A good way to sell fakes

[Nota Bene]

Guys,

About a year ago I have sold a fake Ushakov medal to a collector. I have erased the serial number with my Dremel and cut an "F" on the back. Now this medal is back on sale with this description: "You are bidding on a high quality accurate copy of the medal. The copy is very close to the original medal, so in order to avoid any problems in the future, the number on the medal has been removed and the letter ?F? placed instead. The medal can be an excellent space filler for any collection."

I think it's a good way to get rid of fakes in your collection/stock.

Alexei

[Ed_Haynes]

A marvelous and ethical idea. But we need to be very, very sure they are fakes before doing permanent things in this fashion. Maybe this is rocket science, maybe it isn't. And maybe, just maybe, there are things we don't yet know.

I know of one UK dealer who de-names British medals he thinks are fake. He has destroyed a substantial number of important and historical authentic pieces that way. Caution!

Nevertheless, I am always disturbed to see dealers -- many of whom I both like and trust -- selling known and determined and painfully obvious fakes that still have obviously deceptive serial numbers on the reverse. Do the reenactors need serial numbers?

Keep up the "F"-work, but with care.

Ed Haynes

[Nota Bene]

Ed,

Point well taken. I do not pretend to know it all, and I sometimes have to pass on items just because I am not sure. Before I do something like that it's only after a painstaking research, and only when I am 200% sure. Come to think of it, it's the same as offering buyer an authenticity guarantee, only the other way around :) In case of this medal I have seen many fakes like this, I know them in every detail, and I even know where they are made.

Alexei