Kano

£10.50 for a copy? Thats crazy, if you shop around you can pick up most of the WW2 stars for that!

Its a shame that you can pick up medals for £5, but they made so many of them, and with no naming to make them interesting to the collector.

I've bought two Atlantic stars - one I paid £14.35 for, and one I paid £26 for, but that also included a 1939-45 star and a war medal.

Maybe I've just got a eye for a bargain!

Dealer prices are always OTT. I saw an Australian Service Medal for £80 on Sunday at an antiques fair - a nice WW2 medal however about £30-40 overpriced in my opinion.

You're thinking on a Pacific star there Mervyn. Atlantic stars are around £15-25. Pacific stars are £25-35..

Trying to concentrate on medals other than WW2 campaign ones at the minute. Considering a crimea with sebastopol bar if I can get one at a good price. Huge number of repro ones of that!

It was a bit daft of me to bid on it to be fair, I didnt look closely enough at the picture. I just saw it cheap and bid. Daft considering I've been collecting for a couple of years and have 11 other WW2 stars, so its not as if I dont know what to look for!

I doubt I'll ever get an Air Crew Europe unless its rock solid genuine. Way too many fakes. You see people bidding £100+ on pretty obvious fakes, even those with all prongs of the letter "E" the same length, blatant repros . Scary.

Thanks for the link. It's clearly a reproduction, the stippling is poor, the ribbon ring is copper and the ring lug is oversize. I've bought a lemon!

A good lesson however, look at the pictures carefully!

Hello all,

I bought this Atlantic star from ebay, I'm pretty sure its a reproduction but I wanted a second opinion, as it seems to have quite a lot of detail. I only paid £13.50 so if it is a copy then its not too much of a lesson. I'll try and get the money back though, on principle!

The most concerning part is the general gilt colouring, the reverse side sharp metal areas, and the stippling background on the lettering feels clumsy. The crown has a good level of detail however. Its puzzling me, as usually its quite obvious when these medals are reproductions. This one seems to have been made quite well.

Apologies for the huge pictures. I wanted to show as much detail as possible.

Thanks for any comments!

Thanks Mike. I've done a lot more research and I believe you were spot on.

A 1900s Pulpwear childs (52cm) mining helmet. Similar to this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Child-Coal-Miners-Helmet-Pulpware-c1900-H8074-/230656171520?pt=UK_Antiques_Other_RL&hash=item35b42dde00#ht_3406wt_1139

Hello all,

I recently was given this helmet by a friend. It's fibre or plastic based, and it certainly has some age to it. I think it may be a Civil Defence type helmet worn by the likes of Bus Drivers, etc.

Opinions?

Thanks

Thanks for all the replies, it's really interesting to learn about these medal. If you want me to photograph anything, I'll be more than willing. I have a pretty good camera that can do very clear super-zoomed in macro shots.

Tim.

I think once you get it in and check the brooch, you'll see this diamond mark. I know there were more than one manufacturer that used a diamond in their design but still do not know exactly what maker this one belongs to.

Tim

Yep, that exact mark is present, although slightly rusty.

Just curious. I see you have the medal box for the VSM. Do you have them for the other medals as well?

Ed

I haven't received the medals yet but there's no mention of the other boxes.

Without that slot broach I wouldn't have touched them. By luck or good judgement I seem to have acquired one or two decent additions to my collection for a reasonable price, so am quite happy! :)

I bought this group of US medals (my first purchase of US medals) recently for £30 and wondered if I did well, OK, or maybe ripped off?!

The PH looks Vietnam era to me, looking at the broach. Value wise, I'd guess the Vietnam Service Medal is worth £6-7, the Purple Heart £12-15 and the Silver Star £10-12? So absolute minimum they are worth £28? That was my thinking when I bought them anyway..

The Silver Star looks to have a crimped broach so that one may be quite modern. In any case I think they'll make an interesting addition to my collection so I'm quite happy with them.

Thanks for the replies. Yes it's quite difficult to establish whether these are original or not. Tony - I've looked that link and reproduction ones seem to either have poor holes, incorrect type faces or wrong letter spacing. In those respects, the ones I have look good. Also I've just noticed on the Burma clasp you can see slight discolouration where the cotton thread would go, which is encouraging.

I think they're either genuine or very good reproductions.

I've just weighed one of my BWMs - 33.3g. Assuming it is 925 silver, the first website I visited to get a price for the scrap value offered my £16.40p for it. Quite worrying.

Good morning/afternoon/evening!

I've recently purchased a few WWII clasps and would welcome some opinions on whether they are genuine or not. They look pretty good to me. I paid on average about £6 each for them, so no big deal if the are repo.

Thanks for your opinions!

Tim