Reading a Medal: What the Clasps and Ribbons Reveal

A medal's details are worth examining closely, for each one carries meaning beyond its intended function. The clasp is not decorative but evidentiary, confirming that a soldier was present at a named battle and survived it. It stands for an ordeal most men carried in silence for the rest of their lives, rarely spoken of even to those closest to them. That same clasp, when repeated across a medal, marks sustained service across an entire campaign rather than a single engagement whilst the ribbon follows colours assigned to specific conflicts, its fading a quiet echo of the years that have passed since it was first pinned to a uniform. Despite the evident wear, it can still be traced back to the conflict it once marked. The naming engraved around the rim is what separates one medal from thousands of identical strikes, transforming a mass-produced object into something singular, tied permanently to one soldier's service and, in its own small way, to his memory.

The Medal Outlives the Soldier

A medal's significance does not end with the death of the man who earned it, nor with the passing of the conflict itself. It remains, instead, as a quiet but lasting validation of the pride a soldier carried for what he had given. Warfare changed considerably between the Peninsular War and the Second World War yet the significance a medal carried remained essentially unchanged. The General Service Medal to the 38th Foot, with its three clasps marking battles fought in close succession, belongs to an era of massed infantry and prolonged campaigning whereas the Waterloo Medal carries a different kind of weight entirely, struck for a single engagement so consequential that little further explanation has ever been needed. The Distinguished Conduct Medal group sits apart from both, earned amid the chaos of the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation and grouped alongside service medals spanning a full career rather than one defining day. Each still confirms the same basic truth, regardless of when or how it was earned: that a soldier stood at a moment history would go on to remember.

From Service to Collection: The Lasting Demand for War Medals

Demand for war medals has remained strong and has arguably grown as the conflicts themselves slip further from living memory. As fewer veterans and their immediate families remain to keep these medals within the family, more pass into the wider market, no longer held as a personal keepsake but valued instead as a piece of military history. Collectors range from military historians reconstructing regimental movements to those drawn in by a single name and the story research can uncover behind it. This has sustained an active market in which named medals tied to well-documented service or gallantry awards command particular interest, since research can establish a clear service history behind an otherwise anonymous object. For many collectors, acquiring a medal is as much about preserving evidence of service as it is about ownership itself.

Handling the Medal: Our Auction's Past Lots

At Cadmore Auctions, we have had the privilege of bringing a number of these medals to market. The lots below represent a selection of pieces we have been entrusted with, connecting these objects with collectors and historians who understand their significance:

. Military General Service Medal 1848 to the 1st Staffordshire Regiment, with three Peninsula War clasps: 'Salamanca', 'Vittoria' and 'St Sebastian', named to J Pack, 38th Foot | Lot 199 | 25/05/2026 | Hammer price: £1500 | View Lot

. Waterloo Medal 1815 to John Mann, 51st Regiment Light Infantry | Lot 59 | 11/05/2026 | Hammer price: £3300 | View Lot

. Distinguished Conduct Medal group of six for the defence of the Dunkirk perimeter, 1940 to a Warrant Officer, later Captain (QM), of the Royal Corps of Signals | Lot 31 | 30/03/2026 | Hammer price: £2400 | View Lot

Where History Finds a New Home

Every medal that passes through our rooms carries a documented record of service. Behind it stands a man who once stood at a defining point in history. Bidding is open to all online, with live sales running every other week, Monday to Wednesday from 10am to 3:30pm, and every lot accompanied by full provenance and research so you can bid with confidence. For those new to collecting, our team is on hand to help identify pieces whose significance runs as deep as their value. The men who earned these medals are gone, but their service has never faded — the only question is whether a part of it belongs with you.