Fakes?

[Dieter3]

Have any of you come across any fake Japanese medals or awards? I've seen threads for some other nations' medals so it got me wondering.....

[Kev in Deva]

For starters:-

The Japanese version of the Inter-Allied World War 1 Victory Medal

has been copied / faked in recent years, at least two versions are out there.

Kevin in Deva. :beer:

[Tim B]

Hi Dieter,

I think, for the most part anyway, you're pretty safe from fakes. I heard the higher-end decorations are copied, but you can still get 8th to 3rd class awards pretty easily IMO. The WW1 Victory Medals have been copied, but you can still get originals without trying too hard.

The thing I see the most is the mixing of items to make up a complete set; case, medal, lapel device and maybe the award document. Often these are intermixed with Showa/Meiji/Tashio period items, but again, you can usually figure them out to some extent. Ask guys like Paul Murphy if in doubt.

Sometimes you see a 7th class Golden Kite artificially tarnished to look golden and passed off as a higher 6th class, but I don't see that happening too often.

Best,

Tim

[Dieter3]

I don't have a WWI Victory medal yet. Are the fakes easy to spot, what do you look for on those??

[Kev in Deva]

I don't have a WWI Victory medal yet. Are the fakes easy to spot, what do you look for on those??

The most recent fake / repro was made in the UK

as part of a series of the rarer Inter-Allied Victory Medals, all made of the same metal and with

a chocolate Brown colour / patina and with the British Style Inter-Allied Medal Rainbow ribbon.

It does not have the wooden box that the originals were issued in.

The original seller of these items, declared them for what they were & sold them as Repros,

however unscrupulous dealers have bought and sold them on as originals

A problem that would have never arisen if the maker of the Repro medals had marked them as such.

The other type is in a more brassy material with design flaws to the rear which are a dead give away

once you see pictures of the original item.

Kevin in Deva.

[Paul L Murphy]

Almost all Japanese fakes are very easy to spot once you have seen a real example of the order or medal in question. There are some decent fakes of the high end Golden Kite, until you look closely and the enamel work is not near that of the originals. Some of the fakes of the military qualification badges and the rank markings faked by Nakata are very good indeed but for medals and orders you are pretty safe (so far).

:cheers:

[Dieter3]

Do any of you have any fakes, willing to post comparison pics.??? I know newbies like myself would sure benefit from that!

[Tim B]

Dieter,

Just search the various threads here; Gordon Williamson and others have started threads sometime back with a lot of great information and posted nice examples for starters.

Tim :beer: