The Schrägstich Faker Chronicles

[VtwinVince]

Yup, I noticed that a bunch of this crap is being offered again. Here is an example of a very good copy by Blass. It had me fooled for some years.

[drspeck]

Latest batch

 

 

[VtwinVince]

All I can say is this situation is not going to help the state of Imperial collecting. This proliferation of fakes will ruin the hobby if the fakers produce slightly better material, which they are clearly working on.

[drspeck]

Currently on ebay

 

[bolewts58]

13 hours ago, drspeck said:

Currently on ebay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Randow Cross was made by Alexander Chickolov as a collector's copy. While he never set out to deceive with his various creations, they have been bought by unscrupulous dealers and have now entered the general market as supposed originals. All his copies are marked with the same bogus Russian hallmark and the number 595.

 

[drspeck]

There's even more from other ebay accounts

 

[Simius Rex]

@drspeck : I just wanted to express my sincere appreciation to our Doctor Bacon for keeping this thread up-to-date on the fakes being offered and sold by this despicable fraudster.  I believe this thread will ultimately serve as an important "Lehrgeld" -resource for collectors who were duped by this con artist and will also educate collectors on the merits of doing their homework before spending their hard-earned money on garbage.

 

I am adding a medal bar to this thread that was constructed by the Schraegstich Faker but sold by an eBay seller who routinely sells authentic militaria.  I have a sense that this seller figured-out he bought a fake bar and then resold it on eBay to a clueless buyer.    

Edited December 4, 2022 by Simius Rex

[Gensui]

This one is already known to the market for a couple of years. I remember it was offered to me four or five years ago. 
 

BR, Chris 

[Simius Rex]

4 hours ago, Gensui said:

This one is already known to the market for a couple of years. I remember it was offered to me four or five years ago.   BR, Chris 

 

Nevertheless, the medal bar shown has all the earmarks of the Schraegstich Faker's work.  The medals are fake except for the EK2, FEK, and Long Service Cross.  All the ribbons are modern except (strangely enough) the Colonial Denkmuenze ribbon.  The case originally held medical or dental instruments of some kind.

[dond]

Is this current ebay offering not one as well?

[Gensui]

10 hours ago, Simius Rex said:

 

Nevertheless, the medal bar shown has all the earmarks of the Schraegstich Faker's work.  The medals are fake except for the EK2, FEK, and Long Service Cross.  All the ribbons are modern except (strangely enough) the Colonial Denkmuenze ribbon.  The case originally held medical or dental instruments of some kind.

...and the battle clasps, too.

 

BR, Chris

[drspeck]

19 hours ago, Simius Rex said:

@drspeck : I just wanted to express my sincere appreciation to our Doctor Bacon for keeping this thread up-to-date on the fakes being offered and sold by this despicable fraudster.

 

At your service 👍

 

Here are a couple of recent ones

[Simius Rex]

7 hours ago, dond said:

Is this current ebay offering not one as well?

 

Considering the absurd combination of awards coupled with the ridiculous number of awards, there is little doubt that this bar is a postwar fake.  However, it is not the work of the Schrägstich Faker.   It actually has the characteristics of the Austrian Faker's bars.

 

Most notably, the Schrägstich Faker uses well made fake awards for his bars except for the Iron Cross, the FEK, and a few other original awards that are inexpensive.   In contrast, the Austrian Fakers bars have genuine awards from the period.

 

The Schrägstich Faker uses modern ribbons with chain-stitch and whip-stitch weave patterns.  The Austrian Faker uses authentic, pre-1945 period ribbons with warp and weft weave patterns.

 

The Schrägstich Faker mounts his ribbons in a style that Germans term "Kraus-genäht" resulting in a bold, pleated, fan-shaped ruffle at the base.   The Austrian Faker's ribbons are neatly overlapped on the front, but his pleating technique on the bottom is a bit sloppy and crowded.  Most of the time, the ribbons are just stretched top to bottom with no attempt at ruffles at all.

 

And last but not least, the Schrägstich Faker's bars feature his bold, diagonal stitching style on the backing cloth which has become his trademark and the basis for his notorious moniker "Schrägstich".

 

 

Edited December 5, 2022 by Simius Rex

[dond]

Thanks for the reply. I once had an Austrian bar made by the Austrian faker.  It had several fake medals on it including a KK Signum Laudis in silver.

[VtwinVince]

I've also been watching that stupid big bar, classic Austrian faker material. And look at the number of bids.

[Simius Rex]

5 hours ago, dond said:

Thanks for the reply. I once had an Austrian bar made by the Austrian faker.  It had several fake medals on it including a KK Signum Laudis in silver.

 

It would be helpful if you could post a picture of this bar.  It should also be noted that several imperial Austrian awards were reproduced by private companies during the interwar period as replacements for lost or damaged pieces much like EKs and other imperial German awards.  They were classified as "Spangenstücke" or "Zweitstücke" and did not have the sharp details of the originals.  There was recently a discussion in this forum relating to this topic.  

[dond]

As requested.

[VtwinVince]

Don, are those TKM's made of silver or aluminum? The first one looks like a cast for sure.

[dond]

The first two awards are aluminum.

[VtwinVince]

OK, the reason I ask is that aluminum examples do exist, as on this bar.

[drspeck]

Latest posted on ebay

 

[drspeck]

Recently added

 

[drspeck]

Late night addition

 

[drspeck]

Latest on ebay

 

[drspeck]

Recently added on ebay