Donald L Lester: Purple Heart- don't split up the group!

[Roystone]

Hi All,

 

Recently posted on a well-known internet auction website is a Purple Heart #192, named to a "Donald L Lester", in it's box etc, part of a greater listing of various medals all connected unbeknown to the seller of them.The seller has been splitting and selling individually the three generation grouping of medals all to the same family, regrettably. It's such a shame to see. However, I have managed to secure many of them so far in a effort to preserve them ( call me sentimental), however I fear this Purple Heart may slip away and be lost forever to someone who maybe won't appreciate it so much!

 

This is a well-meant heads-up to anyone on USMF who might be actively interested in it, to say that maybe we could have a PM'd conversation about it? It'd be such a shame to let this jewel in the grouping slip away forever, after all the effort and research done so far. (None of this is known to the seller of course)

 

It's a shot in the dark really, but worth a go. We've all been here before, and it's truly galling to witness so much heritage cast to the winds.

 

Very best in collecting,

 

Roy

[Blacksmith]

Sorry, your post is confusing.

 

Are you saying you are trying to buy all of these medals, and if somebody gets / has his PH to PM you to work a deal?

[Roystone]

Hi, Ive managed to buy nearly all of the attributable numbered ones so far, to preserve the group. The PH has just surfaced about a week later....I was just hoping to strike a route of communication with anyone on USMF who might be bidding on it beforehand or who might win it in the end over me.

Apologies if my wording is confusing!

Roy

[MWalsh]

Have you made an offer to the seller which they can't refuse? Perhaps explain to them your approach to it and why? It's a profit thing for sure, but I have found people to be surprisingly open most often. I am NOT talking about the approach of brow beating some seller, or low balling them. Forget it if that is your hope. But be up front. You don't need to give them your research but simply tell them you want to keep it all as a set and why.

 

I have been in a similar situation in the past as a collector wanting to keep sets together, land have done exactly that. I had to pay - sometimes more than maybe I could have gotten it for had I let it ride and go till the end. Sometimes significantly more. But the piece of mind - and knowing that I kept a set together - was well worth it in the end, even if I had to pay more.

 

There are many collectors who are not on this forum, so its a crap shoot if others will see your plea - or care.

 

As a seller, when someone wants me to end something early, I need to overcome the risk of what I might receive via letting the auction ride. So my response when asked to end an auction is "Make me an offer I cannot refuse". If I know the relative value of the item then its not a hard decision, if its an item that has a lot of interest or I do not have a solid feel for what it might end at, then the offer better be a good one.

 

Good luck with it all!

[Blacksmith]

This is good advice. Bottom line, if you want to be sure you get it, go big.

 

Otherwise, chances are bleak you will end up with it - and no gurantees if you do make an offer. You are really gambling on the fact that:

 

The eventual winner is a member of this forum, AND wants to part with it. If they do, then I suspect they will want to make a profit, which means you will likely pay more than if you would have just bought it in the first place.

 

I have found that I have never regretted what I paid for an item after-the-fact. I have, however, regretted not buying something - many times.

 

Good luck.

 

Have you made an offer to the seller which they can't refuse? Perhaps explain to them your approach to it and why? It's a profit thing for sure, but I have found people to be surprisingly open most often. I am NOT talking about the approach of brow beating some seller, or low balling them. Forget it if that is your hope. But be up front. You don't need to give them your research but simply tell them you want to keep it all as a set and why.

 

I have been in a similar situation in the past as a collector wanting to keep sets together, land have done exactly that. I had to pay - sometimes more than maybe I could have gotten it for had I let it ride and go till the end. Sometimes significantly more. But the piece of mind - and knowing that I kept a set together - was well worth it in the end, even if I had to pay more.

 

There are many collectors who are not on this forum, so its a crap shoot if others will see your plea - or care.

 

As a seller, when someone wants me to end something early, I need to overcome the risk of what I might receive via letting the auction ride. So my response when asked to end an auction is "Make me an offer I cannot refuse". If I know the relative value of the item then its not a hard decision, if its an item that has a lot of interest or I do not have a solid feel for what it might end at, then the offer better be a good one.

