slava1stclass

Gents, It's that time of year once again. The New York Sale Auction XLVII is set for January 10, 2019. Included in this year's Russian Coins, Orders and Medals auction is one Full Cavalier set. The recipient was one of the very, very few Full Cavaliers to have earned that status while serving as a combat medic. He was a Guards sergeant major serving in a tank battalion subordinate to a Guards tank brigade when recommended and approved for his OGI. He was also awarded a BM and CSM during the war. Note, too, that his OGII is the so-called "border reverse" variant. Opening bid: $15,000.00. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, A lot of positive buzz about this set on our sister Russian collector forums. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, The Buy It Now price was lowered to $42,500.00 yesterday. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Just listed on the well-known auction site. A Category 1 Full Cavalier set issued to a Guards junior sergeant who served as a squad leader in an independent Guards sapper battalion when recommended for his OGI. The BIN price is set at $16,600.00. He was also awarded a BM during the war. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, While a lot of people are "watching" this auction, no one has yet pulled the trigger. BIN price remains at $43,500.00. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, This OGII to a Full Cavalier sold yesterday on the well-known auction site for $425.00. He was serving as a sniper when recommended and approved for it. As a junior sergeant, he would later serve as an assistant platoon leader in a rifle regiment's dismounted reconnaissance platoon when recommended and approved for his OGI. He was also awarded an OPWII and ORS. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, And now, the rest of the story. The reason why his ORS, OGII, OGIII and BM are mint-issued duplicates, is due to the fact his originals were confiscated at the time of his arrest for a criminal offense in the former Soyuz. In 1971, after having served his sentence and probation, his Full Cavalier status and awards were restored/returned. While his OGI was sent to the awards department of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in Moscow at the time of his original conviction, his other awards were not. They were likely lost at the location where he was convicted. Although his OGI was easily recovered from its storage place in Moscow in 1971, his other awards had to be reissued. As a side note, based on the research I conducted for my book, there was a handful of other Full Cavaliers who were similarly stripped of their status and all decorations owing to their criminal convictions. Like this Full Cavalier they, too, succeeded in their requests to have their status and decorations restored once completing their sentences - a not all too common occurrence. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Currently available in the former Soyuz. The seller has yet to identify the asking price. His ORS (included with the group, but not depicted here) OGII, OGIII and BM are all mint-issued official duplicates. He was a sergeant with duties as a forward observer squad leader in a mortar regiment when recommended for his OGI for action 12 miles northeast of Berlin in mid-April 1945. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, An OGII awarded to a Full Cavalier that is currently available in the former Soyuz. The minimum opening bid is set at $610.00. He was a corporal with duties as a sapper/reconnaissance scout assigned to an independent sapper battalion in a rifle division when recommended and approved for the second of his two OGII awards in late 1944. That erroneous second OGII award was amended to an OGI some 40 years later - in 1984. He was also awarded two ORS and a BM during the war. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, This group has just been listed on the well-known auction site with a Buy It Now price of $43,500.00. While the U.S. stock market took a severe beating this week, documented Full Cavalier sets continue to skyrocket (at least in terms of asking price!). Check it out. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Currently available in the former Soyuz. Asking price: $30,500.00. The set includes a duplicate/replacement award booklet which the Russian Federation issued on June 2, 1994. It's the first time I've seen such a booklet with a Full Cavalier set. He was a sergeant major and recon squad leader in a rifle battalion when recommended for his OGI. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, It sold for $224.50. Regards, slava1stclass

