As collectors we tend to seek out and maintain contact with other collectors. Eventually this collector centric circle becomes our virtual world and sooner or later we all need a reality check. Mine came last week when our small central … Continue reading →

Long ago back when I was a pupil in St. Leo’s grade school I was admonished not to be a “Doubting Thomas.” That may have been good advice in matters of faith but as collectors we should all have a … Continue reading →

The Order of Lincoln and the Lincoln Academy, I never heard of either of these until I went to the Central States Numismatic Society Coin Show in Rosemont, Illinois last week. One never knows what will turn up at a … Continue reading →

On this 150th anniversary year of the American Civil War I am going to touch on these ever present and very expensive veterans badges. I see these badges almost every where I go so as a group or category I … Continue reading →

Some of the most color full and interesting badges are those of the various veterans and fraternal societies issued from the 1880s to the early 1900s. Often these badges have overlapping points of interest like the one illustrated below featuring … Continue reading →

While trying to research some medal values on eBay I came across a very unusual and interesting medal currently being offered for sale. I emailed the owner asking for some copyright free scans to use here and since I have … Continue reading →

Over the last forty years I have been picking up the occasional Canadian local medal hoping to get a head start before Canada becomes the 51st state and everyone starts collecting them. (joke) I rarely see these medals offered for … Continue reading →

Any collector who includes locally issued WWI service medals in their collecting will sooner or later run across a medal issued by a Masonic lodge. The Masons as a rule are a fairly prosperous group so if you find one … Continue reading →

Over the years I have seen a lot of local issue WWI service medals offered for sale. During the last few years they seem to be getting some very high prices especially the Wisconsin medals on the eBay site. What … Continue reading →

Recently on the Numismatic News site I was asked the following question: Friday, March 11, 2011 2:10:45 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00) This is more of a request than comment. For some of us less knowledgeable readers, would you share … Continue reading →