Hi everyone! Would like an opinion on the authenticity of this medal.
Thanks in advance!
Hi everyone! Would like an opinion on the authenticity of this medal.
Thanks in advance!
Better scans are needed, but I don't like. The "2" number, I think that is not good .
I would say it's a fake some details do not correspond to original medals .
Some details that you can see. Not even the ring that joins the medal with the kolodochka is original.
I am not 100% sure without much better pics but I can't see immediately that this is fake.
Also, as far as I am aware there were only two variations of this medal and both had soldered rings and not integral "U" shaped types. This in itself would make the right hand medal in the picture above a copy without further examination. The 2nd variation contained a factory error in that it carried the date of the capture of Budapest (13 February 1945) rather than the liberation of Belgrade (20 October 1944).
As for the date on the medal at the top of this thread, I think it looks OK but as I say much better images are needed to be sure. This medal is widely faked but originals are not that rare. It is the most rare of the campaign medals because although 70,000 were awarded when Tito broke ties with Moscow the medals were supposed to be exchanged for the medal for combat service.
The ribbon is as rough as hell and might have been deliberately (and crudely) aged plus the suspension is a later aluminium type with a completely wrong connecting ring but that does not mean the medal is bad. Better images will settle that I think.
Regards
Mark
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature with no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
Boths variations Liberation of Belgrade
Attachment 898999
Last edited by Dom; 11-01-2015 at 02:15 PM. Reason: Delete please
Thanks Dom, always ready to learn. Can you tell me about the integral ring variation, timeframe of issue etc?
Regards
Mark
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature with no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
Three variations from my collection
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