Leclerc

Thank you for your interest. Here you are. I think the similarities are quite impressive. Both could be from the same maker.

Dear friends, What do you think about this George cross? Click on the pictures to make them bigger.

Unfortunately, there is no manufacturer's sign or s/n. But the medal pictured in my post from December 25th is certainly an original. It was sold by a famous auction house that is specialized in such items and they always carefully check their items before they come to an auction. So if their experts think it is an original, I think we can trust them. The only open question is: Is the medal pictured in my first post also an original?

The open ring is a bad point, I agree. However, here is a certified original that was sold some time ago by one of the leading auction houses for orders and medals. Its connecting ring is open. These medals use to look very crude.

Thank you for your answer, Chris. This is a Stracka company medal. The unit fought against the Soviets during the Polish-Bolshevik War. But information about it are very scarce. If anyone has a good link... feel free to share it

Dear friends, Once again I need your precious help. Could you please tell me if the Polish badge pictured below could be original / period-correct (1920s) or rather a fake? Or is it possibly an old replacement made in London during WWII (like some VM medals)? Thanks for you help. Click on the pictures to make them bigger.

Thank you all for your opinion.

Dear friends, the other day I stepped over the strange badge you can see below. The skull is similar to the one used by the 17th Lancers ("Death or Glory") but the rest - like the oak leaves and the marker's mark (maybe FZS for Fritz Zimmermann, Stuttgart?) - looks to be German WWII style. It seems that it once had a swastica below the teeth. It is very rusty and looks quite old. For sure it is not an official issue, but maybe done by a soldier during WWII? Do you have ever seen something similar? Thank you.

Thank you very much for the valuable information! :)

Dear friends, Could you please tell me what you think about this Soviet Order of Glory? Could it be an original 2nd class order, a 3rd class "transformed" into a 2nd class one or even a complete fake? The hanger seems to be a modern replacement. Thank you very much for your help! Click on the pictures below to enlarge them.

Same description, same three pictures... I am astonished there are still people willing to pay 800 dollars for it. It has just been sold... :banger:

Thank you very much for the valuable information, Peter. Of course the seller has only the award itself and nothing else in relation with it... I will stay away from it.

Thank you very much Igor and François. You are absolutely right, this seller is not very trustworthy. Unfortunately, I do not speak Russian and the Google translator tells me strange things when I want it to translate the forum you posted, Igor. As far as I understand what the translator tries to tell me, one of the anwers says it is a fake, right? Is there a trustworthy seller of Crosses of St. George with reasonable prices you can recommend?

Unfortunately, the seller says his camera doesn't allow him to take bigger pictures that are not blurred. But did you try to click on the pictures above? They get a bit bigger. Here are two more of the same cross. Thank you very much for your help.

Thank you Igor, I will try to post bigger ones.

Good point, I also had doubts about these.

Ok, new try... what do you think of this one? ;)

Oh, this is in fact very disturbing. He even used the same image... I asked the current seller for other pictures. Here are the new ones he sent to me:

Dear friends, Could you please tell me what you think about this badge? Could it be an original? A very similar one has already been discussed on this forum: http://gmic.co.uk/in...identification/ The differences between the two examples are quite obvious but they could be due to different makers, or I am wrong? Thank you very much. P. Leclerc

Dear friends, I have been offered the following Azad Hind breast star. As I do not have a certified original one for comparison, I would be very grateful if you could tell me your opinion about it. Do you think it could be a real one or rather a fake? Thank you very much. P. Leclerc

Hi Igor and thank you for your opinion. Could you please give me some explanation why you think they are fakes?

Dear friends, I'm looking for a Cross of St. George, and the other day I stepped over the following one: http://i748.photobuc...elics/a4771.jpg http://i748.photobuc...elics/a4772.jpg I'm not an expert in these medals and the probability to buy a fake is very important. Therefore, I'd be very grateful for your help. I know the "XM" punch means it's a "cheap" 1916/1917 variant made of "yellow metal" instead of gold. But as far as I know, only 20,000 2nd class crosses made of yellow metal were produced, and they have a s/n from 65,031 to 85,030. So my question is, how is it possible that this one has the s/n 206,446? I can't imagine a forger would be so dumb and make such a mistake. Do you have an explanation for this? If it's an original, what would it be worth? Then concerning an other Cross. of St. George: According to the seller, this original one was awarded during the Russian civil war and is made of silver. Do you agree? If it's an original, what would it be worth? Thank you very much for your help.

Thank you very much for your reply. Peter

One more, an Order of the Crown of Italy, commander grade: What do you think about the center medaillon? As I could see there are several variants of it. Is it possible to identify the maker and / or the date of manufacture of this model? There is a hallmark for silver on the ring. The gold finish has mostly passed. Thank you. Peter

Dear friends, Recently I acquired several Italian medals. I'm not an expert in this subject and would like to ask you about your opinion. Can you identify one of the following medals? Are there fakes among them? Thank you very much. Best regards, Peter