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How to tell if German ribbon is original


Jan

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Hello. I’m about to buy one of those crosses. There is two cross in photos by two different seller. I know they are cheap that’s why there is not many good quality copy but I saw one copy in almost this condition. Made me suspicious because second one look soo clean. And there is no number. better be sure than sorry. What your opinions?

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First two look OK , I would go for the first one with the nicer ribbon

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5 minutes ago, Kenny Andrew said:

First two look OK , I would go for the first one with the nicer ribbon

Yes but it seems to me the dots on the top part (with swastika side) looks like a kinda out of the order. I know it is a red alert for wound badge but is it okay for this one? 

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2 minutes ago, Jan said:

Yes but it seems to me the dots on the top part (with swastika side) looks like a kinda out of the order. I know it is a red alert for wound badge but is it okay for this one? 

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always hard to tell from a photo but I think it looks ok, the ribbon is certainly original which is a good sign 

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6 minutes ago, Kenny Andrew said:

always hard to tell from a photo but I think it looks ok, the ribbon is certainly original which is a good sign 

Thank you ! How can you tell if ribbon is original?

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Hi Jan,

Firstly by looking at the ribbon you can usually tell it's a copy if it looks brand new. Secondly wartime ribbon was made in two separate threads, one was the warp and the other the weft. If the ribbon has no weft then it is most likely not wartime. You can see in the first picture you posted the weft running along the edge of the ribbon, copies tend not to have this feature. Thirdly the burn test, if the thread melts rather than burns it is a bad sign. Finally the UV light test, if the ribbon glows brightly under UV light that can be a bad sign, although not everything which glows brightly is bad, but it is a good indicator used in conjunction with the other tests.   

weft.jpg

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7 hours ago, Kenny Andrew said:

Hi Jan,

Firstly by looking at the ribbon you can usually tell it's a copy if it looks brand new. Secondly wartime ribbon was made in two separate threads, one was the warp and the other the weft. If the ribbon has no weft then it is most likely not wartime. You can see in the first picture you posted the weft running along the edge of the ribbon, copies tend not to have this feature. Thirdly the burn test, if the thread melts rather than burns it is a bad sign. Finally the UV light test, if the ribbon glows brightly under UV light that can be a bad sign, although not everything which glows brightly is bad, but it is a good indicator used in conjunction with the other tests.   

weft.jpg

Thank you! This will help a lot !

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13 hours ago, Kenny Andrew said:

Hi Jan,

Firstly by looking at the ribbon you can usually tell it's a copy if it looks brand new. Secondly wartime ribbon was made in two separate threads, one was the warp and the other the weft. If the ribbon has no weft then it is most likely not wartime. You can see in the first picture you posted the weft running along the edge of the ribbon, copies tend not to have this feature. Thirdly the burn test, if the thread melts rather than burns it is a bad sign. Finally the UV light test, if the ribbon glows brightly under UV light that can be a bad sign, although not everything which glows brightly is bad, but it is a good indicator used in conjunction with the other tests.   

weft.jpg

By the way I decided to buy a different one. Not good as these and 2 dollars more but at least have a number on the ring. Other two didn’t have any

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  • Kenny Andrew changed the title to How to tell if German ribbon is original
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Always better to have a maker marked version when possible.

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9 hours ago, Kenny Andrew said:

Always better to have a maker marked version when possible.

Yes. Thanks to you guys I am learning a lot in time 

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  • 10 months later...

I HAVE A GERMAN 5 MEDAL BAR. ONLY THE MEMEL RIBBON GLOWS. THE OTHERS PASS THE TEST. THE THREAD HOLDING THE MEDAL IN PLACE SO IT DOESNT DANGLE ALSO PASSES.  WTF???

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Without seeing photos we cannot say. The Memel Medal is quite rare, but no doubt, original ribbons and miniatures can still be found.

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