1. The Objective of the British Medal Forum is to develop and further the interest, research and collecting of British and Commonwealth medals; researching their recipients; and assisting each other with specialist issues such as research, naming styles, clasp combinations, etc

2. The British Medal Forum is not a commercial enterprise, nor should members use the forum for commercial advantage.

3. The forum is maintained on a voluntary basis, members should bear this in mind when making any post to the forum.

4. The use of the British Medal Forum is subject to the rules and guidelines as described below. By using the Forum in any way you signify explicit agreement to all of the statements contained herein. Theses rules and guidelines apply to the heading and body of your posts, to your signature, avatar; to private messages (PM) and email sent from the forum.

5. Failure to respect the rules may lead to your account being suspended and/or a ban being placed on your continued use of the forum.

6. Members will not involve the Forum or its staff (owners, webmasters, administrators, and /or moderators) in any legal action or dispute.

7. The membership of members who threaten or suggest or support legal action against the Forum (administrators or moderators) will be revoked.

8. If a member has any questions about the rules; whether a topic may be posted; or wish to make a post contrary to the rules / guidelines, advice should be sought from a Moderator or the Forum Administrator prior to making the post.

1. Do not use profane language.

2. Do not post items that are in any way racist, sexist, abusive or obscene.

3. Do not post items that incite or in a aggressive tone.

4. Do not make statements that could be construed as defamatory of an individual, group or business.

5. Do respect the right of other to express their opinion

1. The moderators are all volunteers, who give of their free time to the operation of this Forum. Please make their task easier by abiding with the rules and following the guidelines.

2. All moderators have an absolute right to delete, move, edit or otherwise change any post on the Forum in order to maintain continuity, ensure adherence to these rules and maintain the positive spirit of the Forum.

3. Disagreement with the decision of a Moderator will not be discussed on the open forum.

4. Disputes will be discussed by a panel of Moderators whose decision is final.

1. Copyright legislation must be complied with (see the more detailed guidelines below).

2. Members who own the copyright of published material, may post the material on the Forum

1. Members will not solicit or promote any commercial activity in which they have an interest, on the Forum. A link to a non-commercial website is permitted in your signature, but must be of reasonable length and of a small font size.

2. Commercial logos are not permitted nor are they to be used as an avatar.

3.approached the moderators and obtained permission prior to the post.

4. This rule also applies to charitable appeals.

1. This forum is specifically for the discussion of British and Commonwealth medals; the recipients of such medals; and the circumstances that warranted the issue or awarding of such medals.

2. Posts and discussion are to be kept within this rule.

3. WWe do not cover political, masonic, sporting, religious or similar themes unless directly related to British and Commonwealth medals or their recipients. If posted without such reference they will be deleted. A list of acceptable medals for discussion can be found > Here <

4. Use the appropriate collecting topic section when posting.

5. Do not post the same or similar item in multiple topic areas.

6. Posts that are irrelevant to or disrupt the discussion will be deleted.

1. All members agree to the registration agreement on joining the forum.

2. Multiple registrations are not allowed, if more that one membership is detected, action will be taken to delete them and any associated usernames.

3. Inactive registrations may be deleted without warning.

4. Avatars and signatures must not cause offence to, or confrontation with, other members. Avatars should not be political, religious, racist, sexist, etc, in nature.

1. Members are responsible for what they write on the Forum, regardless of whether it is in a post, on their signature or profile, or in a Personal Message (PM) or email sent through the Forum.

2. The Forum and its staff do not vouch for, or warrant, the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message and are not responsible for the contents of messages.

3. Members specifically agree by their use of the Forum to indemnify and hold harmless the Owner, Webmaster, Administrator and Moderators of this Forum against any legal action

4. All members have accepted these terms upon registering on the forum and explicitly agree to these terms in their continued use of the Forum

1. Members should report any post that violate theses rules to the Moderators.

Members should report discussions / posts which they deem unacceptable or outside the ethos of the Forum to the Administrator / Moderators either by PM or by clicking on the exclamation icon (!) at the top right side of the post below the posted date / time.

1. Members who do not abide by the rules, especially the standard of behavior, will be suspended. Depending on the nature or severity of the breach of the rules the Administrator / Moderators can place a member under a seven-day suspension (Yellow Card), a fourteen-day suspension (Red Card) or permanently revoke the membership of a member.

2. Re-registering during a period of suspension will result in an automatic review by the Forum Administrator / Moderators, which could result in the permanent revocation of membership.

