Collectors interest
This should be in the international forum, or maybe Die Kneipe, but as this is the most visited I am taking the liberty of posting it here.
I think it is an article of interest to most collectors.....
STOP PRESS
*** NEW WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR MEDALS ***
A new world record price has been achieved by the Spink Medal Department at
today's sale 1291 of Orders, Decorations and Campaign Medals.
The medals of Air Vice-Marshal "Johnnie" Johnson - the R.A.F.'s officially
recognised top scoring pilot of the Second World War - were sold at auction
for £241,500 against the estimate of £120,000-£150,000.
The medals, along with five log books spanning the period of 1939-1994 and
five extraordinary photograph albums containing many previously unpublished
war time images, has been sold to a private source in the U.K.
David Erskine-Hill, Director of Medals at Spink, who auctioned the medals,
said, "Such is the emotive nature of medals in general, and these medals in
particular, that the atmosphere in the sales room became intense as the
bidding increased. Obviously we are delighted at the result achieved at
Spink today, not least for our vendor and the memory of Air Vice-Marshal
"Johnnie" Johnson, one of the great personalities and leaders to emerge from
the 1939-45 conflict. This really is a unique collection reflecting
sustained gallantry over a lengthy period of time. The collection was
purchased by a private source but will be remaining in the U.K. Let us hope
that it might yet be loaned for public display, ensuring that the
extraordinary achievements of "Johnnie" Johnson will never be forgotten."
The Honours and Awards of Air Vice-Marshal "Johnnie" Johnson are unique in a
number of respects, not least as an overall tally of three DSOs and two DFCs
for the 1939-45 period alone - his CB and CBE were awarded in the post-war
era, as indeed were further decorations from the Americans for daring
sorties flown in the Korean War. But, as is often the case within the world
of medals, it is the importance of the recipient's career that really
dictates interest and value, and in that respect Johnson is quite unique.
The survivor of nearly 700 Spitfire combat missions in the 1939-45 War, and
one of the great Wing Leaders to emerge from that conflict, Johnson will be
best remembered as the Royal Air Force's officially recognised top-scoring
Fighter Pilot with the total of 38 confirmed victories. But he should also
be remembered as a man who possessed a wonderful aptitude for placing his
squadrons in the right place at the right time, thereby causing maximum
damage to the enemy.
"Johnnie" Johnson died in January 2001, leaving instructions that his medals
were to be sold at auction.
The previous Word Record for medals was Can $400,000 set in October 1997 for
the Campaign Awards of Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, the Canadian war poet
who wrote 'In Flanders Fields'.
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I think it is an article of interest to most collectors.....
STOP PRESS
*** NEW WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR MEDALS ***
A new world record price has been achieved by the Spink Medal Department at
today's sale 1291 of Orders, Decorations and Campaign Medals.
The medals of Air Vice-Marshal "Johnnie" Johnson - the R.A.F.'s officially
recognised top scoring pilot of the Second World War - were sold at auction
for £241,500 against the estimate of £120,000-£150,000.
The medals, along with five log books spanning the period of 1939-1994 and
five extraordinary photograph albums containing many previously unpublished
war time images, has been sold to a private source in the U.K.
David Erskine-Hill, Director of Medals at Spink, who auctioned the medals,
said, "Such is the emotive nature of medals in general, and these medals in
particular, that the atmosphere in the sales room became intense as the
bidding increased. Obviously we are delighted at the result achieved at
Spink today, not least for our vendor and the memory of Air Vice-Marshal
"Johnnie" Johnson, one of the great personalities and leaders to emerge from
the 1939-45 conflict. This really is a unique collection reflecting
sustained gallantry over a lengthy period of time. The collection was
purchased by a private source but will be remaining in the U.K. Let us hope
that it might yet be loaned for public display, ensuring that the
extraordinary achievements of "Johnnie" Johnson will never be forgotten."
The Honours and Awards of Air Vice-Marshal "Johnnie" Johnson are unique in a
number of respects, not least as an overall tally of three DSOs and two DFCs
for the 1939-45 period alone - his CB and CBE were awarded in the post-war
era, as indeed were further decorations from the Americans for daring
sorties flown in the Korean War. But, as is often the case within the world
of medals, it is the importance of the recipient's career that really
dictates interest and value, and in that respect Johnson is quite unique.
The survivor of nearly 700 Spitfire combat missions in the 1939-45 War, and
one of the great Wing Leaders to emerge from that conflict, Johnson will be
best remembered as the Royal Air Force's officially recognised top-scoring
Fighter Pilot with the total of 38 confirmed victories. But he should also
be remembered as a man who possessed a wonderful aptitude for placing his
squadrons in the right place at the right time, thereby causing maximum
damage to the enemy.
"Johnnie" Johnson died in January 2001, leaving instructions that his medals
were to be sold at auction.
The previous Word Record for medals was Can $400,000 set in October 1997 for
the Campaign Awards of Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, the Canadian war poet
who wrote 'In Flanders Fields'.
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