Militaria Collecting 101

Are you new to collecting military relics? This is a good place to look for interviews with top collectors and dealers, learn about preservation and display techniques, read book reviews, see auction and show reports, and read about the history of the relics we all love.

Mannequins depicting Nazi soldiers during German occupation at the Oorlogsmuseum in Ossendrecht, Netherlands, were among the  German artifacts stolen from the museum.
Militaria Collecting 101

Second Dutch Military Museum Robbed Since August 2020

U.S. Small Arms of World War II, by Bruce N. Canfield
Book Reviews-Militaria Collecting

Book Review: U.S. Small Arms of World War II, by Bruce N. Canfield

Brown 005
Preservation and Conservation

How do collectors display their military relic collections?

Women's Livesred
Book Reviews-Militaria Collecting

On sale at Amazon for about $14: Women's Lives and Clothes in WW2

Bomb Explodes
Firearms and Ordnance

WWII Bomb explodes in Poland 75 years after it was dropped

Senior Chief Damage Controlman William Merchen, a hero of the attack on the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG 67) on Oct. 12, 2000, while moored for refueling in the Port of Aden, Yemen.  Merchen received the Meritorious Mertit Medal for his actions.
Medals

20 Years Later: US Navy Sailor Shares Experience from the Day His Ship, USS Cole, Was Attacked By Terrorists

Frontline Feature

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Frontline Feature

Steve Dance Auctions

ESTATE AUCTION - PROLIFIC COLLECTION OF 25 CLASS III FIREARMS.

Darrell Samuel Cole, USMC.
Military History

USS Cole was named for a WWII USMC Hero

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Book Reviews-Militaria Collecting

New book on  Awards of the German WWII Luftwaffe, by Antonio Scapini

Intrepid Museum layout
Museums, Clubs, Organizations

Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum now open

SHEPHERDSTOWN 1
Museums, Clubs, Organizations

Preservation Prevails in Shepherdstown

Sweepstakes GI In Ardennes
Book Reviews-Militaria Collecting

At only $20 on Amazon, new book illustrating the WWII American GI at the Battle of the Bulge is a bargain

COlor Sgt
JAG File: All things History

What kind of military relic collector are you?

Ed Bearss
Militaria Collecting 101

History & Preservation Community Mourns the Loss of Edwin Cole Bearss

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Medals

Sgt. Maj. Thomas P. Payne receives Medal of Honor

OVMS LOGO
Militaria Collecting 101

2021 Show of Shows is on!

Antique 1897 Colt .32-caliber ‘New Police’ revolver with American-scroll engraving by Cuno Helfricht. Solid 99% gun with near-mint bore and action. Comes in modern Colt walnut fitted case.
Firearms and Ordnance

Milestone’s Sept. 26 Premier Firearms preview

Brigadier General Courtney Whitney, government section, Far East Command; General Douglas MacArthur, Commander-in-Chief, United Nations Command, and Major General Edward Almond (at right, pointing), Commanding General, X Corps in Korea, observe the shelling of Incheon from the USS Mount McKinley (AGC-7), 15 September 1950.
Military History

US and UN Joint Operation Remembering the Korean War Invasion of Inchon

Brown's Tavern
Museums, Clubs, Organizations

Brown's Tavern, Chattanooga landmark, celebrated

Hughes 2
Preservation and Conservation

How do you exhibit your WW1 treasures?

Silk And Steel
Museums, Clubs, Organizations

Special Exhibition “Silk and Steel: French Fashion, Women and WWI” Opens Friday, Sept. 25 at National WWI Museum and Memorial

Remember_december_7th trimmed
JAG File: All things History

Patriot Day : This is why we have it.

Allied POWs with German guards DSC_0064redred
Uniforms

How well do you know WWI field uniforms?

Promo clip
Book Reviews-Militaria Collecting

Book covers minutia and details of WW2 German Iron Cross, 2nd Class

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Photographs and Ephemera

Date your 35mm Kodachrome Slides

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Patches / Insignia

On Patrol: Vietnam Insignia of Task Force 116

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International

WWII Treasures STOLEN! Thieves Break Into Dutch WWII Museum

Mike Gilday and Dylan Beazer, a Department of the Navy Library librarian, view a historical navy document in the Navy Department Library’s rare book room. Gilday toured the Navy Department Library after the ground breaking of the Operational Archives and Repository Complex. NHHC, located at the Washington Navy Yard, is responsible for the preservation, analysis, and dissemination of U.S. naval history and heritage.
Military History

Navy Breaks Ground on New Archival Complex

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Museums, Clubs, Organizations

National WWI Museum and Memorial Launches Free Resources for Educators & Students

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Who's Who

Rest in Peace, LTC (Ret.) Thomas Johnson

toppled Statue
JAG File: All things History

History Doesn't Have to be Monumental

Desert One poster
Military History

New documentary on the 1980 attempt by U.S. Special Forces to free American hostages in Iran to debut August 21st

