New to collecting, need some help with a few things

[ConorJackson]

Hey all, I was wondering if anyone would be kind enough to help me with a few questions, I have been looking around at a few sites for buying medals and I wanted to first of all know, If a medal (for example an Iron Cross) does not have any maker markings or ring markings, does this mean it is fake? Also can you take a look at these and tell me if they are real or not as I was thinking about buying them, thanks very much.

[Wolfe1165]

Welcome to the forum! No marks on a medal does not mean it is a fake. Many do not have them, depending on the maker. As far as I can tell, the Honor Cross, Eastern Front Medal, and War Merit cross are all good. I'm not learned enough to give an opinion on the Iron Cross, but someone will be along to answer. In the meantime, there are many threads on each of these to peruse.

John

[ConorJackson]

Thank you very much for your help, I will probably buy them in a few days for my 17th birthday, to make a nice start to my German collection which I hope to make. I already own a few family medals, British WW2 ones and some WW1 and Victorian ones from relations of my grandma but I am very much interested in becoming an active member of the community on this page, thanks again.
Conor

[colt45]

looks good

[Tango]

Conor If you buy these medals for the start of your collection you are doing very well.... These are very nice awards & every collection should have them.. so good luck on your purchase!!!.. & when you have them post them on here so we can all admire your collection.. Cheers Terry.

[Wagriff]

As said above, many medals and awards had no markings whatsoever, but in Some cases, minute design differences, hardware variations, etc can indicate a particular maker. The badges you've shown above all look good. I especially like the original issue envelopes. A good rule of thumb in this hobby is Always buy the Best that you can afford. There will Always be mountains of mediocre and damaged junk stuff out there and the cheap prices will be tempting, but the Quality and top condition pieces will Always be your best bet-even if they cost more, you'll be Much better off in the long run. Trust us here! Congratulations and welcome to an interesting hobby!

[ConorJackson]

Thank you all for your support, unfortunately the site I was looking on has been updated to another site and only the 1914-1918 Honours Medal is still available but I will be purchasing that very soon, I'm sure I will find the others eventually.

Conor

[FALLSCHIRMJAGER]

Hello and welcome,thats a shame,some nice awards there but not to worry as these are all awards you will be able to pick up fairly easilly.Good hunting and always post potential buys first!

[Adrian]

Hi Conor and welcome to the forum.

I won't repeat what has already been said because the guys have covered it well.

As a newcomer to the hobby and forum I suggest you take some time with the search button and do some studying of the awards you're interested in. When you find a piece you want, post it here for opinions first before you buy it. Most good dealers will hold a piece while you get some advice, any that won't you should walk away from.

When you find a piece you want to buy, post it in the correct forum, EKs in the EK forum etc and start a seperate thread for each different piece. It makes life so much easier than to post loads of different items in one thread.

If you're looking to buy some pieces, there is a for sale section here on the forum which will enable you to buy from other collectors here and there is also a list of site sponsors who are reputable dealers - or else they wouldn't be here.

Enjoy your hobby and always ask if you're unsure of anything.

[ConorJackson]

Thank you very much, I will keep those tips in mind and I hope to make my first purchase in the next few weeks so I can put that into practice.
Conor