Fakes in general

[Gwar]

Hello there everyone... No one likes to be "Had, Burned, Mislead etc; etc;"
But what should one do with fake anything once discovered in one's collection ??
I can't sell it in good conscience... And I can't bring myself to put it with any display items either, near other relics... Do you guys keep any boxes of "Oh well" ?? I'm just curious what others may do in these circumstances... I know one remedy is to educate myself on items of interest.... Sometimes collectors just aren't given the time to research and if an item is found "Original" it may be gone... It sort of like gambling..... Just wondering...Thanks....Gwar

[dramos]

I keep them in a box, and have them marked as such. That way they can not be sold in the future as being genuine.

[Adrian]

I still have some fakes I've acquired over the years. Others I've given to re-enactors for their purposes.

Of course, if you've bought one you should seek your money back in the first instance.

[Wagriff]

The temptation and first impulse is to destroy them, but as can be seen on the recent German Cross melee, just Once in awhile a supposed fake can turn out to be a previously unknown or realized genuine. I would personally recommend simply doing as the others have suggested-boxing it up and perhaps leaving yourself a note about it in with it and keep it for the unknown future. It can always Be destroyed and disposed of if and when it ever Definitively becomes a bulletproof proven 100% fake...in the meantime, let it sit out of sight and pay it no further thought.

[Gwar]

Thank you Dramos, Moderator Adrian, and Wagriff... Words to live by and observe.. I will take you advise and lean here on the forum.... Again... Thank you guys....Gwar

[Nathan362]

Not a bad idea to keep for comparison to real examples as well.

[harryamb2]

I give fakes to my 12year old grandson to spark his interest a learn from,its working.

[James C]

im sure most of us have had a bogus item at some point in our militaria collecting ,usually bought in good faith ,then deemed bad ,i have had to learn the hard way quite a few times ,but its also a great learning curve ,i agree with the other members ,box them up or maybe highlight them with marker pen on the inside ,if say a cap or something ,these bogus items are often used as gap fillers for the impatient wanting to finish off a display and then interchanged for the real mccoy as and when available ,the problem arrises when loved ones without knowledge sell on these items in good faith say after a bereavement ,thanks james

[plumbob]

All the ideas above are good ones, this is mine.
I haven’t that many fakes and they haven’t cost me much money, so I was thinking of stamping a “F” or “R” on them and handing them into my local museum or our aviation museum which is run by volunteers. Most of the public wont know the difference but they may be interested to know what they looked like and what they were for. As said anything still questionable should be kept.

Just a thought I will get round to it some time.
Rod

[Danmark]

I have a "shoebox of shame" with a note inside explaining the reason for the ( dozen or more ) items within.
1) in case I kark it and they are thought of a genuine and go back into circulation
2) to remind myself not to be so hasty next time.

( truth be told, when I die I bet much of my collection will be chucked out ........ watch the yard sale notices over the next 30 years )