12 year and 25 year SS Long Service Fake or Real?

[claymoore73]

I am looking at purchasing these two medals. They look to be original unissued in the box 12 year and 25 year SS Long Service Medal. The guy wants $1,600 for both. Do they appear to be real from these pictures? Are they worth $1,600. Fairly new to this and these have been my best find, but also the most expensive! The guy I'm getting them from seems very reliable. What do you think?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9765471@N08/8181070248/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9765471@N08/8181037563/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9765471@N08/8181037903/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9765471@N08/8181074004/

[zozole]

Either the seller is stupid or he is trying to ripp you off,

If you are a new collector I recommend you to begin with a 4 year
Service medal and then go upwards.buy from trusted dealers. if you dont know anyone I can recommend a few good guys that are honest in this hobby.

get some knowledge read some posts/books before you Burn yourself!
You are asking if they are worth 1600$ ???
In this condition I would say 15000K maybe not that much but pretty close..
If I was offered this kind of medals from a dealer for such a price I would run.

It's good that you posted them here before buying..
That might saved you some money.

Wait for other comments from the experienced guys.
Welcome to the beautiful but cruel world of collecting
Hope this helps

Emil

[Wim Vangossum]

I can only agree with Emil's advice.



Regards, Wim



Freedom is not for Free

[Antonio Scapini]

Well said Emil. This is exactly what I think.

The SS long service medals are a dangerous field, not even studied in deep.
But these medals are both far from what we consider original.

I suspect these two are one of the last productions of fakes, because I've never seen this type before.

[claymoore73]

Wow. Thank you for the advice. I thought I had something here, but they did look too good to be true. I have learned there are a lot of fake stuff out there and some is very hard to tell if real or fake.

I will gladly take any recommendations of dealers you have to offer Emil.

I bought an 8 Year and 12 Year Service Medal with no ribbon. Will have to post them as they probably are fake to!

Is there any books that are recommended to help with identification of fake items?

Thanks,
Clarence

[Ludwig]

Save your money! Not original IMO!

[petopoint]

Welcome

Welcome to the forum claymoore7. I hope you can return the two SS longevity awards. If you are serious about collecting, then by all means pay the yearly dues. It opens up much needed and I'd say required threads that explain through detailed pics, the many fakes and also the reprofiteers efforts to separate your hard earned cash from your wallet. As stated prior you should not start a hobby by immediately going for the Hail Mary but starting with more generalized awards and doing your homework first.

[josh105]

Although I don't do this myself, these would be at best decent "place holders" in some collections. If you don't mind fakes taking up the spots of the items that are extremely difficult to obtain (cased 12 & 25 SS awards in this condition fit into this category).

At best pay $100 for them and hold on to them until you find the real thing...

[claymoore73]

I didn't buy these. I won't be buying these after all the advice recieved. I will look into the members section of the site.
Thanks again for all the advice.

[Giel VW]

Please post better pictures, then we'll be able to dertermine whether fake or not.