Reference: Fake Medal & Ribbon Bars

[Pierce F. 1,033]

Dear Friends,

A photo reference to some of the types of fake medal and ribbon bars that have been on the market over the years. Hopefully this will aid fellow collectors from being caught out by some of the better fakes out there.

Please note the construction, material, combinations, etc.

Pierce F.
Moderator

[Pierce F. 1,033]

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[Pierce F. 1,033]

One of the more famous medal bar fakers is Alfred Vollmost, a.k.a. the "Austrian Faker" (as that is where he resides).

Here are some examples of the junk he is turning out. Note, his combinations are usually mundane, common German and Austrian medals, with something foreign on the end. Some of the medals are real, some are fake. The ribbons are usually fake. These bars are made using the same of backing plate (note the catch and pin). Also the use of brown thread to sew down the medals is common.

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[Pierce F. 1,033]

Close-up of the catch and pin.

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More examples of his work, to give an idea of the type of combinations that he has created.

 

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[Moshchop 18]

Fascinating stuff Pierce. I never knew it was this widespread in ribbon bars. Whilst you could spot most of them as fakes there are some in there that could fool me. 

Makes you want to be all the more carefull

cheers 

Gary

[Nicolas7507 64]

IMO this is a fake, look at the shining back and the combination.

 

https://www.weitze.net/militaria/71/Grosse_Feldspange_eines_Soldaten_beider_Weltkriege__267371.html

 

[PeterPaul 28]

Never knew there was a bad guy like Alfred out there !  

[PeterPaul 28]

So what do you see on the Weitze piece that screams out fake ?  

[Nicolas7507 64]

IMO it is the brand new looking back and the unusual combination: 3 different LS awards China medal ca.1900 and westwall medal 1939. This guy was around 60 in '39. Ofcourse the combination might be possible but definitely unusual

Thats only my opinion. I might be wrong

The ribbons seen original for me

[PeterPaul 28]

alright :)  so the steel lokking back-plate and the unsueal medals ...   good to know what to look for

[Pierce F. 1,033]

Let us be clear though- a lot of original ribbon bars are made using these steel tab-back parts. The thing to remember is that they are easy to manipulate. Having a steel-back does not make a bar fake.  Also, these bars are usually nickel plated and wear quite well, giving a newish appearance if stored well.

[Nicolas7507 64]

I didn't want to say that all bars with a metal back fake. Just in this case with the weitze bar. What do you think of it?