v.Perlet

As for my person, I would never buy from an antique dealer who beholds to the guarantee promise as illustrated by Ratisbon. Unless there is a Jonssøn Quisling working for an auction-house, you will hardly find one stating that he/she "knowingly cheated". And think about it; anything that someone states needs to be counter-checked, not just antiques. Or would you give a politician your money (vote) simply due to his statements? Regards v.Perlet

I rather assume that someone tried to be funny. Since Admiral Chen wasn't a servant or belonged to the imperial household slaves - why should he be an eunuch? Regards v.Perlet

These pin-on-medals in 99.999% of all cases are not military awards but party, commemorative and ceremonial distinctions , issued by the Kuomintang government and that of the PRC, in the millions. Due to the price, average about 20c per piece, I can hardly imagine that someone would be interested in faking them. That some foreigners might even pay 2-5$ a piece at those flee-markets is known to the sellers. However the number of those tourists is totally negligible towards a business view of producing fakes, since there are millions and millions of originals floating around. Anyhow, as the star shows it is from the Kuomintang era, (ended 1949) as such certainly not from the Korea war era. The translation from "1812 overture" is correct. Regards v.Perlet

Hello Deutschritter Albin v. Reitzenstein was among the ca. 40 German instructors that had been hired via Krupp to train the two "new Chinese armies". 1895 - 1900 1. "New Army" under vice Roy Chang Chi Tung 2. "Newly Created Army" under vice Roy Li Hongzhang, later Dingwu Arny (Yuan Shikai)and then Beyang Army (were most of the 20's to 30's warlords had been trained) He was under the orders of vice Roy Chang Chi Tung who had appointed him as head military advisor of the then renamed as Nanchang Army. Garrisoned in Wusong, close to Shanghai. In 1897 he was appointed CIC and awarded the rank of Major General. AFAIK there was only one European, the Norwegian national Johann Wilhelm Normann Munthe who attained the rank of a Chinese Lt. General. (this chap a trustee of Yuan Shikai also designed those "fancy" warlord uniforms. Albin von Reitzenstein retired as a Lt. Colonel, Oberstleutnat of a Garde Fussartillery regiment with which he served on the Eastern Front in WW1. BTW, do you only have this excerpt or could you kindly forward me the entire page Regards v. Perlet

Hello Simius Rex, Interesting thread. You wouldn't have a front view of those EKI's you posted? I'm only in possession of a single EK.1 stamped KO. So it's always difficult to draw comparisons with a different brand. Taking into account that during WWI an EK.1 was still an order that held prestige, the quality/details of the Crown and its positioning towards the frame usually gives away the fake. Hinges and (no welding residue-rainbow-colors) certainly help too, to recognize a fake. As someone already indicated; serious collectors need to invest in literature/books, as for any collectable item. I don't really blame the seller - for the ignorance of collectors. As in any antique/collectors business he is taking advantage of the naivety or non-professionalism of a buyer. However I would like to recommend, as some posters already did, post an original item next to the suspected fake and as such one can help an inexperienced buyer/collector. Most buyers might be new to the topic, unlike many of you gents. Regards v.Perlet