Oh dear !!!!!
 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WW1-Briti...0AAOSwi5dczqlb

P.

It seems to be a kind of reverse alchemy. People like this seem determined to turn everyone's gold into lead.

It is what it claims to be :

"reproduction WW1 badges that will appeal to the collector, living history enthusiast and picture/medal framer. If possible we have used period cloth, vintage cottons and silks, most of the work is hand stitched/embroidered or stitched with a singer foot treadle machine. Plus Mike Chappell’s superb interpretative art work.

No doubt that description will be permanently attached by some miraculous means to all the examples sold so no one in the future cannot be other than aware of exactly what they are buying.

P.B.

Thats the end of the real Combination collections!!!

But in 30 years time it will have the age and wear commensurate with an original cloth badge and who will be able to tell them apart?

I'll just have a quiet chuckle.

I fully understand the points you are all making but one thing I have learned since joining this forum is that fakes/copies/reproductions exist (and have for a very long time).

The use of 'period' materials and methods is not new and happens in many areas , painting/pottery/badges etc.

What will happen in 30 years time ? I guess the exact same as happens now , experts of forums such as this will point out anything that (in their opinion) is wrong and look for "provenance" that the article is genuine.

Can everyone 'guarantee' that every item they have is 'original' and not a copy/repro made 30 years ago using materials/methods from an earlier period ?

Yes.

No, and that is my point. Badge collecting, like many other collecting fields has been ruined by the faking of rarer items to meet the demand for original items. This has probably gone on since people started selling 'pieces of the true cross' in the middle ages. However, when the copying extends to ordinary and common items such as cap badges and cloth formation signs you know that the game is up.

You could argue that reprinting old books meets a demand, which it obviously does, but it also reduces the monetary value of the original. But, more importantly, the new books are marked as reprints whereas the new 'exact copies' of military badges are not. When we get to the point that we cannot tell originals from fakes there is no point in spending your money on original items.

Fair enough but sometimes even the "experts" are fooled. :D

"Bolton Museum paid £440,000 for the Amarna Princess figure, believing it had acquired a 3,300-year-old artefact.

But the statue of the granddaughter of King Tutankhamun was actually created by prolific forger Shaun Greenhalgh in his garden shed.

The Amarna Princess was authenticated by auctioneer Christie's and the British Museum before being bought by Bolton Museum"

You're right and not everyone knows everything but one doesn't have to know everything to know whether an item is genuine. One doesn't even have to know the provenance of some items to know whether it is genuine.

I know some people that will swear black and blue that an item they have is genuine yet I could counter every one of their arguments and tell them why it is a fake. It doesn't change anything because most people will believe what they want to believe and most people take it personally if they're told they're wrong.

'Expert' is a very overused term today, a bit like hero, legend etc.

I've yet to see it.
These are the problems I see.
People seem to buy fake items for only two reasons. One is they believe it is genuine and the other reason is they know it is fake but they buy it because it's easier to get, cheaper etc.
The people who believe the multitude of stories that fake sellers use (although some use none at all) are probably ignorant on the item, fail to research, ask the wrong people, plus numerous other reasons. The internet has been fantastic for collectors but it also has its faults because there is a lot of disinformation and misinformation.

Time tells!
 

Some of us have been collecting for a lot longer than thirty years.

Rob

Unfortunately it doesn't even need 30 years to age such items. That can be accomplished in a few days. :eek:

CB