Polish Monte Cassino Cross

[panzerboy39]

Anyone have any idea how much an original (one of the original 50,000 issued) Polish Monte Cassino cross is worth in US$. My great uncle participated in the battle and was awarded this by the Polish Government.

panzerboy39

[vicjoy1945]

Do you have the award document that was given with the Monte Cassino Cross medal ??? This document will add value to the medal. I don't believe the crosses are identifiable by there number alone...although I'm not entirely convinced a listing doesn't exist somewhere.

Do you have any other insignia, patches, medals, photos, and/or documents that belonged to your great uncle ??? Obviously...any/all of these items will certainly add value to the medal. I do have a few examples of identified Monte Cassino Crosses in my collection...most have documents and/or other items that help identify the recipient and his place in history.

I have the Monte Cassino Cross and document that was issued to my father who served with the Polish II Corp at Cassino.

Vic

[panzerboy39]

No Award Certificate....unfortunately

Thanks for answering!

No documents unfortunately. The medal come as is, but along with his many other medals (italy star, commonwealth service medal, some other polish stuff) The only document I have is some service discharge paper from after the war from the British. Sorry I'm not more exact but the stuff is in storage elsewhere & I hav'nt the opportunity to look! It is not important for me to have the award doc's cuz I have no intention of selling it anyway. I wanted wanted to have an accurate tally of the total value of my collection of Nazi, english & polish medals and banners. Do you happen to know how much an original Nazi banner is worth? Its about 4 feet wide and 8 feet long, all red with the swastika in the white circle. My grandfather (who served with the Canadian 1st army in Holland) aqquired it late in the war. The favorite medal of my collection is definately the Cassino cross as it is sure to be rare and represents one of the most brutal and controvertial battles in the war. Incidentaly, I believe my Great Uncle also served in the Polish II Corps which gives us a rather unique connection!

Regards,

panzerboy39

[GregK]

Value.

Hello panzerboy,

Monte Cassino Crosses are kind of hard to value. As an ordinary example it is worth about $65.00 to $75.00 USD. The #'s on the reverse can be broken down to unit. That being said there are colletors who absolutely have to have an example from every unit that participated and I have seen some sell in the neighbourhood of $175.00. A little high in my opinion but that's just me. Do you know what unit he served with? If not then I can break it down by the # on the reverse. I would also be interested in knowing what other Polish items you have.

As a side note although there were 50,000 of these crosses produced only 48,498 of them were issued. Any of the ones #'d after that were released by the Polish government in London in 1989 and sold off to auction houses in England.

Cheers,
Greg

PS. Vic...there is a list for the Monte Cassino Crosses. Even though everyone will tell you that there isn't I know a fellow in the UK that has seen a copy and has helped me ID a few of mine. Why they still claim that there is no list is a mystery to me.

[vicjoy1945]

Hey Greg,

Your "dead on" regarding pricing for the Monte Cassino Cross. Virtually all my Cassino Crosses save one are identified by either the original award document or by other documents within the grouping. I've always surmised that there's a listing out there somewhere although I've never seen it. I'd love to contact your source for the listing if its OK with you. I do have a copy somewhere that gives the number range of crosses issued to each unit if you need that one.

Vic

[leigh kitchen]

A couple of years ago I was trying to find details of a man whose name was on documentation with a Monte Cassion Cross "group". The Cross was numbered to 5 KDP. Somebody helpfully provided the information that the man had served in HQ 5 KDP, but that his Cross had a different number. The Cross that I had was issued to another man in the same unit who'd been killed at Bologna. There are people out there with lists to individuals, not just to divisiuons etc, it's just a matter of luck in finding them.