Roll of Honor | Recipient Photos | OWI Recipient Citations | MM DSM | Leonard Conley | MM DSM Design | MM DSM Price Guide
When a Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal goes up for auction, there is the cry, “It should be in a Museum!” I know at least one medal is in a museum – the American Merchant Marine Museum – but it is in a dusty, forgotten frame. It was awarded to “John Doe.” The Smithsonian Institution has the medal sculptor’s maquettes and allegedly the medal itself in its collection. The medal was awarded 155 times (not including J. D.), meaning surviving wartime examples are few and highly prized.
Over the past sixteen years, there have been six sales of attributed Merchant Marine Distinguished Service medals for five medal recipients. And since 1972, there have been 32 sales of authentic medals and 51 fake; casts of the medal began appearing in earnest around 2007.* Of those authentic medals, 15 are wartime, leaving 139 medals either in the possession of the awardees’ families, in someone’s medal drawer, or lost.
As follows is a table of all sales known to me, including:
- Date of sale: Some dates are estimated.
- Sold price: Either the hammer price or the buyer’s price.
- Maker: An educated guess given brooch and manufacturing hints.
- Status: An educated guess of whether or not the medal is authentic (real) or a copy (fake). Some copies are casts and others may be strikes; if I cannot tell what sort of copy, I class them as unknown. Bold real means the original recipient is known.
- Brooch/IOH mark: The brooch type; IOH mark – if impressed on crimp brooch.
- Suspension Type: The device the medal ring is affixed to. Authentic medals have a ball suspension type, and 1987 contract-strikes have an “abbreviated” ball (often overlooked).
- Mark: Whether or not P.M. – Paul Manship’s initials – is present on the eagle suspension device.
| date | price | maker | status | brooch | suspension | mark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2/2/1972 | $360.00 | – | real | unknown | ||
| 5/6/1998 | $300.00 | – | real | unknown | ||
| 7/17/2002 | – | – | unknown | unknown | ||
| 7/31/2002 | $200.00 | – | real | unknown | ||
| 7/31/2002 | $900.00 | – | real | unknown | ||
| 5/22/2003 | $250.00 | – | real | unknown | ||
| 11/20/2003 | $250.00 | – | real | unknown | ||
| 8/2/2006 | $750.00 | US Mint | real | wrap | ball | PM |
| 1/21/2007 | $4,639.69 | US Mint | real | wrap | ball | PM |
| 11/28/2007 | $178.00 | cast | fake | GRACO-GI | barrel | no |
| 3/9/2008 | $73.01 | cast | fake | GRACO-GI | barrel | no |
| 5/22/2008 | $71.09 | cast | fake | LI-GI | barrel | no |
| 1/1/2009 | $1,500.00 | US Mint | real | split | ball | PM |
| 7/3/2011 | $165.00 | cast | fake | wrap | barrel | no |
| 7/19/2011 | $84.99 | cast | fake | LI-GI | barrel | no |
| 12/30/2012 | $156.00 | His Lordship | real | LI-GI | ball (3/4) | no |
| 4/24/2013 | $66.00 | cast | fake | crimp | barrel | no |
| 4/25/2013 | $76.70 | cast | fake | LI-GI | barrel | no |
| 6/6/2013 | $56.00 | cast | fake | LI-GI | barrel | no |
| 2/6/2014 | $7,500.00 | US Mint | real | wrap | ball | PM |
| 3/28/2014 | $227.50 | unknown | fake | crimp | ball | no |
| 5/23/2014 | $455.00 | His Lordship | real | LI-GI | ball (3/4) | PM |
| 8/9/2014 | $120.00 | cast | fake | crimp | barrel | unknown |
| 11/17/2014 | $305.00 | cast | fake | slot | barrel | no |
| 1/1/2015 | $40.00 | US Mint | real | wrap | ball | PM |
| 3/25/2015 | $280.00 | cast | fake | crimp | barrel | unknown |
| 10/10/2015 | $22.34 | cast | fake | crimp | barrel | no |
| 12/13/2015 | $465.00 | cast | fake | slot | barrel | no |
| 7/14/2016 | $94.40 | cast | fake | crimp | barrel | unknown |
| 9/22/2016 | $175.00 | cast | fake | crimp | barrel | no |
| 10/3/2016 | $139.39 | cast | fake | crimp | barrel | unknown |
| 10/31/2016 | $112.50 | His Lordship | real | LI-GI | ball (3/4) | no |
