Medals and decorations have been collected for decades. Nevertheless, the science of orders, medals and decorations, or "Phaleristik," is relatively new (it is mostly taught within Numismatic courses at universities). More and more publications about German orders and decorations have been published during recent years. The fall of communism certainly has helped the development of research and the publishing of its findings, since most related archives were in East Germany and inaccessible before 1989. 

The collecting of medals, orders and decorations has been receiving more and more attention. The collector community is growing steadily and, with it, the demand for those pieces. The medal market is experiencing steady increasing prices.

Note, below, the value development of the highest order of the Kingdom of Prussia , the Order of the Black Eagle: 

the cross

the star

The price specified in the chart above is for a Black Eagle Order set consisting of sash badge and star in its case of issue and sash. An individual star has a value of approximately US $5,000. An auction house in Munich sold such a star at the December 05, 1929, M 18.- (Mark).