 

Good luck with it all!

[KASTAUFFER]

This is good advice. Bottom line, if you want to be sure you get it, go big.

 

Otherwise, chances are bleak you will end up with it - and no gurantees if you do make an offer. You are really gambling on the fact that:

 

The eventual winner is a member of this forum, AND wants to part with it. If they do, then I suspect they will want to make a profit, which means you will likely pay more than if you would have just bought it in the first place.

 

I have found that I have never regretted what I paid for an item after-the-fact. I have, however, regretted not buying something - many times.

 

Good luck.

 

 

I can echo this. I just bought an officially engraved 8th AAF POW Purple Heart on Ebay for more than I know its worth because I had his uniform , Air Medal, and a veteran's plaque of his. I know if I didnt step up to reunite the group I would regret it later.

 

The items I have came from a flea market in CA. The PH was purchased from a dealer in England who bought the PH on Ebay from a seller in the same town as the flea market in CA. Stuff travels quick.

 

Kurt

[Dave]

In my opinion, this medal is already going into the premium range...and will probably continue that direction.

 

Just for the sake of history, here's a screenshot of the auction as it stands currently.

 

 

 

[stratasfan]

Wow . . . I'm shocked. PHs and Navy Crosses on eBay again! From watching in the past, I'd say eBay is going to end up pulling this right before the end. If you are interested, I'd by all means contact the seller ASAP and be serious about it because an open line of messages would be the only way to contact the seller afterwards.

 

Most PHs and NCs are pulled, in my experience.

[Roystone]

Guys,

 

Many thanks for your inputs - the latest screenshot says it all! Thanks Dave.

 

Despite my best efforts and soothing words, I am getting nowhere fast with a seller that just wants more almighty $. I think I am just going to have to console myself with Lester's other medals, his brother's (Colonel, US Engineers) and father's (CW, 3rd NY Vols). My eyes are watering already at the price it is now; for a 28th Div, 109th US medal, it seems expensive. Maybe I'm being surreptitiously being played with.....?!

 

I have been after a PH for a while, and when I started gathering this grouping together in ones, I had worked out beforehand he would have been entitled to one; so imagine, when this showed up, I was pleased. In an ideal world, what would the experts think this one's worth? Just for my own piece of mind, thanks.

 

This one might just have to be a wondering orphan....shame!

 

best

 

Roy

[Blacksmith]

It is worth what somebody is willing to pay I guess.

 

In terms of the service and sacrifice it represents, it is priceless.

 

I just saw a 1st MARDIV Peleliu PH sell for $4000+ (incl fees) at auction, where typical USMC KIA Hearts sell for less than half that. Yes, some are more sought-after for various reasons, but it comes down to at least two people really wanting it, and getting in a bidding scrum.

 

Any number anybody gives you is going to represent their approximation of value.

 

The question is really what is it worth to you?

 

Guys,

 

Many thanks for your inputs - the latest screenshot says it all! Thanks Dave.

 

Despite my best efforts and soothing words, I am getting nowhere fast with a seller that just wants more almighty $. I think I am just going to have to console myself with Lester's other medals, his brother's (Colonel, US Engineers) and father's (CW, 3rd NY Vols). My eyes are watering already at the price it is now; for a 28th Div, 109th US medal, it seems expensive. Maybe I'm being surreptitiously being played with.....?!

 

I have been after a PH for a while, and when I started gathering this grouping together in ones, I had worked out beforehand he would have been entitled to one; so imagine, when this showed up, I was pleased. In an ideal world, what would the experts think this one's worth? Just for my own piece of mind, thanks.

 

This one might just have to be a wondering orphan....shame!

 

best

 

Roy

[Dave]

It appears there are three people going for the medal...and those three people took it above what it would be worth "at retail" in my opinion. Though, as Blacksmith wrote, it's worth what it's worth to you...but at the same time, don't expect to get your money out of it if you try to sell it (I've known far too many collectors who pay "through the roof" premiums and then become frustrated when their interests change a year or two down the road and try to part with some of their collection and find out no one else sees the same monetary value they once did...)

