Peru Police Merit Medals - help?

[khorgor]

hi all

please forgive me if this is in the wrong area. please feel free to move if it is.

I found a sale of 5 peru police merit medals. The sale includes all grades and even the grand cross!!!!

however. a price of 120 US immediately makes me worry.

sorry I can't post photos and I'm a bit worried that if I post the link, I'll get sniped and loose this chance forever....assuming the medals are good of course.

#edit# found a pict of one of them... photo

so do you guys think the medals would be good? or downright fake? they look identical to the posted photo, right down to the box design, the bars and minis. Very convincing!!!!

[khorgor]

15 replies but no help?

dissappointing...

[censlenov]

15 replies but no help?

dissappointing...

It's a bit hard to help when the link provided to the pictures doesn't work. did you take a look through the omsa online database and see if any were on it?

Cheers

Chris

[khorgor]

yup I did. no good.

ah sorry about the bung link :-( my bad :-(

I'm being a bit selfish here. newbie collector syndrome if you will. just don't want to miss the chance while doing my research thats all

I have asked the dealer for the second time for a photo of mint marks. if I get nothing, link to the sale shall go up :-D

oh - I found a few others on ebay with the backs photogrpahed with mint details :-) fronts look identical to my sale. so wait and see for those photos otherwise I'm assuming fakes

here are two auctions showing what I will be getting. So if these are fakes, most liekly the sale I'm going for is fake too. Any input greatly appreciated!!!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/POLICE-PERU-GREAT-SET-MERIT-MEDAL-ORDER-KNIGHT_W0QQitemZ120514004800QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1c0f31c740

http://cgi.ebay.com/POLICE-PERU-GREAT-SET-BIG-MERIT-MEDAL-ORDER-COMMENDATOR_W0QQitemZ120514007148QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1c0f31d06c

[censlenov]

Well i did a quick peruse of the OMSA database and came up with a police merit medal silver grade

http://www.omsa.org/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=4480

There is a definate difference of quality between the ebay pieces and the omsa piece. However it is most likely due to modern manufacture standards vs past manufacture standards.

My gut says they are probably just unissued pieces direct from the factory for collector sale. However i am not a collector of peruvian medals and am not the best person to comment.

Cheers

Chris

[khorgor]

gah... I'm sorry chris

I really do suck at this.

well I'm off to sleep. If the sale is still there in the morning I will buy it and post here for everyone to see

if its repro...well its not an expensive mistake and I bet the police collectors on this forum will benefit from the information that my mistake will bring.

thanks once again for your patience with a new collector.

[Mervyn Mitton]

Khorgor - I know nothing about Peruvian medals - Police or, otherwise. The point I would make to you is this - if you like them - and they are within your budget - buy them. $120 is roughly £ 80 - that doesn't seem excessive for a set of five. Obviously ask the dealer if he will refund if they are not genuine - that is normal business practise - however, these days there are a lot of people chasing items and if you hesitate you will probably lose them. The decision always has to be yours, but bear in mind the demand in the market.

[JBFloyd]

These are genuine. I've dealt with the seller and have bought a number of medals from him.

Just be aware that shipping from Peru is slooooooow. It usually takes about 30 days for a package to get from Lima to Washington, DC, but they've all come through.

Also be aware that these are not of Tiffany/Godet/Keibel-quality. They are somewhat crude, but that's what Peru can/will pay for. And, you can't beat the price.

[khorgor]

thanks for all your replies.

you guys are fantastic #thumbs up# :cool: