fake/spurious "Faberge" and "Imperial" items

Hello, Douglas!   Thanks for the immediate response!  Ah, yes..... the "red one."  That would have been the "Caucasus Egg," and it was one of the first ones to be seen as you entered the Exhibition, if I remember correctly.  Thanks for the memories!  Nice to hear from you!   AP

Hello, me again, haha

I've been looking at the Romanov items up on eBay and have seen several of the tercentenary medallions that I'm quite interested in.

However they all show quite varying states of wear - some seem to show their age, and are quite worn indeed. Others like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/300-TH-ANNIV-1913-ROMANOV-ROUBLE-RUBLE-IN-14K-GOLD-CASE_W0QQitemZ250216011051QQihZ015QQcategoryZ3393QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem look brand new, as though they were minted yesterday.

Do such forgeries occur? If so, how can you tell the difference between a genuine coin from 1913 and a fake?

katherine,

This is quite real.  When I was in Russia back in 1978, the state coin shops had these for sale direct from mint storage.  It would cost more to fake them today than they are worth.  Fakes are usually items of much more substantial value.

These same coins are available in Estonian antique stores for a whole lot less money. My husband bought me one for under $10.00 in Tartu, Estonia in 2004. I had my jeweler put it into a coin "frame" in order to wear it as a pendant on a chain or ribbon. I have also seen those coins in Helsinki antique shops for moderate prices in comparison to what the pictured coin is priced at. The frame must be one factor in the listed price.

My father in law worked in the Imperial Pharmacy in Petersburg and left the country on the last train out before the Estonian border was closed after the Bolshevik Revolution. He brought one of these coins with him when he left Petersburg. He held on to it even when it was dangerous to do so in the Soviet occupation of Estonia in WWII. He brought it with him to the West in 1944. I have always wondered if he received it as an Imperial gift because he was an employee of the Imperial Pharmacy during the Romanov Tercentenary. He certainly treasured it and held on to it when virtually everything else was left behind not once but twice in his life.

Good news!
Apparently a friend did take a picture of the presumed Fabergé egg that night in Vienna
He'll mail the picture soon. I'll upload it here the moment I get it

Grtz,
Alexander

I believe a German jeweler/silversmith/goldsmith, one Victor Mayer of Munich holds some type of rights to reproduce Faberge pieces.  I own one of his pieces and have viewed many more.  The reproductions  are all of very high quality and are very very expensive.

TampaBay