WW2 Arctic Star Fake?
Hello guys, i just wanted to get some opinions on this Arctic star im looking at, if its real or not, now i do understand that it has a 99% chance it's fake but im no expert on them so i was hoping to get a more experienced opinion on it, and sadly the only photos i have of it are not good at all.
Thanks guys!
They are all post war made , I think they only started issuing them a few years back
Yes this is correct but they are still a valid campaign medal which is issued retrospectively to surviving veterans of the Arctic Convoys which theatre of operations was overlooked at the time and has been subject to protest and appeal ever since. Entitled recipients include; Royal Navy, Merchant Navy and other qualifying personnel which could include Army, Airforce and some civilians. However, the award was only approved in 2012 at which time it was estimated that there might be approx 400 surviving veterans which will naturally include a good proportion of Canadian and other commonwealth personnel. Next of kin can also claim the medal as with other British awards and an upper figure of around 500,000 medals has been mooted as a potential maximum requirement so this is always going to be a scarce medal from the start (how many will actually be claimed?). The main problem is that copies were produced at the same time as and in greater quantities than the official medals by many manufactures including the known "usual suspects" on the Indian sub-continent.by kradman
An offical medal will be crisp and very well defined whilst the copies tend to be less so and even a little blurry due to inferior strikng techniques. Some will even be cast but they are very easy to spot. Generally with the WWII campaign stars the fakes are given away by inconsistencies in the suspension eye (usually oversized and too thick) and the details of the legend in the circlet. Sadly we can't really judge these points from these pics but I would point out that an official medal will likely cost upwards of £1000 and this wil rise over time whilst a copy retails around £10 - 12. Also, being so recently issued the official medal will almost certainly be found with the case of issue (a jewellery type leatherette finish with gold embossed crown, not a bit like the wartime cardboard postal packet) and some sort of documentation.
In short I do think that presuming a 1% chance of authenticity is a little generous without some bombproof provenance.
From what I can see in these pics and considering the above points I don't like this one at all but to be honest I feel that a good copy is the best most collectors will ever be able to obtain.
I hope this helps.
Regards
Mark
Last edited by Watchdog; 10-02-2018 at 10:58 AM. Reason: typo
"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."
It even looks as though it is plated. Doesn't look good at all.
Hard to tell from your pic. I have a real one the difference I have noticed is it has a coppery tinge to it while the ww2 stars are brass. They must be using some sort of alloy. I can try taking a pic in natural light if you like. Cheers Brian
I understand the observation Brian but would point out that brass is an alloy anyway (copper and zinc in varying proportions) and a brass with more copper will look darker ie closer in shade to un-alloyed copper. Variations of shade is sometimes noted in groups of wartime stars awarded to the same recipient at the same time. The major manifestation of the issue with fakes is that they tend to be very bright and "traditionally" brass-like in appearance because they have less copper content (cheaper) plus, as Steve said above there is often a very bright electroplate finish which is difficult to discern until it wears.
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."
Ah, I see. So there could be variations between batches as well. Cheers Brian
I'd definitely go with fake, The striking is not crisp enough and the crown detail not well enough defined.
The real item has a more orangey colour, and a slightly different font. And the fakes have a slightl "waxy" look.
I've had another look and it's definitely a non-official issue, but a good copy.
Adrian
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