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+---- Thread: The Problem Of Fakes, Copies And Replicas (/Thread-The-Problem-Of-Fakes-Copies-And-Replicas)
The Problem Of Fakes, Copies And Replicas - Taz - 08-10-2004
Here are a couple of links with tips and advise on how to avoid buying Fakes etc.
http://home.golden.net/~medals/stopfakes.html
Dr. Zdzislaw P. Wesolowski, the author of several books and articles on Polish
militaria provided this article on the problem of fakes for a Polish award website.
http://home.golden.net/~medals/polishfakes.html
I hope these two links help any collectors just becoming interested in Polish awards.
Eddie.
The Problem Of Fakes, Copies And Replicas - Al-muell - 09-03-2012
Some info I got on the PRP era fakes:
Virtuti Militari - faked in all classes, almost impossible to get an original one
Polonia Restituta - 1st and 2nd classes are faked, lower are not.
Order of Merit - faked, but rarely
Grunwald Cross - faked in all classes
Cross of Merit - the Moscow-made RP version is sometimes faked, but still lot of originals available (often at ridiculous price).
Cross of the Brave 1944 - faked, but originals still available and sometimes at fair prices. Rare variants of 1944 cross offered anywhere are most likely fakes.
Meritous on the field of glory medal - 1943 "Lenino" version faked, originals almost impossible to get; 1944 version faked, but originals still available in large amounts (except for the gold one).
Partisan cross - small amounts of replicas were made, sometimes late official issues are mistaken for replicas. Originals available, esp. that many of the partisans who did not get them directly after the war for both political and neglection reasons were awarded in 70's, 80's and even 90's.
Wielkopolska and Silesia Uprising crosses - faked.
For Warsaw - there are some rare variants that are faked, but the award is still available in large quantities at fair prices.
My advice: buy faked awards only with document or even better in a documented group. NO PRP awrd docs are being faked - neither standard, nor 40's issue, nor temporary docs. However, when collecting culture in Poland changes, it will just be a matter of time, as the docs will not be hard to fake...
The Problem Of Fakes, Copies And Replicas - Tomahawk - 09-04-2012
Wow! So sad to read this... :S