I have this blog and also another website at www.european-battle-tours.com, this site is where I post pretty much whatever my thoughts on history are and my other site is where I hope to be able to lead people on tours of some of the battlefields I will describe on my blog. Blogging lets me publish my thoughts whether they get read by others or not, I blog for myself, not the edification of others. If other people enjoy reading my musings, that is cool too though.
On this blog I will occasionally post essays about various epochs and events in military history. I will mainly concentrate on European military history but will occasionally digress and talk about warfare in other parts of the world. My purpose is somewhat to start a discussion but mostly to talk about areas of history that I find of interest and hopefully other people do as well. The vast majority of my posts will be open for comment and I heartily encourage folks to comment. At a minimum, I hope people find my posts and insights entertaining and worth reading.
I will try to avoid posting too many random political grumbles and opinions on the blog, but things being as they are I will probably be unable to resist the temptation at times. I want to avoid acrimonious debate from nationalists, political extremists, and others with an axe to grind. I am more than willing to engage in civil debate with anyone about almost any topic though, with emphasis being on CIVIL. Ad hominem attacks will be deleted, and since this is my blog I get to decide what is ad hominem and what is not. I may want to live in a democracy but my blog is not one. Here there is only one person and one vote, me.
Thanks so much. I would never sell them as they have great sentimental value to me. I just had heard that old war medals can have significant value and didnt know if I needed additional insurance on them outside of typical homeowners coverage. Thanks for your reply and I really enjoy your website – glad I stumbled across it. Oh and thank you for your service to our country!
Thanks for taking the time to read it. I am happy that you enjoyed what I have to write, that is why I put it out there.
I stumbled across your website doing research on the battle of Koniggratz. My great-grandfather was in the Prussian army and actually fought in this battle. He earned numerous medals for his role as a rifleman in the battle and was also injured. The medals were made out of the captured cannons of the Austrian army. I have these original medals along with the original certificates that were issued to him after the battle. Just curious how rare would these be?
I would imagine the medals would be fairly rare today. I am not an expert on militaria though and could not really say if they have a lot of value, though I am sure there are collectors interested. They are probably more rare in the US than Europe because most keepsakes of that nature tend to stay in families. I have friends stationed in Germany with the military that spend most of their weekends going to German flea-markets buying old militaria that they can take back to the US and sell at a significant markup.