Fake Badges "Excellent Workers' And Peasants' Red Army".

[Nota Bene]

An original 1939 Excellence in the Red Army Badge is on the left. Note the artificial patina, crude details, "shaky" lines, hammer and sickle is too thick, enamel is too dark, reverse is "mirror image", screwpost from a late issue Soviet badge is off centre. Somebody had told me that newer fakes of this badge are much better.

[Art]

Alexei,

If I were buying these looking at the front, I would swear the one on the right looks better. They should buff off the weird applied patina though. I like the reverse of the other example. I wonder if another original ever had these details that are present in the copy?

Art

[Nota Bene]

There were two slightly different variations of this badge, both were supposed to have serial numbers, and for that reason had flat reverse. Only 149,106 pieces were made, so I doubt there were any unpublished variations.

Found this one on our favourite auction site. Looks like the same fake I have pictured above.

Alexei

[Sergey Tamayev]

Are these fakes being made in Russia or elsewhere?

[Nota Bene]

Sergey,

I am not sure, but I think they are Russian, because the screwposts appear to be modern Russian production.

Alexei

[new world]

Fakes of 1930's badges:
- Excellent RKKA,
- For excellent shooting,
- Hasan-1938's.

[otlichnik]

Interestingly, I picked up a fake Khasan badge, just like the one shown, in Canada way back in 1995. This seems to me to be quite early for fake badges and it must have been one of the first early badges to be faked.

Shawn

[dannybou]

So are original Excellent RKKA flatback and copies mirror reverse?

[Nota Bene]

Danny,

No, both variations exist. Flatback can also be numbered or not.

Alexei

[dannybou]

Here's another one for the experts. Please and thanks