917601 Posted October 11, 2019 Share #1 Posted October 11, 2019 I noticed in the past year or so an explosion in fake ordnance. No less than a dozen busines's now making resin ordnance, turned metal ordnance, and turned plastic ordnance. One man on a popular ordnance site is advertising he is making replica dated projectiles from solid metal stock complete with copper rotating bands AND he has a surplus artillery shell engraver. Observed trend: quality repros now being manufactured, learn to tell the difference. Second, the supply of authentic Ordnance has just about dried up, expect a noticeable rise in asking prices. A few recent examples: a well known seller on GB realized $550 for a mismatched 75mm APC Sherman tank round in an M18 case, also on GB, $575 for a beat up 3" M62 AP round in a dented M26 straight case, ...WW2 dated stuff seems to command the highest prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manayunkman Posted October 12, 2019 Share #2 Posted October 12, 2019 What does the same thing sell for in USA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben@HI Posted October 12, 2019 Share #3 Posted October 12, 2019 GB is gun broker and virtually all their sales are in the USA. a lot of firearms and ordinance folks moved over there because of eBay's bull crap policies and nose bleed inducing fees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Flick Posted October 12, 2019 Share #4 Posted October 12, 2019 Thanks for this alert. In my view, as long as the reproductions can be identified as such without too much difficulty, I would regard the appearance of quality reproductions as a good thing. The scarcity and prices on USGI originals have accelerated to the point where some collectors are finding it difficult to continue the hunt. Quality reproductions, which are properly identified as such, can actually benefit the collecting community. On the other hand, I would not like to see ordnance reproductions on the market that are not reasonably identifiable as such in some way. Too many areas of collecting have been adversely affected and nearly ruined by reproductions/fakes not reasonably identifiable as such. A collector should not need access to a forensic lab, EOD training, a degree in metallurgy and a scanning electron microscope to be able to tell the difference. Regards, Charlie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colt thompson Posted October 16, 2019 Share #5 Posted October 16, 2019 The problem isn't with the person making the reproductions, it's the second or third owner who may try to pass them off as originals. I've seen this with trench guns as well as some rarer Colt Thompson items. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Victory Museum Posted October 16, 2019 Share #6 Posted October 16, 2019 The problem isn't with the person making the reproductions, [...] The person making the reproductions is exactly where the problem is. How difficult would it be to engrave the word "reproduction" on a metal component, or stamp it using indelible ink inside the pocket of clothing in an unobtrusive area. It would make it much more difficult for the second or third owner to pass it off as original without putting a lot of effort in to it, or performing destructive modifications to the item(s). With regard to clothing, I periodically look at reproductions available from W.P.G. (et al.) and download their detailed images to compare their reproductions to known original artifacts. When one knows what to look for, it makes getting 'stung' less likely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6th.MG.BN Posted October 16, 2019 Share #7 Posted October 16, 2019 The only way to stop reproductions is to charge less for the originals! Ain't happening! I think we all love and respect history for us to stop collecting. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWIIBuff Posted October 17, 2019 Share #8 Posted October 17, 2019 Any time there is money to be made, fakes and reproductions will appear. We just need to educate ourselves now, more than ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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