Beatles Memorabilia Reference Guide
This document displays many of the fake, non-original or counterfeit items
that have been made over the years purporting to be original 1960's Beatles
memorabilia. Many of these items were not intentionally made to deceive
but too many collectors today are wasting their money on items that have zero
investment potential. That is our primary purpose of this section,
to educate you, the collector! Again, if anyone has photos they would like
to submit for this or other sections, feel free to contribute.
All
images and text Copyright © 2000 2005 BeatleBay and may not be reproduced or reprinted in any
manner
These plastic type Banks were produced in the early 1980's. There were
no original Beatles banks mfg in the 1960's like these.
These Yellow Submarine ceramic type Banks were reproduced in the early
1990's. They are easily detected as they do not have coin slots in the
backs of the heads and the bottoms are flat, not concave as the originals.
They also do not have the original 2 stickers on the bottoms. The colors
are slightly different. Nice for display as the originals sell for
hundreds of dollars each. These banks were made from an original set of
Yellow Sub Banks, thus the detailing is quite good.
Beatle Bubbles are all fakes
A fake Beatles Cavern Club Booklet
dated 1963. The original Cavern Club Booklet from 1963 doesn't
look anything like this at all. The originals look like the 1964 booklets
shown in our Reference Library under 'C'.
A fake Beatles plastic Cup and Tumbler. An original insert was used
from 1964 but the cup itself is brand new. The handle on the fake mug is a
solid round-ish type. The original ones were flat. The white
top on the fakes have a ribbing as originals do not. The counterfeiters
also used a similar technique for a tall cup with a 1964 insert. The top
of the cup was ribbed on the fake one. See Tumbler and Mugs/Cups in the
main section for a comparison.
Eraser. There were no original
licensed Beatles erasers made in the 1960's.
There were no original Beatles guitars made from wood. All officially
licensed products were made of plastic.
Chewing Gum was never produced by The Beatles
Official Fan Club.
This hairbrush was reproduced in the 1970's. See Hairbrush
for a picture of the original one made in the 1960's. The header card
is different as is the hairbrush itself.
Each of the items in this picture are fakes...
Jewelry Items
Presented are the 2 main jewelry display cards that have been reproduced.
The tie tacs and display card on the left side are original, the ones on the
right side are not. The cardboard on the real item has a semi-glossy
appearance, the repro one is flat. Notice the areas in the middle of
the card, the real one has small white areas around the 2 center tie tacs; on
the reproduction this area is a solid grey color - this is the key to spot an
original display card!!!!! The size of the cards are also slightly
different. Lastly, notice the placement of the original tie tacs on the
card; 2 of them are within these white cloud sections in the middle PLUS
notice the tie tac that's been placed directly onto the girl's lapel at the
bottom. On the repros, they just put the tie tacs anywhere. Original
tie tacs were either gray pewter in color or goldish brass; any silver
type finish tie tacs are fakes; usually the fakes are a bit smaller in size than
originals and the first name of each Beatle cannot be fully read or is cut off
at the end or beginning are fakes..
The second example of a jewelry display card. The real one is again on
the left, the reproduction on the right. Notice that on the fake,
the orange background around the Beatles is washed out and their grey suits have
orange bled within them - that is the key spotting a fake one. Also
when viewing closeup, the photograph of the Beatles themselves is a bit blurry
on the fake.
More examples of non-1960's jewelry items. Notice the picture of the original
backside pin clasp on an original 1960's brooch. Brooches without this
brass pin attachment are fakes.
Cut down cards such as these are an automatic tip off as all
original display cards that feature the Beatles drum logo ALL have photographs
of the Beatles on the card too.
More fakes...
These Beatle pencils are fakes as is the ruler and pencil case.
Original pencil cases made with this particular design did not have NEMS
Enterprises printing on the case.
A fake Beatles Deskset Pen Holder.
These counterfeits are plentiful and come in several different styles. In
the 1960's there was only 2 authentic Pen Holders made and licensed by NEMS,
the first one was made in 1964 by The US Ceramic
Company and the second one was a
Yellow Submarine Pen Holder mfg by A&M Leatherlines in NYC in 1968.
Movie Posters. There are many fake movie posters
flooding the market these days. Please make sure what you're buying is not
one of these reproductions or fantasy type items. None of the following
items are legitimate 1960's posters. Check back often as we are constantly
adding items to this poster section.
Here's a common fake out there alot: the guitar tie tac. The
originals are either pewter or brass but both originals have hollowed-out backs
and are marked NEMS Enterprises Ltd inside the hollow back. Originals are
also much more detailed and measure exactly 1.5 inches in length. Fakes
are shorter and have much less detail.
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