book and a set of display stands. Family Medals uses the base kit as it is.

A bar of six silver medals on orange, white and blue ribbons pinned to a dark uniform

Your first two weeks

Tick these off as you go

What to check before you buy a medal

Photos

Ask for sharp pictures of the front, the back and the rim. A seller who will not show the rim is hiding something or does not know what matters.

Naming

On a named medal, the letters should be even in depth and spacing, in the style used for that issue. A patch of rim that looks filed flat usually means a name was erased and replaced.

Detail

Struck medals have sharp edges on letters and fine lines. Cast copies look soft, with tiny pits in the flat areas and sometimes a seam around the rim.

Size and weight

Compare both against the figures in a reference or museum record. Copies are often a fraction of a millimeter small and noticeably light.

Ribbon and suspension

The suspension should move freely and match the type for that medal. A bright new ribbon is fine if the seller says so, since ribbons wear out and are often replaced.

Provenance

Paperwork, a case of issue or a group kept together adds value. A story with no documents adds none.

Price

If a listing is far below the going rate for a scarce medal, assume it is a copy until proven otherwise.

Close-up of a silver medal and two brass ones hanging from striped ribbons against red velvet — Struck detail and ribbons, close up

Handling and storage

A bronze star, a purple heart and other medals mounted on maroon cloth in a display case — Medals mounted on cloth in a case

Never clean or polish a medal. The dark toning on old silver and bronze is part of its history, and removing it can cut the value in half.
Hold medals by the rim, with gloves, over a towel or padded tray so a drop does no damage.
Keep medals out of soft vinyl sleeves. The plasticizer in PVC leaves a green film on metal within a few years.
Store ribbons flat and unfolded. Silk ribbons from before 1950 split along creases.
Aim for steady, moderate humidity. A few silica gel packs in a closed box are enough for a small collection.
Sunlight fades ribbon dye quickly, so display medals away from windows or behind UV-filtering glass.

Laws worth knowing first

In the US, 18 U.S.C. 704 makes it a federal crime to buy, sell or trade the Medal of Honor. Read the statute before buying any US valor decoration, because the rules have changed more than once.
Owning and displaying medals you did not earn is legal. The Stolen Valor Act of 2013 makes it a crime to falsely claim certain awards in order to get money, property or another tangible benefit.
Several countries, including Germany, France and Austria, restrict the sale or public display of items bearing Nazi symbols. Large online marketplaces ban them too.
Some countries require an export license for antiques and cultural objects. Ask the seller who handles the paperwork before buying from abroad.
Buy only from sellers who can say where a medal came from. Medals are stolen from families and museums, and a stolen piece can be reclaimed from you with no refund.

A purple heart medal on its purple ribbon lying on brown stone — A US decoration on its ribbon

Read the statute

US Code: 18 U.S.C. 704 The federal statute on military medals and decorations, free to read

What trips beginners up

Copies are everywhere, especially of scarce gallantry awards and anything from the Third Reich. Start with common medals that are not worth faking.
Buying a bit of everything. A scattered collection is hard to learn from and slow to sell.
Splitting a group. Medals awarded to one person are worth more together than apart, and collectors look down on breaking them up.
Trusting the label. A medal described as rare, or attributed to a famous battle, needs a reference or record that backs it up.
Overpaying at the first show. Check sold auction prices for the same medal before you go.
Research takes patience. Many US Army records from 1912 to 1960 were lost in a 1973 fire, so some names lead nowhere.

A brass medal on a striped ribbon lying on its printed award document — A medal with its award document

A row of vintage medals on striped ribbons pinned to red velvet

Where to learn

Societies, forums, shows

Collector societies are the fastest route to reliable knowledge, because members publish research and will look at photos of a medal before you buy it. Most charge a modest annual fee for a journal and run conventions where you can handle hundreds of genuine pieces in an afternoon. The free forums are where fakes get identified in public, and their archives are searchable. Local coin shows usually have at least one dealer with a tray of medals, and they are happy to talk.

Societies and free forums

How the kit is put together

The medals themselves come from dealers, shows and auctions, so the first line of the kit is a budget, not a link. Everything else here protects what you buy or helps you check it. The essentials cover safe handling, close inspection and safe wrapping. The recommended tools, a pocket scale and a caliper, are how you catch a copy, and they pay for themselves the first time they stop a bad purchase. Reference books and display pieces differ by direction, so they sit behind the path you choose.

A blue enamel cross with a gilt center hanging on a khaki uniform beside striped ribbons — An enamel cross beside its ribbons

Fit out the medal cabinet

The first line is the medal itself, which you buy from a dealer or at a show, not online here. For everything else, compare the options on each line, then set your tiers and check out from the cabinet. Clicking a card selects it there. The gloves, loupe, tissue, scale, caliper, storage box and silica gel start in the kit. Reference books and display pieces join when you switch on Military Medals or Art and Commemorative Medals. The UV flashlight is optional and starts out of the kit.

Your first medal

essential · The collection

You learn more from one genuine medal in your hand than from a month of photos. A common piece keeps the cost of a mistake low.

Not sold on Amazon · buy from a dealer or at a show

Not sold on Amazon. Buy from a dealer who belongs to a collector society, or at a militaria or coin show, and get a written return policy. Common campaign medals from the world wars and bronze art medals run about $15 to $60.

Cotton handling gloves

essential · Handling

Skin oils and salt etch fingerprints into silver and bronze that never come out. Gloves also keep sweat off old silk ribbon.

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Medal Collecting

What collecting medals involves

Three ways to start

Your first two weeks

What to check before you buy a medal

Handling and storage

Laws worth knowing first

What trips beginners up

Where to learn

How the kit is put together

Fit out the medal cabinet

Your first medal

Cotton handling gloves

10x jeweler's loupe

Acid-free tissue paper

Digital pocket scale

Digital caliper

Archival storage box

Silica gel packs

Military medal reference book

Medal shadow box display case

Tokens and medals reference book

Coin and medal display stands

UV flashlight