I agree with all the above. I collect only AAF but the line where a "grouping" becomes anything more than interesting story to only one man compared to historic value is pretty thin for me. Period engraved medals and uniform items are an example. Now, once you have a patched and painted A-2 jacket or other display items, collectors would pay a premium (historic value or not). A primarily paper lot is interesting to see the older type of paper, type print, and vintage paper clips and staples. The actual info on them tends to be fairly standard to all such papers and is available from online records, NARA, etc. I love having complete groupings (though much of my collection is not that at all) but I ask myself and also observe "What am I able to appropriately display?" and "What will people actually stop and look at?" Most people are not at all impressed at an original pay journal that the vet actually held and signed and more than a photocopy of a page. Consequently, the uniforms are displayed and appreciated and the paperwork and pic stay in folders in a closet. To a medal collector, the signed medals may be of display interest while the uniform items, pics, and documents would need to be stored elsewhere. Also, remember "historical" significance means it's just old. "Historic" significance refers to its importance in history. That's where the value part starts to bifurcate IMO. To most of us this is all very important but to an archive that has tons of similar stories and artifacts it is just more of the same "historical" items.   What original papers in a grouping say to me is this isn't a few items that has passed from person to person with some photocopies of the vet's records but rather something that has been kept complete directly from the vet or his family. That is a different grouping. Same info but different for sure. Very nice stuff. JMO, Dave

And it just keeps getting better!  

Thank you for the comments. I may not have done the best job showing everything in the initial photos. While there is some supporting research included, the majority of the archive consists of original wartime material retained by the family, including original correspondence, photographs, award-related documents, casualty paperwork, press material, and other period documents. I’ll try to post additional images of some of the original documents so the scope of the archive is clearer.

Patches have been around for hundreds of years. We often get tunnel vision about our areas of interest. Patches are/were used for more than the military we often collect. Club and school patches, special organizations and veteran groups, etc. all had some fairly ornate crests and, thus, jacket patches. If you travel much, you will still see kids in matching school uniforms including sweaters and patched jackets. The UK and India come to mind.  Go do a search and see what Pakistan patch makers still offer today. It's an eye opener. Dave 

Amazing finds!!  One of the great things is noting the April 1949 date on the Purple Heart award, and the script engraving. Off the top of my head, that may be one of the latest script engraved medals I've run across. 

It looks to me that it's just the DFC that's engraved? What is interesting is that the DFC itself, with the 1947 time period engraving, is quite unusual. One other recently came to light and that was the first one I can remember seeing. Not saying this is a "lotto win" but for those of us who track engraving types, it's interesting.  The paper with the group is really interesting...the material in with his service record has a lot of potential to have some really interesting information.  The research with the group is fairly common - it appears to be mostly what can be obtained off of fold3. Definitely interesting, for sure, and definitely important for the history of the group. Does it add a whole bunch of value? Not really.    The missing Purple Heart is really a shame, but it is what it is.  Overall, this is a stellar group, and I really like it. It would have more people clammoring for it if the PH were there, but even as it stands, it would be welcome in many collections. 

The 45th vets family got back to me here’s a Sneak peek.

Dear fellow collectors,   Over the past week, I have acquired several insignia to help make my scrapbook more complete. However, I notice quite a few differences on the reverse sides, and since I mainly collect World War II–related items, I am curious about their authenticity and period. I also have a question regarding the Hell on Wheels Tab: were these already in use during World War II? It would be a wonderful addition to my collection, as my hometown was liberated by this division in 1944. I would greatly appreciate the opinions and expertise of collectors who are more knowledgeable in this field.   Thank you in advance.

Cool! One of those odd things you have to think about a good way to display.