help with an Italy Star

[SwePeter]

also just to show you some of the rarer stars air crew europe and battle of britan bar

Your Air crew is a copy. But I guess you already knew that.

[rory]

hey yes i also have copies of the atlantic and pacific star the rest of my stars are genuine, although not too bothered as there unnamed just depends on personal preference i suppose

[crites1234]

what is that little circle under the italy star? and what is that bar on the africa star

[Moshemotom]

what is that little circle under the italy star? and what is that bar on the africa star

The Bar looks like an 8th Army badge but I can't read it very clearly. It would make sense though because they were prominant in North Africa.

The 'For loyal service' Kings badge was issued to Wounded/Discharged servicemen for their contribution to the war effort.

Its a really tidy set and especially nice that its all been kept together!

Tom

[A.J. Zawadzki]

The Bar looks like an 8th Army badge but I can't read it very clearly. It would make sense though because they were prominant in North Africa.

Hi Tom, yes you're correct - 8th Army.

Cheers,
Tony

[crites1234]

so which British medals are usually faked? i know the air crew ones get faked often but which other ones get faked often.

[Moshemotom]

In terms of Campaign stars, The Air Crew Europe one is the most risky, mainly because of it being worth 4-5 times more than any of the other campaign stars..

There are huge amounts of reproductions of all the medal types so the ones you should be weary of are the reproductions of the more valuable medals. I'd say apart from the ACE, be weary of Pacific stars (The Burma star is far more common) and possibly also the Atlantic star. Anything below this generally doesn't cost much more than the repro itself so its not worthwhile copying. Although having said that, people still do for some reason!

If you're not certain, try and buy the medals in groups with a little provenance (such as the parcel they arrived in) because this is almost a guarantee of their authenticity, although be weary of any group with an ACE in it!

The WW2 section of this wiki article is quite useful to give you an idea of all campaign medals available. British campaign medals - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Hope this helps
Tom

[crites1234]

to complete the collection of ribbons i have i need to buy a 1939 - 1945 star, 5 canadian volunteer service medals including one with an oak leaf and 2 france and germany stars

[Moshemotom]

You're best off just getting once of each to start with!

I'm still looking to get a Canadian Volunteer service medal for my British medal collection, they aren't that common over here in the UK. And just a quick note, its a Maple leaf bar to represent overseas service, not an Oak leaf. You're more likely to find an Oak leaf on a European award, particularly on a Third Reich Knights Cross or a 'mentioned in dispatches' bar on a British medal.

Let me know how you get on in your collecting and I hope I've been able to answer your questions sufficiently
Tom

[Jerry B]

My Dad's Italy star and the rest of his medals.