Replica
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[[Image:050114 2529 difference.jpg|thumb|The replica Difference Engine No. 2 in the Science Museum, London.]]
[[Image:Replica rocket.jpg|thumb|Replica of Stephenson's Rocket locomotive]]
A '''replica''' is a copy that is relatively indistinguishable from the original. Replicas are often used for historical purposes, such as being placed in a [[museum]]. Sometimes the original never existed. For example, [[Difference Engine]] No. 2, designed by [[Charles Babbage]] in the 19th century, was reconstructed from original drawings studied by [[Allan Bromley (historian)|Allan Bromley]] in the 1980s and is now on display at the [[Science Museum, London|Science Museum]] in [[London]], [[England]]. A second example is [[Stephenson's Rocket]] where a replica was built in 1979, following the original design fairly closely, but with some adaptations.
However, replicas have often been used illegally for [[forgery]], [[counterfeit]]s, [[fake]]s especially of money & coins, but also commercial merchandise such as [[designer label]] clothing, luxury bags & accessories, and last but not least: luxury [[watches]]. In arts or historic cars, the term "replica" is used for a non-original recreation, sometimes hiding its real identity.
One definition of "replica" has emerged that defines one as a copy of an original object, that can only be made by the original company (or corporate descendent) of the firm that made the original object-any other sort of copy of an original object would be called a "reproduction" instead.
Because of [[gun control|gun ownership restrictions]] in some locales, gun collectors often create non-functional legal replicas of illegal firearms. Such replicas are also preferred to real firearms when used as a [[Theatrical property|prop]] in a stage performance, generally for safety reasons.
== See also ==
* [[Fake]]
* [[Ship replica]]
* [[Replica shirt]]
* [[T-Rex Engineering#Replica|T-Rex Replica]] guitar effects pedal
* [[Counterfeit watch]]
== External links ==
* [http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/on-line/babbage/page4.asp Difference Engine No. 2 replica] at the [[Science Museum, London]]
[[Category:Museology]]
[[Category:Replicas| ]]
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