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Medals

PA Man Guilty of Stolen Valor

David 004
Museums, Clubs, Organizations

Pritzker Military Museum & Library Announces 2020 Literature Award Recipient

Rare WWI US Marine Corps Colt 1911 pistol, .45 ACP caliber, all correct parts, one of only 2,400 such guns shipped to the Corps in 1917 after America’s entry into the war. Sold for $22,200 against an estimate of $4,000-$6,000
Auction News

Milestone’s Premier Antique & Modern Firearms Auction nears $1M in sales

Brinton Run Preserve
Preservation and Conservation

American Battlefield Trust, North American Land Trust partner to save Brandywine battlefield

Important 75-piece archive of personal and service items belonging to Tuskegee Airman William S. Powell Jr. Uniform includes A-2 leather jacket with squadron patch and name, flight suit and other apparel with all insignia, parachute, kit bag, flight log, many documents including Tuskegee diploma with signatures of classmates and instructors.
Auction News

Dirk Soulis to host Aug. 1 auction of Jack Angolia World War II collection featuring personal archives of Admiral John S. McCain, Tuskegee Airman William S. Powell Jr.

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Preservation and Conservation

Zinc Pest and White Rust: Major threat to military collectibles

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JAG File: All things History

No Military Show to go to?

MAX Masthead
Militaria Collecting 101

MAX 2020 Cancelled

You'll have to wear a mask and distance yourself...but you can go to the show
Militaria Show Reports

OVMS Military Show at Wilmington, Ohio is ON

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Preservation and Conservation

Caring for Your Leather Military Relics

Originally from Kosovo, Val spent time in German refugee camps before working as a military contractor for the U.S., where she realized her passion for military service.
Who's Who

Kosovo Refugee to Receive American Heritage Award

ARABIAN SEA (June 12, 2020) The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) transits the Arabian Sea, June 12, 2020. Ike is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and Pacific Ocean through the western Indian Ocean and three critical chokepoints to the free flow of global commerce.
Military History

Dwight D. Eisenhower and San Jacinto Break U.S. Navy Record

Online Collections Database
Museums, Clubs, Organizations

National WWI Museum and Memorial receives $125,000 from National Endowment for the Humanities for digitization/transcription of WWI letters

The Air Force is finally getting its first new pistol in 35 yearsJared Keller, Task & Purpose 21 hours agoStaff Sgt. Will Gonzales, 36th Security Forces Squadron armory NCO in charge, with a Sig Sauer M18 pistol at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, August 26, 2019.
Firearms and Ordnance

Air Forces Begins Fielding M18 Modular Handgun System

Cover: Royal Flying Corps Kit Bag: Aircrew Uniforms & Equipment from the War Over the Western Front in WWI, by Mark Hillier
Book Reviews-Militaria Collecting

New Book for WWI Aviation Collectors and Enthusiasts

The helmet worn by the infamous “Red Devils” and other paratrooper regiments of the British Army during the Second World War, and into the post-war years.
Headgear

British WWII Airborne, Dispatch Rider and Tank Crew Helmets

Antietam Map 1
Museums, Clubs, Organizations

Previously unknown map of engagement aftermath amounts to ‘Rosetta Stone’ for Battle of Antietam

Deutsche Kriegsmarine, Uniforms, Insignias and Equipment of the German Navy 1933-1945, by Eduardo Delgado (ISBN: 978-8496658592, Andrea Publishers, Madrid,. Spain.)
Book Reviews-Militaria Collecting

New book throughly covers German WWII Navy uniform, insignia, and gear

Confederate flag made out of flowers at the Confederate Statue in Jasper, Alabama. 2010.
Flags, Banners

Marines, Navy ban Confederate Battle Flag

Gold-inlaid Colt 1911 .45 ACP-caliber gun, factory-engraved by Colt master engraver William H. Gough (active 1912-1940). Shipped in 1931 to Scruggs, Vendervoort & Barney, St. Louis.
Auction News

Milestone’s June 27 Premier Antique & Modern Firearms Auction

Robert Coninx in white uniform of Belgian Merchant Navy
JAG File: All things History

Third Time was NOT the Charm for this Belgian Sailor

Operation Drafted
Museums, Clubs, Organizations

National WWI Museum and Memorial reopens with new programs and events

Worldwide Auctioneers
Auction News

Worldwide Auctioneers to offer up WWII Collection

4-year-old John Adams-Graf wearing Milton Graf's American Legion cap and jacket holding a flag.
JAG File: All things History

What Makes a Militaria Collector?

This was carved by a Buchenwald Concentration Camp inmate who put his name and date on the reverse.
Militaria Collecting 101

Wooden Relics of the Reich