3. Posting a discussion / topic which is deemed to be a personal attack on another member will result in an immediate Red-Card suspension immediately and may result in a Permanent Ban.

4. Ignoring a request / instruction from Forum Staff will result in a Red Card and may result in a Permanent Ban.

5. Continued membership of those members who receive three red cards will automatically be reviewed by the Forum Administrator / Moderators and Founder Members.

6. The management reserve the right (after review by the Founder Members and Staff Team) to terminate the membership of any member if their continued presence is considered to be detrimental to the forum.

1. The Administrator and Moderators of the Forum reserve the right to modify these rules at any time without prior notice or announcement.

2. Members continued use of the Forum is in explicit acceptance of the current version of the rules in force at the time of posting

1. Members are expected to show respect to all recipients of British and Commonwealth medals and awards irrespective of race, colour, creed or religion.

2. Medals issued by countries that are no longer in the Commonwealth are not regarded as subject matter for discussion. However groups that contain medals / awards that were issued by a country prior to leaving the Commonwealth are permitted.

3. Discussions of non-British / Commonwealth nationals who were issued or awarded a British / Commonwealth medal / award are permitted. However discussion should be limited to the recipient / circumstances of the medal / award.

4. Discussions / posts about medals / awards granted by foreign countries to British / Commonwealth recipients are permitted provided they form a part of a British/Commonwealth group that is being discussed or the association with that group/recipient/entitlement is made immediately obvious.

5. Discussions about ephemera related to British and Commonwealth medals and recipients is permitted, provided they form a part of a British/Commonwealth group that is being discussed or the association with that group/recipient/entitlement is made immediately obvious. These ephemera may include life-saving gallantry awards, Silver War Badges, Memorial Crosses, MiD Certificates, flying log books, Certificates of Service, Medal Index Cards, Gold Fish/Guinea Pig/Caterpillar Club badges, Commissioning Warrants, Submarine service cards, Service Parchments, photographs etc.

6. Discussions / posts that relate to reproductions, copies, replicas or commemorative medals are not permitted, except to alert members where an item has been offered for sale as an original. In these cases information should be restricted to the item being offered for sale, to educate members in recognizing fakes and copies. The seller may not be discussed.

7. WALTS: discussions/ posts about the unauthorised or fraudulent wearing of medals/ awards is not permitted except where there is merit for the sake of research in medal rolls / awarding criteria / combination of length of services etc. The morality or reasons why the individual is wearing unauthorised medal (s) is not within the objectives of the Forum. We do not do NAMING AND SHAMING on the Forum nor do we carry these stories even without names. Aside from legal implications - which are real - this would be totally unfair unless both parties were immediately able to respond and defend themselves and a lot of folk are not members here. Every story has at least two sides. Any postings of this type will be removed without warning or notification and members who persist in posting of this type may have their membership suspended or terminated.

8. Discussions / posts about militaria, uniforms, swords, guns, cap badges, military equipment or badges are not permitted.

9. Discussions / posts relating to postal services, customs regulations or value-added (use) taxes of any country are not considered proper for this forum.

10. This Forum does not condone the making, marketing and/or selling of copy or reproduction medals. The Forum ethos dictates that discussions / posts should not advance the proliferation of such items

11. This Forum does not condone the wearing or mounting of commemorative medals with officially issued or awarded medals. Forum ethos dictates that discussions / post should not advance the proliferation of such practices.

12. Discussion / posts that respond to requests for comments regarding the authenticity of British and Commonwealth medals should explain the rational for the opinion offered in order to further the knowledge of members. The source of the seller, dealer or auctioneer offering the item may not form any part of the rationale for the opinion regarding the authenticity.

1. Only members with 100+ posts will be permitted to have a Showcase

2. Members should create a comments thread for other member messages about their collection

3. Members should post comments about any item displayed in showcase in the showcase only in the comments thread.

4. how Cases are set up by a Super Moderator, who will advise you on creating and editing your showcase

1. Only members with 100+ posts will be permitted to offer items for sale on the Forum.

2. This commission free concession is limited to 20 items per calendar year (ie: Jan to Dec). An item is :
a. A group and ephemera related / connected to the group
b. A single medal and related / connected ephemera
c. A single item of militaria i.e. Silver War Badge
d. A book, a catalogue or a medal roll

3. When posting an item it must be priced. Items posted without a price will be deleted.

4. Forum members may only sell items that they own; selling items for others is forbidden.

5. Items placed on the Forum for sale are sold under the condition that there is a 100% money back guarantee, if the item is found to not match the sale description.

