Fake & Fantasy Iii Reich Awards

[Connaught Ranger]

Hallo Fellow members,:)

looking at some of the Insignia and Items posted on other threads, I notice that there are some Fantasy & Fake items posted,
so I thought a thread with regards these items was needed.

I will include foreign items related to the iii reich as well, to start a couple of Spanish War Cross awards that are currently out there for sale.

Sellers pictures don't match up to the names in his written description and the award though real is from post WW2 circa 1960's Spain.

Buyers beware all that glitters is not gold!.

Connaught Ranger.:)

[Jarhead]

That´s actually a pretty good idea to start a threat about fake awards and other items.

[Connaught Ranger]

Here we have an example of a fantasy Bar, one of many monster bars that have been appearing from Austria and flogged on a well known internet site.

Are we really gullible enough to believe that a very junior WW1 Austrian enlisted front fighter, who also gets an 18 Long Service medal by 1940 (nice trick that cannot be explained).

He serves in Spain, (1937-38) and then goes onto the West Wall (39-40), then off on holiday to Russia where he's with Army Group South in a Luftwaffe unit.

The bar would have to date from late 1942 - very early 1945 so it would mean a mere 30 month period of time.

Maybe slightly possible for a Luftwaffe Nachtrichten / rear- echelon type guy, but doubtful, and the precedence is wrong as the Ostmedal goes before the Austrian front service items, it was after all a lowly decoration but a decoration never the less and there were rules about the precedence of awards.

Its not that all the medals are original pieces as the 18 years seems to be a cast copy.
And what a waste of 1873 Austrian Campaign Medal ribbon to the rear:-(

Connaught Ranger:)

[gaijinsamurai]

^ That medal bar would come under scrutiny by any serious collector. The medals simply aren't realistic. (Kind of like seeing an American soldier with medals from Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq, the USMC, and the US Army, with a couple of unusual foreign decorations thrown in-not impossible, but not likely, either!)

That Spanish award looks familiar. Did you happen to see it on Wehrmacht-Awards.com? If so, I considered it, then passed. Fakes are usually recognized pretty quickly on that forum.

As for the repros, fakes, and fantasy stuff, I consider them to be junk, of little or no value, and detrimental to the hobby of collecting.

[Connaught Ranger]

^ That medal bar would come under scrutiny by any serious collector. The medals simply aren't realistic. (Kind of like seeing an American soldier with medals from Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq, the USMC, and the US Army, with a couple of unusual foreign decorations thrown in-not impossible, but not likely, either!)

That Spanish award looks familiar. Did you happen to see it on Wehrmacht-Awards.com? If so, I considered it, then passed. Fakes are usually recognized pretty quickly on that forum.

As for the repros, fakes, and fantasy stuff, I consider them to be junk, of little or no value, and detrimental to the hobby of collecting.

No. I have seen them, (the Spanish War Crosses) over the last week up for auction on ebay, the Austrian made medal bar is very similar to an ebay Austrian dealers work as well. His trade mark is very large bars with foreign awards thrown in.

As for Repros, Fakes and fantasy, there are enough uneducated fools out their willing to buy then for what the purport to represent. "Wet dream mentality":-P

Connaught Ranger:)

[gaijinsamurai]

I've never bought anything from ebay and probably never will.

With all the fakes out there, I try to limit my purchases to pieces from reputable and well-known dealers, even if they cost me a little more.

[Jarhead]

I've never bought anything from ebay and probably never will.

With all the fakes out there, I try to limit my purchases to pieces from reputable and well-known dealers, even if they cost me a little more.
On german ebay you can get some real awards but just without swastika:|
If you need the addresses of my dealers just let me know.

[gaijinsamurai]

Danke, Herr JarKopf!

Perhaps with the Dollar/Euro exchange the way it currently is, it wouldn't be advantageous of me to purchase from your sources! Still, it would be interesting to see what's available.

Have you checked out WWW.Wehrmacht-Awards.com yet? They have quite a bit there, and is a good forum for increasing one's knowledge.

