As for alla sectors of collection, also in URSS militaria there are a lot of fakes, even if most of the times it's a question of
not corresponding items. With few exceptions, to produce a perfect copy to cheat a buyer it's just not worth, since the value of
Russian militaria is not so high. As regard dress and accessories, it is usually necessary to verify the presence of marks(all
URSS material usually is!). As regard medals it a bit more complicated, and we will talk about it later.
Russian post-soviet production
USSR doesn't exist since; out of doubt that an item realized later cannot be defined soviet.
For example a Russian camouflage uniform may looks like the previous one; if the differences between the two are not known
(lenght of epaulettte, closing of pockets )it is not possible to recognice the model at first sight. Only through the examination
of the mark the period of production can be stated post-soviet.
infact the model code indicates the year of production (in the last two numbers); in the image above there is a model of 1994
|
Warsaw Pact items
Who knows the ciryllic alphabeth can desume that the following letters cannot be represented in soviet marks:
D F G H I L N Q R S U V W Y Z
This allows to distinguish soviet militaria from ungarian, polish, czech, DDR (but not from the bulgarian). The cap of tank corps in the following image was
polish even if it's actually the same as the soviet cap (exept for little differences). The presence of letter Z in the mark
allows to state without any doubt that it is not a soviet item:
The letter N belong to the latin alphabet, but in russian it can be found to indicate a number (nomer) and this the
unique exeption.
|
Adulterated item
This is the most common case: the item is enriched with accessories of not corresponding datation or not referring to officials
rules. This is due to three main reasons:
- first of all the attemption to rise the value of an item by addying not proper badges, so crating a
cap no one ownes or
an
high officer uniform never seen before ...
- very often original items are adultered by addying stars, pins, badges or medals. The most common case is that of sidecap
sold, often by stall sellers, that are really overcrowed with badges and pins; in this case it will not be possible to restore
the item anymore (the holes will rest on the fabric)
- the uniform has been modified by the owner at the end of military service (so-called
Dembel Art - it usually occured also in italian military forces);
look at the image below: a couple of epaulettes of the Baltic fleet (made in phosphorescent stuff), a patch, and a pair of velvet cuffs in a sailor blouse.