China Order of the Striped Tiger

[alex82]

Hello Gentlemen

I recently browsed through databases of long past Auctions on the internet. one of the things which always fascinate me is the huge amount versions of the same medal exists in Chinese (pre-communist) medals. Here is a example, which I found worth sharing with you, of a Striped Tiger breast star. This is the first one I saw with these fine silver painting in the stripes, face and claws of the Tiger.

This is one of the medals I dream of, to have in my collection, for a long time. If you own one, it would be nice to see them here…

best regards

a l e x

[larsb001]

Hello Alex.

The only one I can show you is a nice miniature, a long time ago removed from an uninteresting British group.

Cheers, Lars

[alex82]

very nice! never saw a miniature of this medal before. where they manufactured in Europe after the owner came back with this from china or came they with the original medal?

thanks for the picture!

a l e x

[paul wood]

very nice! never saw a miniature of this medal before. where they manufactured in Europe after the owner came back with this from china or came they with the original medal?

thanks for the picture!

a l e x

Alex any chance of a picture of the reverse of your Tiger.

All the best,

Paul

[alex82]

Hello Paul

This is not my medal, I found the picture in a database of a well known auction house here in Switzerland. Unfortunately they didn't have a picture of the backside. but the more I look at this medal it seems not 100% real to me, could this probably be a fake? this looks a lot like the common fakes on ebay. I didn't thought on these in the first place because the auction house has a good reputation. of course the back would tell us more here.

[Hugh]

Here's my guy. Sorry for the glare.

[paul wood]

Hello Paul

This is not my medal, I found the picture in a database of a well known auction house here in Switzerland. Unfortunately they didn't have a picture of the backside. but the more I look at this medal it seems not 100% real to me, could this probably be a fake? this looks a lot like the common fakes on ebay. I didn't thought on these in the first place because the auction house has a good reputation. of course the back would tell us more here.

Alex,

That's why I asked for an image of the back, I am fairly certain it is a wrong un but the reverse would have confirmed my suspicions, all the best.

Paul

[alex82]

Paul

hmmm, this puzzles me, because the Auction I got the picture from was is mid 2005, long before all these these fakes popped up on ebay. the description for the backside on the website is:

"Chinese inscription on reverse (stamped), with thin wire clasp on reverse (mounted the other way round as usual!)" - This also sounds like the fake one.

I also had one of these fakes a wile ago (I gave it to a friend who works in a theater)

On the left is a current fake from ebay (by a seller who calls himself "Fresh Air") and on the right the one from the auction back in 2005, they look nearly identical except the one on the right look like made out of silver:

[paul wood]

Paul

hmmm, this puzzles me, because the Auction I got the picture from was is mid 2005, long before all these these fakes popped up on ebay. the description for the backside on the website is:

"Chinese inscription on reverse (stamped), with thin wire clasp on reverse (mounted the other way round as usual!)" - This also sounds like the fake one.

I also had one of these fakes a wile ago (I gave it to a friend who works in a theater)

On the left is a current fake from ebay (by a seller who calls himself "Fresh Air") and on the right the one from the auction back in 2005, they look nearly identical except the one on the right look like made out of silver:

Alex I have seen this type of surround on a fake Wei Pei Fu Bravery Medal in the form of a star which I saw about a year after this sale, the colours are Eerily identical. I agree they started flooding in the market in 2007 but I suspect that they were producing them some time prior. I know that the dangerous (rather than wouldn't fool an inebriated blindman) coin fakes started surfacing around 2003-2004. I am as sure as a can be that the piece in the Swiss sale is a copy, ideal for theatrical purposes.

All the best,

Paul