David, Welcome to the forum. In the future, please post questions of this nature in the Russia: Imperial sub-forum. Thank you! Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, This official-issue duplicate is currently available on the well-known U.S. auction site. The opening bid was set at 99 U.S. cents. By serial number, this is the first of two OGIIIs awarded to this Full Cavalier. He was also awarded an OGII and OGI thereby receiving four distinct Order of Glory awards during the war. As detailed in my book, while clearly not the norm, he was far from the only Full Cavalier to have been erroneously awarded the Order of Glory more than three times. He was a senior sergeant and 120mm mortar crew chief in a rifle regiment when recommended for his OGI. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Currently at auction in the former Soyuz. The opening bid is $6,884.00. Unfortunately, as is often encountered on OGIs, note the large gouge on the reverse side's lower left arm's outside edge. These crude knife cuts were made to confirm the order was truly gold. The recipient was a Guards private and signaller assigned to a mortar company in a Guards mountain rifle regiment/division. As noted in my book, Full Cavaliers who came from the ranks of mountain rifle units were very uncommon. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, The group sold for $16,501.00. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Currently at auction in the former Soyuz. Opening bid for the group is $9,960.00 - very reasonable considering all that is included. The Full Cavalier in question was erroneously issued two OGIIs during the war. The second erroneous OGII award was upgraded to the OGI seen here almost 25 years later. He was a sergeant major and squad leader in a dismounted reconnaissance platoon assigned to a rifle regiment when recommended for his final OG. As an enlisted man, it was no small feat to have been awarded six distinct combat orders. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, A single/loose OGI with its associated Full Cavalier booklet recently sold in the former Soyuz for slightly over $9,500.00 - a solid price and that in the former Soyuz. It would be interesting to see what price would have been attained had the associated OGII and OGIII been available/included. As noted throughout this thread, in the very early days following the collapse of the USSR, many Full Cavalier sets were broken up. This was due in part to the misguided notion that the OGI alone (given its gold content) would have greater appeal/realize a greater profit in the West. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, This thread has come a very long way over the past 12 and one-half years. Having just surpassed 50,000 unique views and with almost 700 replies, it is by far the most popular non-pinned active thread in the entire GMIC Russia forum - thank you. Here's to the next 50,000 views! Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Should any doubt remain, and as some fellow GMIC members are already aware, this set's legitimacy has also been confirmed on a sister Russian forum. Regards, slava1stclass

The information and images associated with this group were found online. Yes, it is possible. I would think the orders/medals seen in the "on location" image were cleaned under field conditions before the image was taken. The serial numbers for the OGII, OGIII and BM all match those awarded to Vyatkin. We know that Vyatkin's unit fought in Rathenow. Relatedly, Vyatkin's OGI (serial number 1308) was offered for sale on a site in the former Soyuz in early October 2016. The last bid price of which I was aware was $7,300.00. With the rest of his award group's recent discovery, who knows, maybe a group reunion is in the works. One may assume Vyatkin received official duplicates for his OGII, OGIII and BM after the war owing to the originals' loss during combat. The podvig site confirms he was awarded the Medal for the Defense of Moscow. The Medal for the Defense of Moscow seen in Egorka's above post is a replacement. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, In the war's final days, Vyatkin's unit was engaged in action as part of the Berlin Offensive Operation. His unit fought through Wriezen, Bernau, Glienecke (Glienecke/Nordbahn), Hennigsdorf, Elstal, Brandenburg and Rathenow (where the above orders and medals were discovered). On May 8, 1945, his combat trail ended on the banks of the Elbe River in the vicinity of Tangermünde. Vyatkin was also awarded an ORS on March 20, 1945. Evidently, he had not yet been presented with his ORS and OGI at the time the above awards were lost. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Score one for metal detecting. This OGII, OGIII, BM and Defense of Moscow medal group was found within the past six months just outside Rathenow, Germany (Brandenburg state). It was located under a tree in a forest. The group belonged to Full Cavalier Corporal Sergey L. Vyatkin. He was a reconnaissance scout/forward observer assigned to the 432nd Howitzer Artillery Regiment (1st Belorussian Front) when recommended and approved for his OGI on March 24, 1945. Vyatkin survived the war and died in 1986. How his orders and medals came to be located under that tree is unclear. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Five days prior to his OGI being approved on June 29, 1945, Senior Sergeant Писклов (Pisklov) marched in the historic June 24, 1945, Victory Parade on Red Square, Moscow. He marched in the 1st Ukrainian Front's formation. As addressed in my book, he numbers among the relatively few Full Cavaliers who marched in the Victory Parade. This fact certainly adds another unique dimension to this set. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Price was lowered $505.00 and is currently set at $8,990.00. Regards, slava1stclass