[Connaught Ranger]

Another fantasy Piece:-

Sells along the lines of, for wear by S.S. members when in civil attire!!!:roll:

Connaught Ranger.:)

[Connaught Ranger]

Fake SS Buckle, light alloy material complete with spray on rust!!!

Connaught Ranger:)

[Connaught Ranger]

Fake Army Buckle:-

Whats wrong with it? = Everything, a picture is worth a thousand words.

These come in all variations Army, Air force, Navy, SS, RAD etc..etc.. the giveaway is the poor detail and the backs are all modeled the same.

Connaught Ranger.:)

[Jarhead]

Check out www.detlev-niemann.de Herr Samurai
They even have sometimes bequests from Ritterkreuzträger.
You can pay there with $ and they are pretty fast and have actually good prices.

I already checkt out wehrmacht-awards. Great site, I´m thinking about joining them.

[Jarhead]

Fake Army Buckle:-

Whats wrong with it? = Everything, a picture is worth a thousand words.

These come in all variations Army, Air force, Navy, SS, RAD etc..etc.. the giveaway is the poor detail and the backs are all modeled the same.

Connaught Ranger.:)
That "thing" hurts my eyes.:cantbeli:

[gaijinsamurai]

Danke, Jarhead! I'll check that site out!

[Jarhead]

Danke, Jarhead! I'll check that site out!
You are welcome Sir.
check also www.philipp-militaria.de
They ship also fast.

[zad]

Hallo Fellow members,:)

looking at some of the Insignia and Items posted on other threads, I notice that there are some Fantasy & Fake items posted,
so I thought a thread with regards these items was needed.

I will include foreign items related to the iii reich as well, to start a couple of Spanish War Cross awards that are currently out there for sale.

Sellers pictures don't match up to the names in his written description and the award though real is from post WW2 circa 1960's Spain.

Buyers beware all that glitters is not gold!.

Connaught Ranger.:)

Epic fail, the award that you put as example of fake is a real one:

http://62.15.226.148/fot/2007/04/10/4722236.jpg


CRUZ DE GUERRA AL MERITO EN CAMPAÑA


Cruz de Guerra. Creada el 26 de enero de 1937.Premia méritos excepcionales a los que, distinguiéndose extraordinariamente, no alcanzaran al menos el ascenso por méritos de guerra. Se otorgaba con diploma acreditativo. Similar en su forma a la antigua Cruz de Maria Cristina de 1ª Clase. Sobre una superficie estrellada en plata, un círculo dorado cuartelado con espadas y en los vértices derecho e izquierdo dos leones rampantes en plata, en el inferior una torre también en plata y en el superior un recuadro asimismo en plata para grabar el año de su concesión bajo una corona imperial. En el centro, el mismo motivo esmaltado que en la condecoración anterior, pero con borde azul, también esmaltado donde se lee "AL MERITO EN CAMPAÑA". envio 3 euros correo certificado para españa y sus islas


Translation:

War cross created the 26 of january of 1937, award for exceptional merits to those who even distinguishing themselves exceptionaly don´t achieve the promotion by war merit. The rest is a description of how the medal looks

http://www.todocoleccion.net/lote.cfm?Id_Lote=8102673

[gaijinsamurai]

Zad,
I am not familiar enough with The Spanish War Cross to take sides on this debate, but how do you know the particular cross which Connaught Ranger pointed out is legitimate? Afterall, the piece he posted is not the same one as in your post.

[Connaught Ranger]

Nobody is disputing the Spanish award itself is real, whats disputed is the engraving dedicating a 1960's Model Spanish Cross of War, to members of the German Condor Legion, the sellers written description do not match the items shown in his auctions as the name he claims in writing is different to the name on the engraved dedication on the rear.
So how does a German Veteran of the Spanish War obtain items engraved with the date in the late 1930's on a 1960's item.Let me guess Hitler had a time machine??:-P

Connaught Ranger.:)

[Ed Robinson]

Sadly there are a lot of British badges being copied as well. Some one has gotten hold of the original dies in the 70’s and made a lot of new “old badges”. Generally not a problem if the re strike is sold as a copy to fill a gap in the collection. But when you are paying out big $ for a $5 re strike you get a bit annoyed.