 

 

 

 

[Roystone]

Dave,

 

Yes, it doesn't always work that what you pay once is what you get back in $ when it goes. We've all been there; but, it's what we find in the meantime - that's the REAL value, in my opinion. Sometimes, we get lucky and the research we do pays off in $ but that isn't why we do it.

 

But when something sells for way more than we want to pay, then the big thing to do is to walk away. The niggling shame of it, is that most times the other buyer doesn't REALLY know quite what gem they have in their hand!

 

Ho hum,

 

Roy

[RDUNE]

You should go for it. If you really want it, then break the bank and just go for it while you have the opportunity. You'll be glad you did in the long run. Sometimes you just have to pay crazy prices to get that one special piece. A couple of years ago a medal came up at auction that I was determined to get. I put in an absentee bid (for what was honestly a stupid amount of money), and the owner of the auction house actually called me to make sure I didn't accidentally add an extra zero to my bid. I explained that the medal had a special significance, at least for me, and he understood. I ended up getting it for a decent price, but I was prepared to drop serious cash to get it while I had the chance. Make your case to the seller and be prepared to pay the price if you really want it.

 

Good luck, hope you can work something out with the seller

 

-Ryan

[MMcollector]

I purchased the Civil war Campaign Medal the other night, I am using it for my book and then it will be available for resell. If you want it please contact me.

[Bruce Linz]

Hello,

 

Al Gleim, a prominent U. S. medal collector, always gave this advise to would be medal collectors - Bid High Bid Often! If you want this medal that badly then put a healthy bid on it. It is unrealistic to expect other collectors to step aside for you to get a good deal on this Purple Heart. Good luck.

 

Semper Fi,

Bruce Linz

[oldradiostuff]

Is that a Spanish American War purple heart?

[mghcal]

Don't think it's Spanish-american. It's the 1932 contract with a low number is all. Really nice condition. I found a veteran by that name in the 109th Infantry Regiment for ww1. But maybe?

[jeffs1130]

Well did you win it?

[stratasfan]

Well, the item was ended early (supposed to end this weekend if it had been allowed to run the course) because the seller stated it was sold.

[Brig]

eBay taboo items tend to go for more than other venues...US valor medals, Nazi stuff, etc. I think partly because there are collectors who primarily get their stuff on eBay rather than a network of collectors, so they don't understand how easy it is to find similar items for cheaper, and partly because I'm sure some clowns bid stuff up knowing it's likely going to be pulled and they'll have no obligation

 

Just last year I had to buy 16 separate lots on eBay to keep a group together...still missing a few, but salvaged most. And I definitely paid more than the group would probably retail for.

[Roystone]

Pleased to report that Lester's PH has now been repatriated with his other medals....persistence and a sympathetic seller helps, it turns out!

Probably parted with a bit more than it's really worth (how do we gauge that anyway) but it's a great feeling to keep them together. Nice to see an early # PH too.

 

Donald L Lester Co. L 109th US (Keystone/Iron Div, from Danville Ky) was reported wounded and MIA, but then evidently made it back or was found (how many days later - still to find this out). His wound was sustained from an exploding grenade, injuring one of his shoulders. (This would have been in the action of July 15 on the Marne, when his Co was left surrounded by the retreating French Div they were attached to) But he then recuperates, goes back to the lines but is then reported in the papers again as a POW, by early November 1918. There is a lot of material in the Danville newspapers on him.

 

I will post pictures of the family grouping (and a biog) when I have finally gathered in the other stragglers, I hope. Only a Mexican Border Service medal to his older brother Claude, to locate. It's out there somewhere (it's #12298). That one fell thru the net!

 

So, good news! and sooooo worth it. All advice was very much appreciated by all who have contributed! Many, many thanks all.

 

in collecting,

 

Roy

[stratasfan]

So happy for you! Would definitely LOVE to see some pics when you get it all together! Good for you for deciding you wanted to go after it. there was a pair of AC wings that had an added lightening bolt to the center that I tried for and didn't go high enough on. Disappointed still about them! I still have the pics and wish I'd gotten them. So, glad you made it!