TOPIC:

If you have a fast internet connection, here is an interactive version of the static plot just posted. The file size is nearly 4MB.

The plot shows cost vs numbers issued for Town Guard QSAs sold by Spink yesterday.

If you hover over the dots on the plot, the name of the Town Guard is shown.

A not particularly useful feature of the plot is that you can also click on the words in the legend to turn the data for that item on and off.

TG interactive plot

Thanks David, so is the conclusion that for TG & DMT the over-riding factor driving price is # issued and not research potential? (Excepting the obvious research potential of Defence of Kimberley or Mafeking, Talana (altho' that was inexpensive yesterday))

That would ring true for "one of each unit" collectors. That will put any dealers who bought yesterday in a quandry over pricing as I suspect the "one of each unit" collector are few in number.

Meurig,

With nearly 130 Town Guards issuing QSAs I am sure many dealers have difficulty in knowing how to price the medal so the number issued is an obvious method to ascribe a 'dealer's value' to it.

It is interesting to note that the eBay seller who bought a bundle of TG QSAs from DNW has recently dropped the prices by around 10% and I am not sure if any of those listed have sold.

The owner of yesterday's collection was evidently a 'one of each unit' collector and the generally low prices for some medals, especially the DMTs, reflects the narrow research potential for many units raised in South Africa and thus the attractiveness to more general collectors. The level of engagement is likely another factor as most TG, DMT and some local units saw little engagement with the Boers compared to other South African units (ILH, KFS, ILI etc) although I fully recognise their workload was often high. The QSA to the 17 medal issuing Malmesbury Defence Corps included the information that 'The roll confirms the unit administered martial law, Malmesbury Division, for defence purposes but did not engage enemy’. It sold for £90. Rarity would only seem to be a modest influencer of price. The Lydenburg MP QSA is another case in point. No information in the catalogue about the number issued (12) and a hammer price of £85. I wonder, given the Malmesburg DC example, if it would have gone any higher had more research been included, possibly only a little? Henk has said he could find no information on the Lydenburg MP so, beyond ticking off the unit from the wishlist, there is little further potential.

British Medals have been listing the Wilgefontein and Malton (fixed suspender) Rifle Association QSAs for years now and recently dropped the combined price by £40 (I remenber it being £500 for the pair). These two QSAs have not moved despite the numbers issued being 18 and 21 respectively, facts included on the website listing. Examples of medals to these units sold for hammer prices of £200 and £140 respectively yesterday. The Wartburg RA QSA sold for £320 yesterday and the number issued was, very similar to Malton and Wilgefontein, 23. Perhaps, like the Jamestown MTG QSA discussed yesterday, this is just random variation in the data caused by a range of factors (market saturation, availability to participate in the live auction, available funding etc and intermittent connection problems that Rory's experienced yesterday).

It will be interesting to see if the medals from yesterday start to appear on dealer's lists or elsewhere, by how much the prices are inflated and what happens to them.

Thanks David, an interesting and well written piece.

I will be looking out for that KSA to the Bushmanland Borderers if it appears on the market.

An interactive plot of hammer prices for DMT QSAs sold by Spink yesterday against the number of medals issued (according to Spink).

You can hover over the data points to see the unit name.

DMT interactive plot

It is certainly interesting to note that the particular number of recipients in a particular Troop is not always reflected in the price paid.