FOR medals expert Mark Smith, 1553 is a magic number – his Holy Grail, lottery jackpot and Willy Wonka golden ticket rolled into one.
The number 726 is significant too. It is how far he has progressed in his quest to collect a British Army casualty medal or group to represent every single day of the First World War. There are – you guessed it – 1553 days in total.
As well as being an ardent collector on a mission, Smith is the new resident medals and orders specialist at auctioneers and dealers Baldwin’s on the Strand, London. When ATG calls, he is happily working through the medals room in the Baldwin’s vault. “I found something the other day which had a price ticket on it from 1937,” he says.