Lt. Col. David Currie's VC up for sale - Uk Buyer pays $550,000

ericrose said:
If the museum wants it, pony up with the cash. The family could probably use it.
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The family won't get a dime. A private collector bought the medal off his widow in 1989, he's the one who has it up for auction, and will profit from the sale.
 
Estimated to sell for around $500,000. Likely to go higher considering it's 1 of 16 issued to a Canadian and the only one not in a museum.
Fingers crossed a philanthropist buys it and donates it.
 
The US Congressional Medal of Honor CANNOT be sold.

The same should apply to the Victoria Cross. It is part of Canadian history.
 
That is the first piece of CBC news I have read or listened to in a long time...wow that is difficult to wade through their propaganda-style of reporting. Either that or the museum curator is just a joke. Who cares about if he feels right about paying for it if he wasn't awarded it...if he wants it then roll out the cash! The family doesn't benefit from the sale...did not the collector buy it from the widow originally at what she felt was a fair value? And if almost every other VC in existence is already on public display in various museums then isn't it nice that there is at least one left that someone can actually own in their collection and share with those who enjoy their collecting enthusiasm?

I agree, it would be nice if these were controlled like the MofH where it cannot be sold, but seeing as it isn't then what is wrong with personal ownership of property, and not having every interesting artifact imprisoned in a museum? I am glad I am able to purchase medals I have not been awarded but which I find of interest.
 
In a museum, it has a better chance of being preserved, not lost or stolen. It will also be viewed by a lot more people than by some rich guys cronies.

Honour cannot be bought or sold. The VC symbolizes that.
 
Museums may be thought of as a good repository for such things but that is not often the case. Too often due to display constraints the artifacts get shoe boxed and forgotten never to be seen again.
If the donor did not stipulate a return proviso sometimes the item is given to another museum or sold to a private individual.
If you look at the size of most museums and archives and their display areas you begin to see how much history languishes away on shelves never to be seen.
 
There is a British peer (can't remember his name Lord something-or-other) who buys VC's and puts them on display in the Imperial War Museum. Hopefully that's what happens here if a Canadian museum can't pony up the cash.
 
mr.e moose wrote;
Museums may be thought of as a good repository for such things but that is not often the case. Too often due to display constraints the artifacts get shoe boxed and forgotten never to be seen again.
If the donor did not stipulate a return proviso sometimes the item is given to another museum or sold to a private individual.
If you look at the size of most museums and archives and their display areas you begin to see how much history languishes away on shelves never to be seen.
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Bingo!! Give that man a cigar!

I agree 100%

I have been in this game for a long time.

When you look at the number of people that are interested in military history, on a whole, the ranks start to shrink.

We just went through big anniversaries of world wars. (WW2, War of 1812 and WW1)

My prediction and I hope I'm wrong, 5 years from now, Vimy Ridge will slip back into the unknown.

Todays younger generation are cut from a different cloth.

They just don't care.

Not everyone mind you, but most.

We don't even look at certain areas with enough respect, which bothers the hell out of me.

Fenian Raids, Boer War and the Korean War, just to name a few, have almost all been forgotten.

Down south of us, the U.S. Civil War, what a bloody mess right now, which makes my blood boil.

No Respect what so ever.

I try and do my part, but again, I really see the numbers thinning.

At the end of the day for me, I hope to live long enough to eat my own words.

Sorry for my rant, but enough is enough!

"We will Remember Them"​
pbtpz.jpg

Brantford, Ontario
 
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Re post #6 - It is part of Canada's hard-won military heritage, and should remain in Canada for all time so that ALL Canadians can see it. Is there no way that a public subscription could be arranged to buy it for the nation? It is a poor nation indeed that cannot preserve its honourable past, paid for in the blood of heroes.

tac
 
We live in a post-national state with no core values and history worth preserving, according to Justin Trudeau.

But - we can give $10 million to child Jihadis 'cause we're nice now.
 
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