Post by brigadepiron on Aug 3, 2012 4:09:32 GMT -5
I know this may not be of interest to member who only reenact, but I am sure many are also collectors of the same war.
I don't know if many of you have been on ebay recently and seen the tonnes of Chinese medals for sale? Certainly, a lot of them are advertised as Korean War.
Almost all are fakes.
These are the two I bought. Fortunately, I payed about a dollar a piece for them, but I have seen people paying up to $40 for the same types. The two types I show above are pure fantasy types; the first based on the North Korean campaign medal, the second...?
Tips to recognise fake Chinese medals:
1) Do they have a very, very aged look to them? I'm reliably informed that this is the result of them being buried in Chicken excrement to make them look older. Originals do not tarnish, and certainly in that way.
2) The hanger. Do they have this plastic-red thing? This way of recognising them was good, but now increasingly fakers have realised that they've been found out and are producing versions with more realistic hangars. Check the actual colours of the ribbons that they should be before purchase.
3) Finally, the most important: Enamel. Chinese medals from Korea - contrary to what you might think were really beautifully enamelled. This might have chipped over the years, but all fakes have enamel paint used instead. Originals should be very bright colours, even after all this time.
It is also worth checking with reputable reference sites for what they actually look like.
Note this applies to KMT medals too.
I hope this will be an aid to collectors. There is really little info on the subject (there isn't a collectors' book in any European language) and particularly since they're so cheap, it is surprising that anyone actually would fake them.
BP
I don't know if many of you have been on ebay recently and seen the tonnes of Chinese medals for sale? Certainly, a lot of them are advertised as Korean War.
Almost all are fakes.
These are the two I bought. Fortunately, I payed about a dollar a piece for them, but I have seen people paying up to $40 for the same types. The two types I show above are pure fantasy types; the first based on the North Korean campaign medal, the second...?
Tips to recognise fake Chinese medals:
1) Do they have a very, very aged look to them? I'm reliably informed that this is the result of them being buried in Chicken excrement to make them look older. Originals do not tarnish, and certainly in that way.
2) The hanger. Do they have this plastic-red thing? This way of recognising them was good, but now increasingly fakers have realised that they've been found out and are producing versions with more realistic hangars. Check the actual colours of the ribbons that they should be before purchase.
3) Finally, the most important: Enamel. Chinese medals from Korea - contrary to what you might think were really beautifully enamelled. This might have chipped over the years, but all fakes have enamel paint used instead. Originals should be very bright colours, even after all this time.
It is also worth checking with reputable reference sites for what they actually look like.
Note this applies to KMT medals too.
I hope this will be an aid to collectors. There is really little info on the subject (there isn't a collectors' book in any European language) and particularly since they're so cheap, it is surprising that anyone actually would fake them.
BP