Romanian fake insignia/medals?, Origin and circulation ...?

[Von Maybach]

I've noticed the http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=1341 thread about pilot badges , where some badges were pointed to be fakes... and also, today I've been in a flea market and I've noticed some very rough fakes of some medals ( didn't have time to look closer, I think there were fakes of the WW1 commemorative cross )... so my question is:

How "large" is this phenomenon ? How much romanian medals fakes "float" on the internet ? I've allways had the impression that romanian badges are not so prised on the international market (compared to the german ones, at least) , - but now I see some people even bother to make fakes of them ...

And secondly, who's makeing the fakes ? Are made in Romania, or abroad? Exactly what type of "hardware" (tools, molding equipment ) do you need to make a fake medal and who might have acces (in Romania ) to that type of equipment - I belive in Romania that kind of tools are owned either by companies/organisations working for the goverment/state ( medals issues, "commemorative" plaques, insignia for various special events , and so on...) or private companys makeing insignia for various firms, "personalised" metal keychains and so on... - is there any chance that those fake medals might come from there?

And another question, for the romanian forum members living in Bucharest: are the german medals beeing selled on "Covaci" street antique shops fakes ? I spoted a flak badge, a general assault badge (If I recall corectly), ... they apeared in at least 3 shops from there, they all look "alike" ( the state of preservation, and the general feel ) , like they've came from the same source ...

[boonicootza]

I have seen some time ago a reputable romanian dealer on eBay that sold romanian fake medals and badges, but sold them as copies. He had a lot of them including WW1 commemorative cross, victory medal, Queen Mary Cross and some pilot badges IIRC. That made me think that are mass produced somwhere in Romania, maybe in Bucharest.
This dealer was honest and sold them as copies, but there are for sure others who sell them as originals.

[Carol I]

I am afraid that the issue of fakes of Romanian insignia is more widespread than we think. As a matter of fact, as soon as there is demand for something of value there will be some that will manufacture cheap copies which they will try to pass as the genuine things.

As for who has the means to manufacture the fakes, it is not as hard as you imagine. You were assuming that fakes are only made by striking which implies access to minting equipment that can not be that easily available. However fakes are also made through casting which is relatively simple. Not even electrotyping does require some advanced equipment and the results can sometimes be stunning. If you would like to ruin your day and even the appetite for collecting decorations, medals or coins, do a search on the net for 'fake coins' for example and you will see hundred of thousands of links all telling the same thing: there are many fakes around and some of them are quite hard to tell apart.

What one can do however is to accumulate knowledge on the details of the authentic things and the known fakes. In this respect, REGAL UNIFORMA COLECTOR seems to have quite a lot of experience and he was ready to share some of it with us.

My advice is that if you have a piece that does not look like 'the others', ask for opinions. If you are indeed lucky it might turn out that you have quite a rare version of the genuine thing. However, if you are not lucky...