What is a 'Professional' Medal Mounter?

The very first thing you should pick up on when searching for a professional to complete the job for you, is do they do it full time? after all that is the meaning of the word - is it their Profession, or their hobby? if the person or persons you are vetting cannot make a full time living off what they do, do they have enough experience and skill to handle your request?

Probably the biggest thing that separates a true professional from an enthusiastic part-timer is INSURANCE! most if not all part-time or hobby medal mounters will not have adequate (or any) insurance should something go wrong. Would you be happy to rent your home to someone you don't know without making sure it was insured against accidents, damage or theft? - I don't think so. Whilst many groups of medals are valued at less than $1000.00, many,many more are worth 10 times that amount. Most owners have no idea how much the medals in their possession are worth, an example:

A recent client of ours came in to have some medals mounted (obviously); as it happened he had ended up with 5 sets of medals from his ancestors that no-one else in the family wanted (lucky bugger). The client had no idea they were worth anything, he thought a few hundred dollars. within these 5 sets were: 3x Distinguished Service Orders, 1 X Military Cross, 3 X Mention in dispatches, about 15 regular campaign medals, and most importantly a KGVI Distinguished Service Cross for service in WW2 - 1 of only 151 (from memory) awarded to Australians. This family collection was worth in the region of $70,000.00 as all of the members were high ranking Officers, and all were related family members. Needless to say if our premises or storage section was burnt to the ground insurance would be pretty important.....

Another reason for choosing a real Professional is that they are generally always learning more about the art they practice, meaning you will always get the best job possible, and if something does come unstitched or isn't quite right, you know exactly where to find them, not a PO Box or a Mobile phone number.

Our best advice is ask lots of questions, it should be fairly obvious if they are solid or not. and remember, go into it with at least a small understanding yourself or you are not going to be able to assess what information you are given.

I hope this give you a little more confidence when choosing who will handle you next request.

James Grice

Master Medal Mounter / Owner

FOXHOLE MEDALS