China Unidentified Chinese or Korean Medal

[Brett Hendey]

A result of my current interest in the Korean War was the purchase of the medal shown below. It was tentatively identified as Chinese by the vendor, but it might also be North Korean, since it shows an undivided Korean Peninsula that was probably the wishful thinking behind the 1950 invasion of South Korea.

The reverse of the medal is blank and there is a tiny pin for hanging it.

Edited November 29, 2008 by Brett Hendey

[Ed_Haynes]

While the medal itself may be a legitimate PRC medal (will have to exchavate and consult the books), it has been subjected to the malovelent attentions of the contemporary manufacturers of fake, fantasy, and fraudulent Chinese awards. The suspension and ribbon is garbage. There is so much poison out there (much of it spread through e$cam) that the serious stusy and collecting of PRC medals may be permanently destroyed.

[Hendrik]

Hello Brett,

I believe the medal goes by the name of ... "THE LAOXI PROVINCE MEDAL FOR STRUGGLE TO RESIST THE U.S. AND SUPPORT KOREA".

Here's another one but with a not so blank reverse :

Cheers,

Hendrik

[Brett Hendey]

Hi Ed & Hendrik

Thank you for your replies, which together solve the problem of the medal's identity. It must be a copy or fake of the Laoxi Province Medal. Apart from the blank reverse, the fake medal has no white enamel representing the sea around Korea and there are other small differences. It cost only about US$7, so its no great loss. I will keep it as a curiosity.

Hendrik, do you know when the Laoxi Province Medal was issued and to whom it was awarded?

Regards

Brett

[Hendrik]

... do you know when the Laoxi Province Medal was issued and to whom it was awarded?

Hello Brett,

According to my information (K. Ingraham's book), the Laoixi province ceased to exist in 1954 when incorporated in the Liaoning Province. I think it's fair to assume the medal was issued before that time. Recipients were Chinese People's Volunteers that passed through the province en route to Korea.

Cheers,

Hendrik

[Brett Hendey]

Thank you, Hendrik, that is very helpful. The medal I have certainly looks old, but I suppose that it could have been made recently and then artificially aged. I wonder how long the Chinese have been faking medals like this?

Regards

Brett

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi,

I may be misreading Eds post but I think he means the medal is OK but the ribbon and bar are copies?

[Ed_Haynes]

Hi,

I may be misreading Eds post but I think he means the medal is OK but the ribbon and bar are copies?

The medal may be good, I have my doubts, and a better scan might help. I have no doubts about the suspension (and that is not a good sign for the medal). At the worst, it is a fake of a real thing, not a silly fantasy (which is most of what one sees on familiar e-auction sites and even with real dealers who ought to know better).

Edited November 30, 2008 by Ed_Haynes

[Brett Hendey]

Thank you Chris and Ed for your comments.

I have had another detailed look at the medal, comparing it with Hendrik's photo. The medal itself is solid and well made, although the suspender is of thin metal, the ribbon is of cheap material, and the pin, although similar in manufacture to Hendrik's, is small and short. The colours are not enamelled, but are painted instead. Another very curious difference is with the positioning of the four small stars on the Chinese flag on the right margin of the medal. They have become 'misplaced' and are not in an arc as they should be.

The overall impression is, therefore, of a cheaper medal, which is what one would expect of a fake. However, I wonder if the medals handed out to the early Chinese contingents going to Korea were of good quality, whereas later, as the war progressed and the numbers of Chinese troops increased, cheaper medals of poorer quality were distributed.

I realise that this is clutching at straws, but the medal does seem to be 'old' and I wonder if medals were faked in Mao's time? It seems to be a very 'capitalist' thing to do and, thus, something of which Mao would have disapproved.

I will try posting some more pics of the medal later today.

Regards

Brett

[Brett Hendey]

Here is a picture of the medal's reverse:

[Brett Hendey]

A picture of the pin:

[Brett Hendey]

A picture showing the misplaced stars on the Chinese flag. Note also there is no white on the North Korean flag.

[wangzhonghui]

[Guest Rick Research]

:cheers:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=2425&hl=Korean

[Brett Hendey]

Thank you both for your input. Although the medal I have is a fake (and a poor one at that) I will keep it in my Korean War collection as I am not likely to ever find a genuine replacement. It is a great pity that the Chinese medal market has been spoiled in this way.

Regards

Brett

[Guest Rick Research]

Originals are out there. Depends on what you are willing to pay.

http://collectrussia.com/DISPITEM.HTM?ITEM=3628

Honestly-- I have NO idea what any of the PRC awards from the Civil War/Korean War period are quote unquote worth. The millions of rubbish fakes are worthless, but what the real items are "worth" is something I cannot say. All I can offer is to look at the ones posted here back some time ago, in the back pages of this sub-forum.

I doubt there are 10 people in the West who "collect" these, so why every local garage sale should be flooded with boxes full of fakes is beyond me. Any hope for a collectors market has been completely poisoned.

The few that I have accumulated-- including the above which would SEEM to be a local for-Chinese-only award-- came out of the Ukraine back in Happier (Cheaper ) Days from former SOVIET recipients.

A few of these various REAL awards do seem more available than others-- but whether that is a result of actual award numbers being higher or from the fact that travelers in the 1990s were able to find specific local awards in some places easier than others, I do not know.

Much still remains mysterious, with the language problem being a major impediment as well.

[Brett Hendey]

Thanks for another very helpful reply. It would be great to have at least one genuine Chinese medal in my collection, but my financial resources are very limited and I would rather spend my money on genuine 'western' awards, which are less likely to be faked.

Having said that, a militaria dealer friend was recently offered a fake Queen's Korea Medal (British) to the Gloucester Regiment. It was such a poor fake that it should have fooled no-one, but in fact the vendor had been taken in.

Regards

Brett

PS I am amazed by the wealth and variety of knowledge possessed by members of this forum.