6. The item must be available for sale to all BMF members irrespective of geographic location. The item is mailed at sellers risk but the buyer will meet full carriage/insurance costs. If the buyer requires the item mailed to a destination country which has no "signed for/insured service" then the item is sent at buyer’s risk.

7. The sale of fakes or replicas; fraudulently constructed / mounted medal groups; or improperly-named or renamed medals is not permitted. If any such item is posted for sale it will be deleted. Should the Forum Administrator, Moderators deem that the seller had prior knowledge of the items faults, the seller’s membership will be suspended and reviewed by the Forum Staff and Founder Members.

8. Official replacements are permitted, however the seller should draw this condition to the attention of potential buyers at the time of posting the item for sale on the Forum.

1. Do not discuss or post messages about issues, observations or disagreements with dealers, auctioneers, eBay sellers, Pay Pal, etc.

2. Do not ask for or post the identity of eBay sellers, dealers, auctioners or other sellers.

3. Do not discuss or post commercial issues or disputes

4. Comments relating to fakes and copies, fraudulent items may be posted with a URL.

5. Discussions / posts should be restricted to the numismatic aspect of medals

6. Discussions / posts relating to the services, fees, commercial activities or ethics of dealers, sellers or auctioneers are not permitted.

7. Members are not permitted to post links to items that they are personally selling on eBay.

8. Members should not recommend or bring to the attention of Forum members items that they have placed on dealers lists or placed into a specific auction.

1. A maximum of 20 ‘wants’ per member per calendar year is allowed, with the exception of the Memorial Plaque Register and the Surnames Sought master threads. The same ‘wants’ request must not be repeated within two calendar months.

2. Members are permitted to list item that they wish to obtain. However only specific items can be listed (medals or group to specific actions, regiments, units, ships, or campaign or recipient.)

3. Discussions / posts advertising purchasing medals / groups that are non specific will be deemed as commercial and deleted.

1. Members are limited to 20 valuation requests in any calendar year (ie: January to December).

2. Members posting messages in the valuation topic should provide full details of the item being valued including name / naming, rank and number where applicable, information regarding the awarding or issuing, and if application citation or circumstances. The reason for the valuation should also be posted, probate, insurance etc. Posts without this information may be deleted by the Moderators.

3. Requests for valuation must not indicate that the item may possibly be offered for sale.

4. When responding to request for a valuation members should post the rational for the value given, value of individual medals, awards, papers and a value added percent for completeness, rarity, citation, etc.

1. Members are responsible in ensuring that discussions / posts comply with UK Copyright Legislation.

2. NO direct copy of any page/article published in any book subject to copyright (and this includes most books since 1924) must be placed on the forum UNLESS express permission has been given by the copyright holder. If that book has been reprinted recently then the original is alright to use, but a recent copy is likely to be copyrighted. Any copies from books printed 1924 to date are deemed by BMF to be copyrighted under the 28 years plus 67 years extension (as a minimum).

3. NO photos/pictures taken from any published work may be posted on the forum UNLESS express permission has been given by the copyright holder. This includes pictures from web-sites/ auction catalogues etc.

4. NO Copies of medal index cards or records of service obtained from Ancestry/FindMyPast may be published on the Forum UNLESS express permission of the relevant copyright holder has been given. If you seek guidance on a specific small part of the record or the meaning of a phrase or abbreviation then please post ONLY a small sized piece (less than 30% of the whole).

5. Fair Use: In copyright law, there is a concept of fair use, also known as free use, free dealing or fair practice. Fair uses sets out certain actions that may be carried out, but would not normally be regarded as an infringement of the work. Fair uses allows quotations or excerpts, where the work has been made available to the public (published). Provided that:

a. The use is deemed acceptable under the terms of fair use
b. The quoted material is justified and no more that is necessary is included
c. The source of the quoted material is mentioned, along with the name of the author
d. National laws typically allow limited private and educational use
e. Copyright text should be no more that 5% of the total published item and restricted to direct relevance of the discussion / post.
f. Members using narrative/ photographs etc from auction catalogues should satisfy themselves that copyright law had been complied with.
g. Copyright and Ancestry: Subsequent to an initial request for help, communication about copying documents, images etc from a copyright source should be conducted using PM

6. Links to the relevant item are allowed.

7. Information sourced from books, retyped by the member posting it, is permissable but the source of the information should be cited.

The Forum Panel: The Forum Panel consists of the Administrators, Owners, Moderators and Founder Members. Disputes / disagreements or suggestions for the future / or development of the Forum will be considered by the Forum Panel whose decision is final.