Various tricks abound for aging the badges which I will not go into. However a good badge book is worth its weight in gold. Some of the copies are made with the same metals as the originals. This makes it a bit hard to work out is it real? The best way to pick out a pre 1900 badge is by checking the eyelets on the back. The old badges used round wire with a slight gap between the two wires where they join the rear of the badge, as opposed to the modern type of eyelets which are semi circular and are nicely joined together into a single stem as they are connected to the rear of the badge.

Do not buy a rare expensive badge that is cheap (in comparison to the cost of a real badge) Ask your self why is a $500 badge going for $100?

I gave away collecting German militaria years ago because of the problems with copies. It looks like the British badges will go the same way.

[gaijinsamurai]

Yeah, nowadays, it seems that just about every country's militaria is the subject of knock-offs.

Soviet stuff is rediculous when it comes to repros, too.

[Connaught Ranger]

Typical Eastern produced FAKE military buckle:-

currently up for sale on evay.

Connaught Ranger:)

[Jarhead]

Ugly "Stahlhelm-Bund" buckle.
Supposed manufacturer Friedrich Linden, Lüdenscheid

[Connaught Ranger]

Fresh out of Poland, fantasy drink flask.

Seen at a recent Collectors Fair in Timisoara Romania on the 19th April 2008:

Connaught Ranger:)

[Connaught Ranger]

Very Good Fake of a WW2 German Para Badge,

G.H. OSANG, DRESDEN:-

This one is in my possession.

Connaught Ranger:)

[gaijinsamurai]

Did you buy that fallschirmjager badge thinking it was original, CR? It would have fooled me. Anyways, I hope you didn't suffer a big loss on it.

[Connaught Ranger]

I will be honest and say it caught me out, to the tune of 180 Euro

It was a shop buy from a reputable dealer about 5 years ago, he was honestly fooled as well, and I bear him no grudge, but it was well over a year before I found out.

But its one way to learn a lesson, research, research, research till you burn your eyes out.

Whats wrong with it, wrong shape to rivet heads.

Maker Name in the wrong location.

Hook on the clasp wrong shape.

and the particular "style" was never made by OSANG.

However if somebody wanted it for reenactment purpose I would be willing to part with it for a reasonable sum.

Nearly all variants / Makers of these badges have been very well faked.

Connaught Ranger:)

[gaijinsamurai]

I've been taken too: a nice Hitler Youth bayonet, purchased in a shop in Warsaw, Poland, back in 1993. I didn't find out it was a put-together fake (with legit parts) until 1997. It was a learning experience, which I'm sure all collectors go through at least once.

[gaijinsamurai]

Thre's a Social Group on this site for militaria collecting, for anyone who is interested:

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/group.php?groupid=23

[Connaught Ranger]

The following are a selection of Fantasy iii reich pieces that infest Ebay and Militaria shows:-

50133 50134 50135 50136

Connaught Ranger:)

[gaijinsamurai]

^ Somebody would have to be a true novice to fall for that crap!

[Connaught Ranger]

^ Somebody would have to be a true novice to fall for that crap!

But they do, neo-nazis & skin-heads are not noted for their intelligence:-P

Connaught Ranger:)

[Jarhead]

The following are a selection of Fantasy iii reich pieces that infest Ebay and Militaria shows:-
Who the hell would buy this crap?:|

[gaijinsamurai]

That EKI/Infantry Assault Badge combo is a real "JEM" (wink).

[STuG]

But they do, neo-nazis & skin-heads are not noted for their intelligence:-P

Very true.

However, if you were to have politcal leanings in that direction, as these contain no prohibited sysmbols you could happily wear these whilst making life a misery for guest workers in most European countries.

There is always a market for intolerance.