Medal of Honor Legality Problem

Any coin, currency or medal issued by any government serves two purposes. First is the obvious purpose; coins and paper currency serve as money and medals are a reward for a service performed by the recipient. There is also a secondary function of coins, currency and medals which is not so obvious but is very important none the less and that is to convey the issuing government’s message. Something I call positive propaganda. When done properly the designs on these items present the issuing country’s image as strong, stable and inspiring. When a medal like the Medal of Honor is awarded it’s primary and secondary message is kept alive over the years mainly by collectors who research, publish and display the medal and it’s history to the public every chance they get. The medals are handed down from the original recipients to their families and eventually are sold to collectors who continue the historic preservation of these medals more as a labor of love than anything else. At least that is the way it has been until our United States Government in it’s infinite wisdom made it illegal to buy, sell or even mail The Medal of Honor. Remember the secondary function of any medal mentioned above, the spreading the government’s message? Well these anti-collector laws make it next to impossible for us collectors to spread the word. Therefore if that’s the way our government wants it then let the government do it’s own word spreading. From this point on I will never write another word about the MoH nor will I ever show a picture of one in any format. Will my actions or the lack of them make a difference, probably not, but it will free me from fighting a battle that I can’t win.