Fake "Defence Of" Campaign Medal Documents.

[Bill Garvy]

Caveat emptor. . .

[Bill Garvy]

More, shake my head. . .

[Lapa]

Bill,

These documents are/were most likely unissued originals that some #$%@* decided to "improve".

Marc

[Bill Garvy]

Marc, you are being polite, and yes, they have gotten so much easier to identify now. Funny thing is I probably would have paid for the blank unissued original documents what is being asking for the "improved/value added" documents.

[Bill Garvy]

Scarce document for the Defense of the Caucasus or ?

[CtahhR]

Unfortunately these images are far too fuzzy for me to see anything in the paper/printing. But I also can't find a ukaz of that date awarding anything to anyone, let alone to non-Soviets as this seems to be named to Dario Pérez Gutierrez (of whom I can also find no mention).

[Bill Garvy]

Perhaps he is a Cuban national given the date of issue. I am told this document might fetch in excess of $1000 at auction, which is more than I am willing to spend, especially if it is a forgery. Nevertheless, it is an interesting piece for exposition and discussion.

[Spoonman]

What do you look for in fake documents or award books? I see that someone mentioned a general "NKO" stamp instead of a specific stamp. What are the different stamps to look out for? What stamp would be on a Voenkomat booklet versus a regular war-time variety?

Also, how would someone spot a modern-day signed but old and original blank document?

[desantnik]

Originally Posted by Spoonman

What do you look for in fake documents or award books? I see that someone mentioned a general "NKO" stamp instead of a specific stamp. What are the different stamps to look out for? What stamp would be on a Voenkomat booklet versus a regular war-time variety?

Also, how would someone spot a modern-day signed but old and original blank document?

Good questions all. Most stamps were issued by small units or local Party organizations. Similarly voenkomats would also use their own stamps.

Completely fake docs such as color photocopies are rare and are easy to detect due to complete lack of wear. A more common forgery is taking an original issue voenkomat doc and attempting to make it look like a WWII issue. The most common tell-tale is a voenkomat doc will have the date 19__ whereas a WWII doc will usually have 194_. Forgers usually pick NKVD or some other sexy aspect to pull you in.

[Spoonman]

Originally Posted by desantnik

Good questions all. Most stamps were issued by small units or local Party organizations. Similarly voenkomats would also use their own stamps.

Completely fake docs such as color photocopies are rare and are easy to detect due to complete lack of wear. A more common forgery is taking an original issue voenkomat doc and attempting to make it look like a WWII issue. The most common tell-tale is a voenkomat doc will have the date 19__ whereas a WWII doc will usually have 194_. Forgers usually pick NKVD or some other sexy aspect to pull you in.

Ah, thank you so much for explaining that. I plan on collecting documents alongside future campaign medals (which is nice, since they aren't numbered). But since I'm not versed in documents or what to look for, I really didn't know where to start. This gives me a good foot-hold as to what to start looking for and paying attention to.