Austria-Hungary Do these Austrian WW1 medals look ok?

[RelicHunter]

Silver 1st Class and Karl Troops Cross.

Is there a way to tell if the ribbons are original war time or replaced?

[Ulsterman]

well, blacklight-but they look original to me.

[Iver]

I would also say OK, but would be better, if you could add also pictures of reverse side of ribbons (where hook and ring are)...

[Elmar Lang]

They look ok; the one mounted to the Tapferkeitsmedaille should be of a late war production.

Best wishes,

E.L.

[RelicHunter]

What should a person look for on the reverse to tell if they are original or replacement?

[Mathomhaus]

The more experienced forum members, on seeing the backs of these two ribbons, can certainly offer you good suggestions as to whether the hardware on the reverse offers clues as to age.

With regard to the actual ribbon: During the years that I collected Austro-Hungarian orders and medals, I came to the belief that the red dye used in a very large percentage of Austrian ribbon manufactured during WW1 (and maybe even for a few years before) was chemically unstable and prone to shift in color over the decades to some shade of pink. This wasn't completely an issue of "fading" because of sunlight; I was seeing many ribbons that had been stored for decades in boxes or in bureau drawers that had also trurnned pink...

So I became suspicious of any medals that were offered to me where the bravery ribbon's "ladder" effect was still bright or relatively dark red. At times, I also noticed that a few dealers were sometimes offering me pristine medals hanging from very dirty but otherwise "unfaded" ribbons - and I soon came to the realization that dirt in and of itself was certainly no measure of authenticity.

Back in the day (1960s-80s), I only knew a few collectors of Austrian medals and they all had no problems in replacing dingy or faded ribbons. It always amused me to see them do that because most of these same fellows were also collectors of British campaign medals and replacing those ribbons, of course, was to them tantamount to destroying the Shroud of Turin! Many of the A-H medals those fellows collected are undoubtedly back on the market - and on the replaced ribbons they received thirty or forty years ago...

Regards

[RelicHunter]

I'd like to start collecting WW1 Austrian medals, but really want to make sure I get original ribbons. I'm posting a few photos below from an Austrian dealers website, the first advertised as an original ribbon, the second as a new ribbon. Aside from the obvious differences in the appearance of their age and patina, is there anything else in the hardware that gives it away?