Neither the seller nor the buyer responded to StripesвЂ™ e-mailed requests for an interview. Sixteen separate bidders battled one another for the medal, which was eventually won by вЂњdougsjourney,вЂќ who paid more than $2,200. вЂњThis medal would be illegal to sell in the USA and as such are almost impossible to find for sale!!вЂќ the bidder wrote in his description. Sterner, who вЂњworks hand in handвЂќ with Cottone to get the unauthorized medals off the street, estimated that as many as 900 could be on the black market.Д¬ottone was monitoring FridayвЂ™s eBay sale of a Medal of Honor, which was offered by вЂњinyrfc,вЂќ a London-based seller who said in the site description that his was one of the Lordship medals. вЂњThere are tons of both, unfortunately,вЂќ Cottone said in a Monday telephone interview.ДЇBI agents suspect that вЂњthere are far in excess of 300вЂќ medals on the black market, Cottone said. True, there are very few stolen medals that have not been recovered, according to FBI agent Tom Cottone, whose Newark, N.J., office is in charge of investigating illegal military medal sales and people who fraudulently represent themselves as Medal of Honor recipients.

The exclusiveness of the medal would seem to limit its underground availability - only 3,459 Medals of Honor have been officially awarded since the medalвЂ™s inception in 1863. Such sales are illegal under federal law, and punishable by fines of up to $100,000 and a year in jail.Д«ut that doesnвЂ™t stop buyers, who range from collectors of military memorabilia вЂњto individuals who use the Medal of Honor for personal profit,вЂќ Victoria Leslie, director of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, said in a Friday telephone interview. But for some people, honor does, in fact have a price: Just over $2,200, to judge by the latest sale of a Medal of Honor on the Internet auction site eBay last Friday.

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