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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Is this Mons Star an original?


mcfc1923

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i won it on ebay, how much?, £30. the seller said it was original and genuine etc, i was intending to send him the payment in the morning but something didn't seem right about it on the reverse so i sent a pic to the british medal forum and nearly all who answeared my thread were a little concerned about the abbreviation of sapper amongst other things, and to be honest the fact that i won it for only £30, so not sure what to do at the moment.

cheers

jim

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The lettering looks ok to me. Usually, you would have some real font changes or it would be engraved to get me suspicious. I don't see evidence of renaming either, i.e, missing material from the old naming. One thing you have to consider: if this was a fake, then why not put a cool, high rarity regiment on it instead of a soldier of the Royal Engineers? Here is the back of the same medal in my previous post. I didn't know that 30 quid would be a good price for one. Things have changed quite a bit since I left the UK in 2001!

Anyways, if the dealer is worth his salt, then you should be able to return it if you aren't happy with it when you get it. When (and if) you do, just compare it to these pictures. If you have any doubts, then ask for a refund.

-Ski

post-14863-1160008149.jpg

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the guys on the medal forum recon a medal like the one i won would go for around £75.

but like you say, i could return it if not happy, what year did you buy your R A M C Star and did you think it was a fair price at the time?

jim

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I got my Mons Star Trio about 1997. I traded for it with a dealer, so I got a really good deal. However, on the table, I believe he wanted somewhere around 45 pounds for the group. Geez! That's almost 10 years ago.... :o At that time, a MM/1914/15 star trio would go for about 125-150 pounds. Regular trios would go for about 20-25 quid!! Times sure have changed with the advent of E-Bay, for good and bad.

-Ski

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£45, times have changed indeed, what i wouldn't do for a time machine for a couple of hours.

think i will send the payment and take a close up of it and if i'm not happy return it to the seller.

many thanks for your help ski, and the pics were excellent.

jim

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Guest KevinEndon

If you look at the stamping through a times 20 eye glass you will see if its lazered or impressed even pin pricked. Even better get his m.i.c. and see if he is entitled to the medal in the first place. £3.50 instead of £30 and even if it is genuine you have the info should you sell it on.

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What makes you think there is anything wrong with it in the first place?

Before one starts to buy medals;or any collectable,in fact you should really have enough reference books & accquired knowledge to understand what you are potentially buying.

This Star looks perfectly honest & right,any discolouration is from the photo not the medal.

Ideally handle as many Stars & Medals as you can @ Fairs,Auction Houses & if you've an amiable Museum Curator; @ the local Museum,to understand the foibles of them.

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general issue ( enlisted men) 14-15 stars to normal regiments probably £20-25 front line probably £30 ish. KIA then £75+.

Officers 14-15 junior £30 senior £50 .

but a 14 star (mons) in the region of starting price £40 with correct bar maybe even £60.

thats why you can pick up a trio to ASC for £30 and 14starred £120 line regiments trios £75 to £180.

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What makes you think there is anything wrong with it in the first place?

Before one starts to buy medals;or any collectable,in fact you should really have enough reference books & accquired knowledge to understand what you are potentially buying.

]it was 3 things that put dought in my mind, the price,(suprised at getting it so low) the abbreviation of sapper, (although i do know now thanks to HarryBetts that it's the BWM- VIC - and 1914-15 medals that have SPR, and that it's normal for the Mons to have SAPPR) and the fact that the majority who answeared my thread on the Britiss medals forum thought it to be a bit iffy to say the least.

But i have sent the payment off to the seller and can return the medal if i have any doughts, although i agree with HarryBetts that i need to get to some fairs and invest in some reference books.

i will get my brother to download the mic (i dont use credit cards)

I have to say that i feel a little more confident now that i may have just got myself a nice little bargain, (i shall just sit back now and wait for it to rain on my parade)

cheers pals, your advice and comments have been invaluable.

jim

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Guest KevinEndon

wait for the mic to come back saying it should have the clasp and then you have got yourself a real bargain. maybe you could buy stuart pearce a nre beenie.

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Jim;

what must be remembered is that there are far more "Real" medals out there than Fakes/Copies/Renames/Etc;

until very very recently it wouldnt have been worthwhile anyone copying these at all,& most current copies are easily detectable being of base metals & far from the real thing.

The influx of so called "Genuine Unamed" examples purported to be from the Indian Mint but decidedly iffy to look at,have made things a bit more difficult but I have yet to see personally any medal that comes close to the real McCoy,when put side by side.

A similar ocurrence happened in the 1970's when sadly Cap Badges came under the restrikers hands.

all of a sudden everyone & his wife started to shout "Restrike" @ every turn & the uninitated would cry wolf @ every potential purchase losing out on some excellent items through fear & ignorance of their subject.

With medals being far harder to fake convincingly,thank goodness, this is unlikely ever to reach this state.

Good luck with your Collecting & research.

HB.

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wait for the mic to come back saying it should have the clasp and then you have got yourself a real bargain. maybe you could buy stuart pearce a nre beenie]]

Now that would be nice, but as for buying Stewart pearce another beenie, think he has enough with the eleven he puts on the pitch each week.

jim

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post-8435-1160121804.jpg

Hi just to give you an idea of different metal contents

top right 15 star RNAS

top left 14 star RGA

bottom right 1915 star AIF

bottom left a very coppery re 1915 star ASC

infact there are hardly two the same.

gareth

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Just a thought...

What about the "Colon" between the Rank and name? :unsure:

Would this be correct?

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Perfectly normal,as are Semi colons.

There are many variations to WW1 naming styles.

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I'm not sure about this one. I'm no medal expert but here's my view.

In the first photo the side points look a bit rounded to me. Also the sword points look the same, on my grandfathers's star they are sharp and pointed.

Also on my grandfathers star his Sapper is abreviated to SPR:

Gunner Bailey

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post-8435-1160121804.jpg

Hi just to give you an idea of different metal contents

top right 15 star RNAS

top left 14 star RGA

bottom right 1915 star AIF

bottom left a very coppery re 1915 star ASC

infact there are hardly two the same.

gareth

If you look at the upper left Mons star, it's pretty blunt. You can also see the differences in the metal.

-Ski

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