On the Polish collectors militaria market today we can find up to 90%
of items to be fake or
reproductions.
There are several reasons for this state of affairs which is unknown
by an average Polish militaria collector. The first reason is that
Polish militaria, especially decorations such as orders, crosses,
medals, insignia and regimental badges were rarely awarded and had
to be earned. The next reason is that Polish decorations if awarded,
were awarded in hundreds and thousands, not in millions such as American,
Japanese and German. Award statistics shown in my books and articles
indicate that military and civilian Polish awards in contrast to the number
of soldiers served and conflicts engaged in during the last two hundred
years is very small. Another reason was that the number produced
was government controlled. It was a federal crime to sell or buy
or hold Polish national decorations to which a person was not entitled.
So collecting militaria in Poland before WWII was an unknown and a prohibited
hobby. In addition, regulations established by the Polish General
Staff even today, establishes specific criteria and limitations as to who
receives the decorations, how long one must serve and for what specific
actions or service he/she performed in combat or in peace time service.
Automatic awarding of regimental badges upon joining a regiment is unheard
of in Polish military history. Most regimental regulations required
3 years of perfect military service or 3 month in combat before a regimental
badge was awarded which is unlike in American regiments were one can place
a patch or a badge upon being assigned to a new regiment. So for
all practical purposes, the regimental badge is an honor for long and faithful
service such as our American Good Conduct Medal. Simply put, Polish
decorations are being copied because its impossible to obtain originals
at any price and it motivates jewelers to profit by making copies to meet
the demand from collectors, veterans and their families.
Polish military and civilian decorations from 1705 to 1831 are impossible
to obtain at any price. They can be found in a few Polish museums.
Collectors being approached with a decoration from this era should very
carefully check their origin and authenticity before paying thousands of
dollars. The era 1914-1939 still represents a potential of
obtaining a few originals for your collection, but in very limited supply
at very high prices. Don't count on getting an original Virtuti Militari
or a regimental badge for $100. An original pre-VM even in the 5th
class is worth at least $1,500 if
you can find it. Since only 9,999 were ever officially made and awarded
about half have been lost or destroyed, what makes you think that yours
is an original? The same for regimental badges.
Some Polish pre WWII regiments came in existence 5-10 years before
the outbreak of WWII and only 50-100 badges were awarded. You just got
one of these for $25 from reputable dealers at the local gun show?
Get real.
Last year I bought a White Eagle circa 1705 from a very reputable antique
dealer in Texas who
guaranteed it was an original for $2,000 and upon its arrival I found
it to be a fake which was sold last year at the Warsaw flies market for
$200. To this day he has not returned my money. Entrepreneurs
are now beating numbers into Panasiuks copies and selling VM as originals.
One dealer even went so far as to take a number from my book of a Polish
general and placed a number not on the lower reverse arm, but the upper
arm and he took placed a O zero in front of a two digit number. I
used zeros before the number to help my computer sort the VM numbers for
publication; the joke is on the enterprising dealer because there were
never any zeros in front of original numbered VM’s. The poor buyer
will find out very soon that he has been had. Another instance were
an American general of Polish heritage proudly showed me what he thought
was an original pre WWII VM 5th class for which he paid a dealer $500.
He was very angry when I told him that it was a Pansiuk’s recent copy worth
no more then $100. Another example of this unethical behavior of
dealers is a young collector from the northeast. He mailed his regimental
badge collection for me to view. It was lot 150 badges for which
he paid more then $100 each and were sold to him as originals. All
but 5 badges were fakes. To this day the dealer has not returned
his money. It is sad to know that thousands of Polish militaria collectors
have never even seen an original Polish regimental badge.
The WWII era 1940-1946 represents another interesting collecting area
of specialization.
Polish decorations were made during that time and after for this era
in England, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Poland, France, Italy and Tel Aviv,
Jerusalem then called Palestine. The Polish forces fought or were
stationed in each of these countries. In addition, some regiments
made decorations in their own machine shops because it's was almost impossible
to get one in the field for months.
The availability of original militaria is getting very hard to come
by because some of these veterans are still alive and their families are
holding on to these precious family treasures. So you get a badge
at the gun show of an original 303 Polish Fighter Squadron for $50 and
a original Polish Combat WWII Para Jump wing for another $35? I guarantee
you that these are fakes.
Polish Peoples Republic era 1943 to 1990. This controversial era
of Polish history represents another interesting collector's area of specialization.
The prices for these decorations are
ridiculously low at the present time. In about 5 years, their
prices will be just as high as the WWII era for many reasons. Collecting
this era has greatly increased in Poland because millions of Poles are
convinced now since they had a good taste of the market system, their past
peoples republic was not that bad after all. It is harder to find
these decorations in Poland then outside of Poland which command a relative
high price. A Moscow made Virtuti Militari now costs $500 and an
original Order of Builder of Poland sells for $250. Some of these decorations
were only award in several hundreds and fakes have not become economically
feasible for jewelers to start production. I fear that not too long and
we will have an avalanche of fake communist items on the market.
This is the time to buy these items. Remember that original communist
era Polish decorations were also a controlled production items made by
then the Warsaw State Mint and not by the local jeweler.
PS
NEVER JUDGE THE AUTHENTICITY OF A REGIMENTAL BADGE BY ITS
SCREW BACK DISK.
April 2001
email Dr. Wesolwski with any questions or comments: zwesolowsk@aol.com
http://www.wwdir.com/polishbk.html
http://www.tmcx.com/polish1.htm
TO BE CONTINUED
IDENTIFICATION OF FAKE POLISH MILITARIA