Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim
You need to be really careful about buying bronze RFC cap and collar badges. For every one that is real there are at least a thousand in the market place that are fakes. They are all quite well made as well and it is really hard to tell the real from the fake.
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That is in fact why I said that I'd been 'after one for a while', as I had very specific condition in mind for the example I would buy, the propensity of copies being the other reason. I knew I could have bought one instantly at a second's notice, and that's where one has to be careful. In fact many of the really good condition genuine ones to be found are those sourced from stores, which were never actually supplied to anyone, so that was another thing, because I didn't want one of those either, I wanted one that had been actually issued and used. The one I bought is from a very reputable militaria dealer, although to be honest, even decent dealers can mistakenly sell fakes on occasion, but I'm as sure as I can be that one is the real deal.
What helps it to be after the bizarre stuff that would not be worth faking, which I'm in luck with for something else I'm after, that being a 1930s German issue FAA extended glide badge. Not too many of those around, although I have found one or two, but the price has got to be right. Even so, being that those date from the Nazi period in Germany, that really is where a lot of the faking goes on. I have a few Nazi artifacts (not really my thing, they were given to me), but I do keep an eye on the prices of stuff like that, since if somebody wants to offer me stupid money for the ones I have, I'll happily oblige, and they really are the real deal!
Al