Hello

I am thinking of donation my Great Granddad's medals ( MM, BWM, VM ) to the Guards Museum. I rang them this morning and they would be delighted to put them on display along with displaying his name, rank, etc. Along with a guarantee that they will be displayed there forever more and we the family get a receipt for the medals so it is all above board.

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea.

What are your views? Would you do this?

Particuarly interested if anyone has already done this.........

Thanks

Max,
Maybe if you were going to pop your cloggs with no heirs then yes do it now.
BUT hold on to them in case any children you may have would like to see and hold them.
That's my opinion.
Looking at your avatar I see they already have.

Dont do it, museums have lots and lots your family may want them one day. If you wish to lend them to the museum then A) they cant sell tem and if your family wants them in the future they are still yours. Gareth

I know there are many Regimental museums that have more medals than they know what to do with, and I appreciate an MM is significant but for them it is going to compete with other groups and new displays so it will be floor space they are most concerned with and how best to display all they have.
Don't give them loan them, and make sure you have the paperwork should they have a clear out at Bonhams!
Rob

I gave my maternal grandfather's to the Regimental Museum several years. For me, it was the right thing to do and I have no regrets.

I have no children and, to the best of my knowledge, grandad has no other close descendents. I felt that the likelihood was that, in years to come, someone will tidy up after me when I'm dead and would either chuck them or flog them.

In the museum, they are on display along with all the other donations and I go and visit them from time to time. And I take others to see them (as recently, when Paul Guthrie & I went to the museum).
And, of course, I retain paperwork about the donation so, if whoever tidies up after my life is interested they can go see them as well.

In coming to your own decision, you should think about the possibility of there being other family members who might want them in future (although bear in mind they may want them only to sell). Also, note than once donated you have no veto over the Museum selling them either. Perhaps a "permanent loan" would be best.

John

Max,
I would suggest loaning them to the museum either on a permament basis or a fixed period in time and do do get a receipt for them. I am in the same boat as John in the previous post, no children, so agree with him about giving them to the museum in this case, still with receipt, as museums do have clear outs.
However your children, may well in the future want these medals and pass them on to following generations, for this reason alone I would suggest a loan.

Andy

Hi Max,

I whole heartedly agree with the comments posted so far - if you're certain about going this route be sure the medals are just on loan or extended loan to the museum (and have all the necessary paper work to go with it!). This way the medals cannot (legally!) end up in an auction house or on ebay if the museum decides to have a clear-out! I seem to recall earlier posts on the forum where individuals have freely donated medals to museums, only for them later to be sold on to third parties in just such 'clear-outs'.

Whether or not your medals would actually be displayed is debatable - as Rob says, this will depend on available floor space, and is a problem encountered by all museums! In the past I've worked with museums holding geological and fossil collections, and assuming most Regimental Museums work on the same lines (I may be wrong!), any parts of the collection that aren't on display (usually the vast majority in my line of work!) should be available for private viewing on request.

cheers

Steve

You could always check the museum's genuine keeness. Ask them, as a quid pro quo, for two tickets for next years Trooping: not the dress rehearsal, but the real thing.

Then we shall see!

As a former curator of regimental museums with 16 years experience I offer the following points, my own personal views, not those of the regiments which I have represented.
1. No museum can guarantee anything in perpetuity or give an undertaking for continuous display of any artefact.
2. No responsible museum accepts loans except for the most important items, in this context a VC perhaps but not say a DCM. No properly run museum uses the phrase ‘permanent loan’, all loans must be reviewed and renewed after an interval of, for example, five years.
3. Medals are rewards to individuals to be retained and passed through families, to which they have a unique significance. Many people offer medals to regimental museums because they believe that their children have no interest in them but frequently they become interested later in life.
4. Rooms filled with medals have a limited value in telling us what it is like to be in a battle. Regimental museums have astonishing and evocative exhibits which help us to understand this. Medals have a place in the museum but very large numbers together mainly appeal to the enthusiast.
And now having thrown my grenades I will retire from this discussion…

No need to retire Simon

Seriously, thanks all - I have food for thought. Some interesting comments here....

Thanks pals.

Hallo Max
MY family and I recently found that the posthumous medals awarded to Sarj James Tomlinson are in the hands of a collector, we have approached him and where somewhat shocked to be told that they are worth more because he was killed in action.
We have no doubts in who,s possession we would like them to be
Bill

Bill,

I'm sorry to hear you're having hassle - won't he sell them to you?

The reason why I was thinking about this is that there are about 10 great grandchildren, one of which is me.

So far there are about 15 great great grandchildren.

I was thinking that having them kept somewhere central where all of his descendants can go and see them...would have been much nicer than just one person/branch of the family having them.

And like a Pal said, they might fall to someone who sells them one day as happened to your family medals. My thoughts were that this way, their location would always be known.

Having said that some of the posts here have got me having second thoughts !!!!!!

Reality is that KIA medals are "worth " more than survivers, roughly double but a lot more if there is a plaque or a "special " date or location. It sucks but thats the way it is. Remember the collector would have paid a high price so Im sure he would sell if a similar group to the same regiment could be swapped or at least paid for. Im sure many collectors would do this. Good luck trying to get them but be cool dont antagonise him or he may get bloo*y minded.. gareth

When the U.S. Army's Presidio of San Francisco closed about 12 years ago much of its museum collection was on loan from families and individuals. The post and its facilities were turned over to the National Park Service, and the owners of the stuff on loan couldn't get NPS bureaucrats to recognize that they were in fact the legal owners. I don't know how the story ended.

Max,
YOU are the central location now. If the family want to see them, they can come and visit you.
Be a chance to meet long lost members of the family.

I think you should keep them for your family. I agree that many regimental museums have lots of medals and won't revere them perhaps as much as you and yours.

Max,

Keeping with the spirit of Owen D's comment. Why not have them mounted in a smart box frame with other regimental accoutrements (with baize in scarlet, or the regimental colours) and a photograph.

I think if you are the central custodian and proudly display them at least by where you have your area (pc/study/etc.) you will do them more justice than them being put in the drawer with the rest of the medals.

Hope this helps

Aye

Tom McC