Bishop

Again... extremely poor quality fake... Even the real one would only worth a few cents... For me, the one and only WW2 KMT medal that worth to collect is: The Order of National emblem "white sun in the blue sky" Probably the most prestigious Chinese medal ever existed. Market value: untold It's no way to find it in the market anywhere, but there are few stored in the war museum in Taipei. I'm still thinking about how to get them without been noticed!

Oh...Another thing worth to mention.. I used to sell a shoe box full of this kind of Taiwanese military medals among with all sorts different variety for only USD15.00-. I got tons of them from a friend of mine, a MP colonel. That was some 8 years ago....

Hello Ed, That item #1 "Gold Harvest" (or Golden Grain) looks pretty nice. These early Chinese breast badges and medal were first appeared in 1911 and yet no longer valid after 1929. The market value for these stuff is very low I would say, due to less significant and lack of recognition. Well, good fun to have them anyway!

Hi Andy, Sorry, mate....What you have, is what I call "Scrap metal" ! Again, they're some cheapy fakey Chinese made "who knows what?" medals... Designed to fool and rip-off people do not know anything about Chinese communist's medal better. Please treat them without any respect !!! Market Value : zero!

It's a common seen Taiwanese military medal called "Treasure Star". Divided in 8 classes. It's more like a service medal rather than an order of merit. Market value : around USD$ 5.00 ~ 7.00 / ea.

It's a cheapy nasty made fake from China and Taiwan. You can find a whole lotta variety of such insignificant or who knows what medals in Taipei. It's definitely a piece of scrap metal, Paddy mate! Please treat it without respect....

It's Sth Korean. Not Taiwanese. Used by trainee at boot camp (note the white circular insignia on the side of helmet to id the unit)

What a dreamy stuff, mate! It must cost you a big fortune, doesn't it? Cheers Bishop

Hello Kev, Just accidently bumped into your post here...Perhaps I can provide a little help... Yes, it is absolutely true that the Chinese army/armed force did use german helmets during WW2. Chang Kai Shek, the dictatorial leader of China prior 1949, who has placed order of 150'000 M35 steel helmets to the German in late 1936 ~ early 1937 and so as invited a small group of German military advisor to ShangHai just before the Japanese invasion(13th Dec. 1937). The initial order was 150'000 pcs, but only end up with 40'000 pcs were ever received. Due to the agreement upon the axis alliance between both parties; the German and the Japanese. Jap demanded that the German can no longer support/supply in any form of helps under any circumstances. Therefore the rest of balance has never delivered as promised after that 40K... That 40k pcs of M35 helmets were only equipped the Chinese elite force--- The Central Army Div.87, 88 & 13. Who were so called "Chang Kai Shek's private army" ! The Chinese version of "Waffen SS" in WW2! In taiwan, if I'm lucky enough, I could still find these "imported" Germen M35 with the nation emblem double decals (as shown in your post, how they look like). Of course, in bloodly terrible condition... rusted shell, rotten lining, and chinstrap.... Or no lining at all. Estimated price around US$1500~3300 /ea. A truly rare stuff and extremely hard to get hold of. Hope this IMHO will help Cheers, Bishop

Jan, What a score! I must say that you're the luckiest man among all collectors. Unbelievable.... Bishop

The circular piece with strip-cut out catch has never produced during TR period, neither in '57 version. Which many books had mentioned about such distinctive feature. This one is no doubt a FAKE.

The back looks highly suspecious. It does not look like any Zimmermann at all. I will keep away from anything that looks suspecious.

Very NICE piece!! Congrets.

OK, guys! I can feel you. A little character is cute ! A little defect won't hurt ! I can dig that. In fact, I have a "55" that has a small patch of paint missing revealed some nasty scratch mark... that hurts..... (I feel like a little girl crying for her favorite Barbee's head got ripped off) The thing is; if Hauptman is deeply bothered every time he sees that piece, no matter how we try cheer him up, just won't help at all. Perhaps, my suggestion can be workable at this point. Bishop

Hello Mr. Hauptman, It's a very nice cross, but the brush stroke and the damn ugly paint job is killing me too! It will definitely wipe out the entire value of the cross for all I know! So, I strongly suggest you~~ (1) Please try use solvent like : Xylene, High-Flash Naphtha-100, High-Flash Naphtha-150, Toluene or Petroleum Thinner (I'm pretty sure one of them would work) (2) Then, apply the solvent onto the surface gently with cotton tip. The paint will gradually fade out (but the remained original paint will stay because it was baked on). (3) This will be optional. You can either leave it as it is, or apply a new coat of paint(4). If you choose (4): Please use TAMIYA model panit (the best quality and the most appropriate paint for such job). And use TAMIYA brush apply new panit on. This requires a bit of painting skill. By doing this way, you can restore its natural look and make it your beloving peice again. I am not trying to convince you to deceiving yourself by doing this. It shares the same logic that somebody restore a Sherman or a BF-109, then put them in museum for display. Hope this would help. Bishop