| 11/5/2016 | $300.00 | cast | fake | crimp | barrel | unknown |
| 12/12/2016 | $2,025.00 | US Mint | real | split | ball | PM |
| 3/26/2017 | $1,800.00 | US Mint | real | wrap | ball | PM |
| 4/22/2017 | $50.00 | cast | fake | crimp | ball (3/4) | unknown |
| 6/2/2017 | $472.85 | Medallic Art | real | crimp | ball | PM |
| 6/4/2017 | $175.00 | cast | fake | crimp | barrel | no |
| 7/20/2017 | $76.95 | cast | fake | crimp | ball (3/4) | unknown |
| 9/5/2017 | $164.49 | cast | fake | LI-GI | barrel | no |
| 9/11/2017 | $175.00 | cast | fake | crimp | barrel | no |
| 11/23/2017 | $900.00 | US Mint | real | wrap | ball | PM |
| 12/12/2017 | $112.00 | cast | fake | GI | barrel | unknown |
| 2/28/2018 | $173.50 | cast | fake | crimp | ball | no |
| 5/26/2018 | $102.50 | cast | fake | LI-GI | ball (3/4) | no |
| 9/6/2018 | $177.63 | cast | fake | crimp | barrel | unknown |
| 10/26/2018 | $66.00 | cast | fake | slot | ball | no |
| 12/1/2018 | $210.00 | cast | fake | slot | barrel | no |
| 12/12/2018 | $525.00 | cast | fake | slot | barrel | PM |
| 1/16/2019 | $250.00 | unknown | real | crimp | ball | unknown |
| 3/10/2019 | $200.00 | cast | fake | crimp | ball (3/4) | unknown |
| 4/30/2019 | $150.00 | cast | fake | crimp | barrel | no |
| 5/22/2019 | $175.00 | cast | fake | crimp | barrel | no |
| 7/8/2019 | $111.00 | US Mint | real | slot | ball | PM |
| 7/8/2019 | $350.00 | Medallic Art | real | crimp | ball | PM |
| 8/3/2019 | $133.50 | cast | fake | G-23 | barrel | no |
| 10/11/2019 | $2,410.00 | US Mint | real | wrap | ball | PM |
| 11/18/2019 | $275.00 | cast | fake | crimp | ball | no |
| 11/24/2019 | $275.00 | Medallic Art | real | crimp | ball | PM |
| 11/27/2019 | $124.95 | His Lordship | real | LI-GI | ball (3.4) | no |
| 2/26/2020 | $190.00 | cast | fake | GRACO-GI | barrel | no |
| 4/12/2020 | $93.79 | cast | fake | CN-GI | barrel | no |
| 4/22/2020 | $199.99 | cast | fake | CN-GI | barrel | no |
| 8/23/2020 | $312.00 | unknown | fake | slot | ball (3/4) | no |
| 9/11/2020 | $2,999.90 | US Mint | real | crimp | ball | PM |
| 9/28/2020 | $121.50 | cast | fake | GRACO-GI | barrel | no |
| 11/29/2020 | $150.00 | cast | fake | crimp | ball (3/4) | no |
| 1/4/2021 | $1,299.99 | US Mint | real | wrap | ball | PM |
| 1/11/2021 | $225.00 | cast | fake | crimp | barrel | no |
| 1/14/2021 | $225.00 | cast | fake | crimp | barrel | no |
| 6/7/2021 | $565.55 | Medallic Art | real | crimp | ball | unknown |
| 6/10/2021 | $225.00 | cast | fake | crimp | barrel | no |
| 8/29/2021 | $225.00 | cast | fake | crimp | barrel | no |
| 9/9/2021 | $125.00 | cast | fake | LI-GI | ball (3/4) | no |
| 1/14/2022 | $225.00 | cast | fake | crimp | barrel | no |
| 4/18/2022 | $200.00 | cast | fake | crimp | ball (3/4) | no |
| 8/28/2022 | $250.00 | cast | fake | LI-GI | barrel | no |
| 1/1/2023 | $2,000.00 (resale of 3/26/2017) | US Mint | real | wrap | ball | PM |
| 1/18/2023 | $96.00 | cast | fake | crimp | barrel | no |
| 3/21/2023 | $1,399.99 | US Mint | real | wrap | ball | PM |
| 3/31/2023 | $225.00 | cast | fake | crimp | barrel | no |
| 7/1/2023 | $636.00 | US Mint | real | wrap | ball | PM |
| 7/6/2023 | $195.50 | US Mint | real | – | ball | PM |
| 1/23/2024 | $1,199.00 | cast | fake | slot | ball | no |
Notes
* Despite casts of the medal appearing in 2007, online hints point to the fact that Wadim Nensberg began selling the MM DSM slot brooch with a barrel suspension for $750 in 2003. In August 2004 dropped his price to $150; it remained as such until November 2020. His activities are long known to the banknote-collecting community and members of a well-known forum issued alerts regarding doing business with him as early as 11 February 2004. Russia may very well be the source of the casts in the early aughts and appearing for sale from a seller in West Virginia through the current day.