Do you wear replica medals or the real deal?

[eliminator]

The quality and availibility of replica medals seems to be at an all time high. Replicas usually sell for areound 10-15$ and can hardly be detected unless you weigh them or look really close. What do you wear?

 

[Torlyn]

We've seen all yours, are they real or replicas?

T

 

[PeterLT]

I wear my real ones but I have a replica set framed and displayed in the house. Easier and more secure theft-wise.

Peter

 

[Loadmaster]

Where can you get replica medals?

 

[Riobeard]

http://www.defencemedals.ca/contact.htm
http://www.canadianmilitaria.com/canadian_militaria.htm

Two suppliers in the West.  There used to be a fellow in the East but he sold his stock off about 3 months ago as he retired.
I'm sure there is more out there.

 

[eliminator]

http://www.canadianmilitaria.com/reproductions.htm

Plus there's always ppl on ebay selling them too:

http://search.ebay.ca/medals_Canada-Modern_W0QQcatrefZC12QQfrppZ50QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQmaxrecordsreturnedZ300QQsacatZ25552QQsalicZ2

 

[Loadmaster]

Thanks for the links,



For anyone living around Montreal, I just found out apparently there is a guy in Montreal (William Scully) that has medals and a lot of other things that are military related. I am not sure of the store name as of yet but when I find out , I'll post it.

290 Moreau. ST  Montreal,QC

 

[eliminator]

http://www.williamscully.ca/

They've been making stuff for our military for over 125 years. They have a wide selection of ceremonial items and do custom orders.

My airforce peaked cap is made by them.

 

[cplarf]

Recently i had the great honor of being on the 60th anniversary pilgrimage to italy.  During this trip I got to meet and chat with Smokey smith (canada's last living VC winner).  I knew prior to the trip that all recipients of the VC were also issued a replica which was to be worn while the original was kept in a safe place.  I asked smokey how close to the original the replica was.  His response was "Son i dont even know where the replica is"  As long as Smokey wheres his original VC i will continue to wear my original medals, why would you want to wear replicas any ways?  It's not like any medals that any serving soldiers are wwearing now are worth anything to the pulic and would be targets of theft.

 

[PeterLT]

It's not like any medals that any serving soldiers are wearing now are worth anything to the public and would be targets of theft.

You would be surprised. Many medals are stolen every year and many are recovered every year by police. They are looked on by thieves just like jewelry and should be included in your listing of valuables for insurance. If Smokey wants to wear the originals, that's his decision. But IMHO it's not very wise.

Peter

 

[eliminator]

"Son i dont even know where the replica is" -that's awesome

I think it's a good idea to have replicas if you're going being posted overseas or going on short excursions out of your area because of the possibility of loosing originals in airports, during transit, or being stolen.

It's gonna be a while before I'll have to worry about this. It might be possible to obtain a second set of originals off of ebay.