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Tal Inbar · (This post was last modified: 12-27-2002, 04:52 PM by Tal Inbar.)

- courtesy of the information and pictures : Dave Schwind

This was a beautiful group, and I purchased it from a very reputable dealer. It seemed 'perfect'... A nice early GPW, a rare type Nevsky, and an early Red Banner. The book was very nice, and all of the awards had Authentication Certificates. Can't go wrong, right?

This was one group were research paid dividends... The research came back, and only the GPW belonged to the person in the book. All of the awards were genuine (of course) but the book had faked entries! The Nevsky belonged to an artillery officer, and the Red Banner was actually a Divisional award!

Unfortunately, the scans of the book are rather small, but the stampings for the award names and the writing in of the numbers were EXACTLY like that of the first entry. This group fooled everyone (including the 'experts') that looked at it. Just goes to show the importance of research- it serves as an 'unbiased' second opinion into the authenticity of the group.

Epitaph: I returned the group to the dealer I bought it from, and he refunded my money without a hassle. (The benefits of dealing with a reputable dealer!) He eventually split the group up, and sold the awards individually

Tal Inbar · (This post was last modified: 12-27-2002, 04:52 PM by Tal Inbar.)

- courtesy of the information and pictures : Dave Schwind

Tal Inbar · (This post was last modified: 12-27-2002, 04:53 PM by Tal Inbar.)

Fake Group #2

I was warned that this group was most likely fake even before I bought it, as it was being sold by a 'suspected' faker. I bought the group anyway, because the price was far less than the individual value of the combined pieces. The group additionally came with a Communist Party ID book to the 'same person.'

Upon visually inspecting the group, I concluded that the Order Book was a complete fake- the original entries had been washed out, and new entries had been put in. This included the name, to match that of the ID book. In my ten years of collecting Soviet awards, I've never seen stamps like that for the Lenin, and have defiantly never seen that color before! If anyone else has, please enlighten me!

Epitaph: I split the group apart and sold the pieces individually. And made my money back (as was the original plan.)

Tal Inbar · (This post was last modified: 12-27-2002, 04:53 PM by Tal Inbar.)

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Tal Inbar · (This post was last modified: 12-27-2002, 04:53 PM by Tal Inbar.)

Fake Group #3

This group came from the same seller as the above group, during a 'rash' of him selling legit groups when he first came 'on the scene'. The group looked good when I received it, but when the research came back, you guessed it, it was bad! Only the first award was legit- all the others had been added into the book by a faker. Now, with the experience I've had, I can easily see that the last three awards were added in later- the same ink was used for the first award, and for the dates, and not for the other awards- a dead giveaway.

Epitaph: Since there were other medals, documents and photos with the group, I kept the original group together, and sold it at a severe loss (no one wants a group with a book that was played with!) The other three orders were pieced out and sold individually.

Tal Inbar · (This post was last modified: 12-27-2002, 04:54 PM by Tal Inbar.)

Fake Group #4

This group just consisted of the Red Banner and corresponding Order Book. I was suspicious of the book right off, but figured it was worth a risk (it was cheap enough, and book had a nice photo of the recipient in it.) When the research came back (you guessed correctly again!) only the first two awards were legit. The rest were added by someone with a creative mind!

Epitaph: I eventually sold the book and Red Banner together, though I got less for the entire group with the research than the research cost alone.