Antiques Roadshow audience gasps as guest refuses to sell 'rare' war medals worth a fortune
26.06.2024 - 15:51
/ ok.co.uk
In a thrilling episode of Antiques Roadshow, one of the guests refused to part with his precious war medals despite their high value.
The owner revealed that he had inherited the medals from his father. Mark Smith, visibly impressed, complimented, "He had a very good eye," before delving into the histories of these significant artifacts.
Mark then elaborated, "If we look at this one here, for example, it has the Battle of Waterloo on the back, and it is inscribed with the word Wellington.
This was actually the first medal ever awarded to British forces. "Prior to this, rewards were typically coins that were not personalised and were not intended to be worn; they were simply kept in your pocket.
However, after the Battle of Waterloo, this medal was created to be bestowed upon every soldier, and instead of making them in different metals for different ranks, such as a gold one for the Generals, on this unique occasion, Lord Wellington decreed that all the medals should be identical because every soldier performed the same job." "So, not only did Lord Wellington receive one of these medals, but so did the 10-year-old drummer boys who were present on the battlefield[", according to a report in the Express. The expert then shifted his attention to another notable item in the collection, the Military General Service Medal.
"So one medal with different classes telling you which battles the man was in was invented by Queen Victoria as a concept in 1847. You personally still had to be alive to claim your medal," Mark shared.
Mark's enthusiasm was palpable as he detailed: "This is quite a rare medal. So you have this one as well and this one is from a famous regiment from the Battle of Waterloo." He continued, excitedly discussing
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