This is just wrong, everyone look

10-06-2005, 19:25

Sorry to just post this so fast, but everyone has to look at this
http://cgi.ebay.com/CONGRESSIONAL-ME...QQcmdZViewItem

I know he is outside the US. But I still think that this is wrong to just sell to a random person over the internet. What do you guys think?
Chris

**Eagle5US** · 10-06-2005, 19:32

Seeing as how it is against the law to sell the medal, I hope that the FBI offers the guy a decent bid...IF it is real.

Eagle

QRQ 30 · 10-06-2005, 19:48

Isn't the recipient's name usually engraved on the medal?

Someone may get the shaft while the seller gets the gold mine.

It also looks faded enough to have set in a window display for some time.

Don't let Kerry see it!!!

miller0331 · 10-06-2005, 20:00

Yeah... They do have the recipient's name engraved on the back. I wonder whose medal it is? And did the MOH Society contact the seller yet?

I know when my uncle passed away (Doug Miller) I kept waiting for one of my cousins to put the Medal and his ashes up for sale on EBay...

QRQ 30 · 10-06-2005, 20:05

I checked all of the views and there is no engraving.

10-06-2005, 20:28

Yeah I didn't see an engraving also. I'm going to ask the seller about it and see what info I can get about him and see what one can do about getting someone to pull that auction.
Chris

rubberneck · 10-06-2005, 20:36

The seller is from the UK so I doubt the long arm of American law will reach that far unless it is sold to a US Citizen. The seller doesn't have any negative feedback despite hundreds of transactions so I doubt he is a scammer. Either way it is disgusting.

10-06-2005, 20:42

Contacted the seller and ebay about his item, going to contact who ever else I can. Pisses me off. He even says that at one point there was another Medal of Honor on ebay. Can't believe it, where do you just find one of these?
Chris

**The Reaper** · 10-06-2005, 21:09

Obviously not on eBay anymore, it has been yanked.

Hundreds were handed out during the Civil War and Indian Wars.

TR

miller0331 · 10-06-2005, 21:22

True, but those medals were of a different design and besides each service has their own version of the Medal. That one advertised looks to be like an Army MOH of the newer design.

Also, prior to WWII, they were awarded for peace time bravery. If I remember correctly, Swede Momsen (sp?), a Navy diver, was awarded the MOH for his actions during the rescue of a crippled sub off the coast of Conneticut.

Also, a lot of repros were sold during the 50's before the Feds put a canc on that.

Anyway, just a little FYI. If you want to know more about the medal, then you should probably check out the website:

www.cmohs.org

Semper Fi

10-07-2005, 07:52

The man selling the medal has offered to sell it to me, and I am thinking about buying it than giving it to a museum. But by doing this I am breaking the law. What do you guys think I should do? I want this in a museum and out of this guys hands, what options do I have?
Chris

rubberneck · 10-07-2005, 08:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by cszakolczai

The man selling the medal has offered to sell it to me, and I am thinking about buying it than giving it to a museum. But by doing this I am breaking the law. What do you guys think I should do? I want this in a museum and out of this guys hands, what options do I have?
Chris

No. Even if you weren't breaking the law, which you would be to my understanding, your buying the medal would reward such appaling behavior. The guy is looking for cash and if you give it to him he'll be back next week with another CMOH for sale. If it isn't a CMOH it will be a DSC, SS, BS, PH etc.

10-07-2005, 15:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by rubberneck

No. Even if you weren't breaking the law, which you would be to my understanding, your buying the medal would reward such appaling behavior. The guy is looking for cash and if you give it to him he'll be back next week with another CMOH for sale. If it isn't a CMOH it will be a DSC, SS, BS, PH etc.

Good point I am going to talk to the guy and see what I can do.
Chris

CoLawman · 10-07-2005, 18:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by cszakolczai

The man selling the medal has offered to sell it to me, and I am thinking about buying it than giving it to a museum. But by doing this I am breaking the law. What do you guys think I should do? I want this in a museum and out of this guys hands, what options do I have?
Chris

Not to deflate your enthusiasm.......but you are in over your head!
Stick to what you know.......Hockey and chasing skirts!

IMHO

**Airbornelawyer** · 10-07-2005, 19:43

Please explain to me what is "just wrong" about this sale or that of any other decoration. There are thousands of collectors around the world who collect militaria - medals, uniforms, helmets, daggers, badges, documents, etc. The reasons why people collect vary, but most see themselves as preserving history. People collect baseball cards and beanie babies, but to me these are just baubles specifically made for collectors, while militaria is part of history.

I did not see the eBay entry, but based on the descriptions here, I would assume we are talking about an unattributed, unissued MOH. The contractor for the MOH, Lordship Industries, was given a contract to make a certain number of MOHs for the armed forces and was allowed a certain overage, which were sold to collectors and others. After a few frauds used these medals to fake being MOH winners, the government went overboard and effectively criminalized legitimate collectors, lumping them in with the posers. This was not only unjust, but an insult to these collectors, most of whom are as patriotic as you can get and many of whom are themselves veterans.

And these unattributed Medals of Honor are of no interest to museums, any more than the Bronze Stars and ARCOMs you see at Clothing Sales.

But even the sale of an attributed Medal of Honor ought not to arouse this kind of ire. Again, the buyer and seller are preserving history, and many buyers do in fact donate to museums (or even create their own). And in this context, an attributed MOH group is no different than an attributed VC group (although VCs, being rarer, go for astonishing amounts when they show up in UK auctions) or a DSC or Navy Cross group.

While it would be nice if there were lots of museums actually interested in preserving and displaying military history, that is not the case. The Smithsonian has drawers full of donated medals that will never be displayed because of space considerations and indifference by politically correct curators. However, if you visit my friend Seba's house in New Jersey, you can see a reverently displayed collection of militaria he has picked up over the years. Another friend has turned his home into a real museum, where he has displayed among other things one of Rommel's uniforms and a jacket and various items given to him by Dick Winters.

By the way, there is an attributed Medal of Honor group currently being auctioned in Sweden. It was awarded to a Swede who had immigrated to the US, fought and was honored in the Indian Wars and returned to Sweden. Because of US laws treating US collectors as presumptive criminals, the one thing we know is that this particular bit of American history will not return to the United States.

If I sound snippy in this post, it is because I take personally the implication that the buyers or sellers here are some sort of criminals, phonies, or whatever. Here are some of the items in my own modest museum in a couple of display cases in my living room:

1. US, Distinguished Service Cross, early World War Two issue (unattributed).
2. Austria, Cannon Cross (for service in the Napoleonic Wars) with attached miniature campaign medals.
3. Germany, 6-medal bar to a Bavarian aviator in World War One.
4. UK, 5-medal bar to a Boer War and World War One veteran of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry.

I also have some other medals, badges and documents, including one of the largest private collections of propaganda leaflets in the world, and I have donated items to museums and archives, including the USASOC archive, as well as provided consulting services to other museums.