Originally Posted by
albatross
In the USA it is illegal to sell a Medal of Honour.
They should enact a similar law for the Victoria Cross in Commonwealth countries.
”It is illegal to buy, sell, barter, or manufacture any decorations or medals authorized by Congress for the United States armed forces.
In General.— Whoever knowingly purchases, attempts to purchase, solicits for purchase, mails, ships, imports, exports, produces blank certificates of receipt for, manufactures, sells, attempts to sell, advertises for sale, trades, barters, or exchanges for anything of value any decoration or medal authorized by Congress for the armed forces of the United States, or any of the service medals or badges awarded to the members of such forces, or the ribbon, button, or rosette of any such badge, decoration or medal, or any colorable imitation thereof, except when authorized under regulations made pursuant to
law, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.
Title 18 U.S. Code § 704 (Public Law 113-296).”
Was the fighting not supposed to have something to do with freedom in the first place….?
Why should the descendants of the recipient of any medal not be free to sell it should they wish? I wouldn’t be inclined to do so personally, but I certainly don’t see it as disrespectful. As for sanctioning someone for having the timerity to pay a lot of money to buy one, what is the problem with that?
While I am on a roll, I am not sure that paying £250k would be the first and best use of funds by the RAF museum. Surely what is important is recording and recognising the bravery behind it. The piece of metal is just that, and the museum already has plenty of examples of it.
For the absolute avoidance of doubt, I am deeply respectful and appreciative of the selfless bravery and sacrifice which lies behind all medals, not just the VC. Recognition of that is what is important, rather than the piece of metal. Spend the money on telling the stories even better, and forget the medal.