Read the rim
Hold the medal edge-on under a lamp and read the naming with a magnifier. A Great War medal reads something like “24081 PTE. J. SMITH. R. SUSS. R.” That gives a service number, a rank, initials and a surname, and an abbreviated regiment. Write it down exactly, including punctuation, since the style of the naming is itself evidence of authenticity.
First World War
Medal index cards. Every man who received Great War medals has a card at the National Archives, series WO 372, searchable by name and number online. It confirms the medals, the units and the theatre of war, and the date he first went overseas.
Service records. Series WO 363 and WO 364 hold the surviving army service records. Around two-thirds were destroyed by bombing in 1940, so a record is a bonus rather than an expectation. Officers’ records are in WO 339 and WO 374.
If he died. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission database gives the date, the cemetery or memorial, and, for most men, the parents’ address. Soldiers Died in the Great War, available through subscription sites, gives the place of birth and enlistment.
Gallantry. The London Gazette printed every award. Military Medals appear as a name and number without a citation; the DCM, MC and DSO carry citations from 1916 onwards. Regimental histories and war diaries in WO 95 then give the action.
Second World War
Service records are still held by the Ministry of Defence and are released to next of kin on application. Medals were unnamed, so research starts from family papers rather than the rim.
Victorian and earlier campaigns
Medal rolls. Series WO 100 holds the rolls for campaign medals from 1793 to 1912, listing every man entitled and the clasps he received. A medal that does not match the roll is a warning sign.
Muster rolls and pay lists. WO 12 records where a regiment was and who was in it, month by month.
The Waterloo Medal. The roll survives, published in book form, and gives the regiment and company of every recipient. Cavalry, Guards and the regiments that stood at Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte carry premiums for that reason.
Navy and air force
Royal Navy ratings’ records are in ADM 188 and ADM 139; officers in ADM 196. Royal Flying Corps and RAF records for the Great War are in AIR 79 and AIR 76. Naval medals were named with the ship, which the rolls confirm.
What research does to the price
A trio with a name is worth one figure. The same trio with a printed research file showing the man’s battalion, his date of arrival in France, the actions he fought in and, if it applies, how he died, is worth more, and sells faster, because the buyer can see the story. Auction houses do this research for important groups; for ordinary ones it is an evening’s work with the sources above, most of which are free. The valuation guide shows how the story sets the price.
