Soviet Soviet Plaque

[sgmseng]

Here is an original soviet emblem plaque on the left and the fake one on the right in bronze:

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The clarity of the bronze replica is worse than the original aluminium. There is clear rippling in the bronze due to inferior casting. It appears also that the reverse is entirely different and sloppy, with sloppy bronze around the mounting hole where no rivet or bolt has ever been through. Originals will have either four mounting holes or aluminium rivets still inside the holes. This particular soviet emblem design was only ever cast in Aluminium.

Here are some close ups:

Cracked and rippled: '' target='_blank'>>

Mounting hole casting mistake: '' target='_blank'>>

It also has the fake black aging added to it - this is 'liver of sulfer' used for blackening copper alloys. Notice there is no natural bronze patina.

I have confirmed that these are modern reproductions with one of the sellers - you can request any quantity to be manufactured for you. Unfortunately these are sold as 'originals' - Be Ware of this seller!

[Mathomhaus]

A now defunct on-line company in California named Sovietski imported hundreds of Soviet USSR railroad plaques of all kinds into the US in the 1990s. To increase their marketability, their on-line catalog description was worded to make it sound like these were also used on government buildings. It deliberately glossed over their almost exclusive use on railway cars. I once spoke with the folk at Sovietski and was interested to discover their interest in selling only stuff that was immediately ready to mail to customers once it arrived in their warehouse. As a result, I assume that the plaques were cleaned up somewhere in the former USSR after they were removed from rolling stock but before they were shipped to Sovietski.

Almost all plaques sold by Sovietski had two small screw holes drilled in the areas inside or around the "CCCP" letters to facilitate hanging by Sovietski's cistomers.

On my trips to Russia, I have seen dozens of places where Soviet-era plaques are fastened to building facades even today, primarily in situations where a company was awarded something like the Order of Lenin before 1991. In my limited experience, none of the building plaques still on display has a construction that looks anything like one of the railway plaques. So, from a marketing standpoint, I think that the Sovietski folk had a great idea when they sold their RR plaques as possibly having come off of government and military buildings.

Regards

Edited June 3, 2013 by Mathomhaus

[rocketscientist]

Very interesting to see examples of counterfeited plaques. Thank you very much!