Where to sell medals, and the two houses that publish what they charge
Medals sell through one of four routes: a specialist medal auction, a collectables auctioneer that holds medal sales, a medal dealer buying outright, or the general saleroom clearing the rest of the house. Two of the four publish their rates, which makes them the only two a seller can cost before picking up the telephone.
Noonans in Mayfair, which traded as Dix Noonan Webb until 2022, puts vendors’ commission at 15 per cent of the hammer price in its conditions of business, with insurance at a further 1.5 per cent, and states that commission, insurance and expenses carry VAT for a seller resident in the UK. Warwick and Warwick, selling collectables since 1958, states in its selling terms that the only charge for a sale by auction is 20 per cent commission plus VAT, with no additional charge for insurance, lotting, valuation or transport, on lots reserved at no more than 60 per cent of estimate.
| Route | What the seller pays | The condition on it |
|---|---|---|
| Specialist medal auction, Noonans | 15 per cent commission and 1.5 per cent insurance, both plus VAT, with illustration charges on top where a lot is photographed | Up to half the commission rate falls on an unsold lot, as below |
| Collectables auctioneer, Warwick and Warwick | 20 per cent plus VAT, and nothing further | The 20 per cent holds only on a reserve at or under 60 per cent of estimate, and the property has to be worth £100 |
| Spink, Orders, Decorations and Medals | Not stated on its medals department page, so quoted on application | Spink holds the record for almost 100 Victoria Crosses sold at auction, so the rate follows the group |
| Medal dealer | No commission, no reserve and no charge if it does not sell | The discount sits inside the offer, where it cannot be itemised or argued line by line |
| General saleroom clearing the house | Commission on the room’s own scale, plus its lotting, photography and insurance charges per lot | The group is lotted with the militaria and catalogued in a line |
What an unsold lot costs, which is the figure to ask about
The charge that catches a seller is not the commission. Clause 24 of Noonans’ conditions reserves the right to charge commission of up to one-half of the stated rates, calculated on the bought-in price, plus expenses, on any unsold lot, and the bought-in price is defined there as 5 per cent more than the highest bid received below the reserve. A medal that fails to sell can therefore cost up to 7.5 per cent of that figure plus VAT, and the expenses on top. Clause 21 charges a seller who cancels instructions 15 per cent of the latest middle estimate, plus VAT and expenses, on anything withdrawn before the sale.
Warwick and Warwick publish no charge on an unsold lot. An unsold lot is re-offered in a later sale at a slightly reduced estimate, or returned for the cost of insured delivery, and they settle 30 days after the auction once the buyer has paid. That is the trade behind the higher headline rate, and it is the half of the comparison a rate card does not show.
The two rates on a group that did sell
The site’s price records carry a Distinguished Conduct Medal group of five to the Royal Field Artillery, estimated at £1,800 to £2,400 and sold for £2,900 at hammer, which is an illustrative figure rather than a particular sale. Run it through both published rates, rounded to the pound.
| Charge | Noonans | Warwick and Warwick |
|---|---|---|
| Commission | £435 | £580 |
| Insurance | £44 | None |
| VAT at 20 per cent | £96 | £116 |
| Seller receives | £2,326 | £2,204 |
£122 separates them on a group that sold, which is four per cent of the hammer. The unsold case separates them by more, and so does the reserve: a seller holding out for £2,400 on a £1,800 to £2,400 estimate has left Warwick and Warwick’s published rate, which holds only at or under 60 per cent of estimate.
What the specialist rate is actually buying
Spink’s medals department states that it holds at least six Orders, Decorations and Medals auctions a year, has sold over 85,000 lots for a combined total of more than £60 million, and holds the record for having sold almost 100 Victoria Crosses at auction. Among the results it publishes are the posthumous Battle of Malaya 1941 Victoria Cross group at £550,000, now on display at the RAF Museum in Hendon, and world records of £222,000 for a Distinguished Service Order group, £120,000 for a Distinguished Conduct Medal group and £86,350 for a Military Cross group. Those are the house’s own figures for sales it conducted, and it does not say whether they are hammer prices or include the buyer’s premium.
Spink’s £120,000 Distinguished Conduct Medal record shows how far one decoration’s price can run, and what a Victoria Cross is worth follows the published figures up to the £750,000 at hammer that Noonans announced as a world record in 2022. The action, the regiment and the paperwork behind the citation decide where a group falls. Spink describes the in-depth research accompanying its lots as what produces the prices it sets, which is what the commission on a specialist sale pays for. The research guide covers the rolls and the index cards, and the valuation guide gives the ranges that decide which of the routes above a group belongs in.
Private treaty, and the certainty it trades for
Warwick and Warwick and Spink both sell privately as well as in the room. Warwick and Warwick state that a private treaty figure is guaranteed and underwritten by the firm once the seller accepts it, with a cheque sent on receipt of the signed instruction form, and that private treaty sales carry no commission and no insurance, valuation or transportation charges. Spink sell a significant number of medals by private treaty, which avoids the publicity of the auction room.
On the figures above, a guaranteed £2,400 beats a £2,900 hammer net of 24 per cent. What it cannot do is catch the evening when two collectors of the same regiment both decide they want the group, and that evening is the entire case for the room.
The replacement the state will not issue
A medal sold is gone, and the Ministry of Defence is not a route back to it. Its replacement rules issue a replacement only where a medal was stolen, damaged or destroyed, and only where the award was for service after the First World War. The guidance is explicit that a medal which has been lost cannot be replaced at all.
| What the MoD asks for | Detail |
|---|---|
| Who may apply | The recipient, the holder of a lasting power of attorney, or the next of kin the MoD recognises |
| The order of next of kin | The spouse or civil partner first; the parent where there is no spouse or child; the eldest child where there is no spouse or parent |
| Evidence required | A police crime report, or a successful insurance claim listing the individual medals |
| Period covered | Service after the First World War |
| Cost and time | The applicant pays, at a price set by the type of medal, and the Medals Office responds within about 16 weeks |
Two things survive a sale, and neither is the medal. The MoD will supply a record of what was awarded, inscriptions included, for someone who has died, on a copy of the death certificate and the service dates, and directs First World War enquiries to the National Archives instead. Replicas can be bought from a medal manufacturer or dealer. A family that wants the group itself decides once, before the consignment form is signed.
What to do before the form is signed
Ask for the opinion first and the rate second. Both houses look at a group for nothing while a sale is being considered, Noonans naming orders, decorations, medals and militaria among the fields its free valuation service covers, and a probate or insurance valuation is another matter: Warwick and Warwick charge a small fee for one, and Noonans says there may be a charge. Warwick and Warwick put their average wait at three to five weeks, so an executor working to a deadline builds that in.
Three questions settle the route. The first is what the house charges on a lot that does not sell. Then find out whether the catalogue entry will carry the recipient’s service or his name alone, since the auctions guide shows how premium and commission divide whatever the room achieves. Last, confirm the group will be offered whole.
Then send it to one house. A group that has been round every specialist department in London arrives at the next with a history, and the trade talks. The medals section holds the research and valuation guides to read before any of that starts.
