Irish War of Independence Medal and 1916 Rising Medal

Within the last five years we have seen a serious incease in the value of medals relating to the Irish Volunteers/ Irish Republican Army. I remember 10 years ago buying an original War of Independance medals with a Comrac bar for as little as 25 pounds ! Now a nice original example sells for around 500.00 .Sadly within the last few years many serious collectors like myself have noticed the high number of high quality copies now coming on the market. Some years back I spoke to a guy in Austrailia who was making these copies. He was selling them as copies and in no way tried to pass them off as originals. I could not believe the quality of these when I handled them for the first time. They were excellent. I compared them with medals from my own collection and it was scary just how good they actually were.Like any rare and collectable item, collectors are keen to get them in their own collection and will pay any price. The demand for these medals have sadly seen an incease in the sale of copies being sold off as originals. Last year I saw a number of copies sold on ebay. A keen eyed collector will know what to look for such as the ribbon that is used, the pin on the suspension bar and if you compare one to the original you will find it slightly smaller.Over the years I have been contacted by a number of collectors who noticed these copies for sale. It is not our place to contact bidders, but it is sad when you see someone pay 500.00 pounds for a medal worth 15.00 pounds !It is now even more alarming to see that copies of the very rare 1966 Survivors Medal are also turning up on the market, with hallmarks !All I can advise is you show caution when buying any of the above medals. If at all possible ask can you visit the seller and see the medal and if you know a collector who has an original go see it first.I bought a two copies of the War of Independence medal and a 1916 Rising medal for 25.00 pounds about five years ago to compere them. These were sold to me as copies. After I finished my study I destroyed them. So 25.00 for the two is their worth so please be very guarded out there.