utopis

A rarely seen breast star. This specimen is a little damaged: pin missing, four pearls broken and a few cracks to the enamel. Nevertheless, I think it's always nice to see this rare pieces.

Yes indeed it is the suspension from monarchy times. This makes me quite confident because we know for sure that there were a lot of spare parts left over from the monarchy. Even today they turn up for sale. And we know that the communists reused cases from monarchy times! So why not suspensions? Additionally, I think this fact indicates that it's quite unlikely to be a fakes made to deceive buyers. While it would be quite lucrative to turn type 4 badges to neck versions the portrait on this is the correct one for this type (e.g. 2 or 3).

Comparison: My piece on the left, original on the right

Hello Gents, I got this order of the 9th september as a neck cross. Now comparing it to other pieces I have to say that I see a small differences most notably to loop. What do you think? I hope it's without problems.

Holy sh** ! Besides, who pays 1,8K for a fifth class anyway?

hm well, I was second highest... I wonder how much the winner bid on it

So the catalogue is finally out. Well, as you say, at least a set that you will actually receive

Very nice ribbon bars. Yep, your attribution is correct. Generally Slovakian awards from the 39-45 period are hard to come by. From time to time you can find frequently awarded medals or lower grades. The higher classes (e.g. grand cross, grand officer and commander) are extremely rare. Collars are of the highest rarity. If you want to get rid of some of the Slovakian stuff from the 39-45 period don't hesitate to contact me.

Hello Gents, what do you think of this 2cl ? height: 61 mm width: 57 mm weight: 45.2 gr The measurements are o.k. but what would be the maker? The round pattern beneath the red enamel on the back would indicate Godet, but neither the completely red enameled rose nor the golden rose inside the blue enameled ring fit .

People who bid but don't pay are in every country. Nonetheless all the former east block countries have a bad reputation. Sometimes with justification sometimes without. But it's better for us!

well, well, look at this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Japanese-Enamel-Medal-Order-of-the-Golden-Kite-1st-Class-Breast-Badge-/370825565792?pt=Asian_Antiques&hash=item5656ed1660 Up for sale again. Sorry Nick, no shipping to Russia So the last buyer was from Russia but didn't pay.

What happened to the molds from the Manchukuo mint? Destroyed after '45? And what's with those from the Japanese mint?

A very interesting construction. Not those lousy prong-attached bars the Germans used to have.

Extremely beautiful! thank you for those pics

Yummy!

Maybe you even have a few pics of the GC that aren't from a book? I have never seen some.

How did you know?

Oh it could be much worse. Do you want to hear my thoughts about how easy it is to create extremely good copies if you just know what to do and what means to use? I thought maybe to start a topic about that but I'm not sure if this knowledge won't be used against us. I haven't decided yet.

Well, on the atomic level elemental changes should occur quite fast but it takes some time until it's visible with the naked eye. In one case a collector reported that in only one week his treasures were covered with a bright green layer. But usually it takes a few years (between 5 and 20). Of course not every material will show a reaction or at least not in our lifetime but there is one thing people tend to forget: "gold" (and other precious metals) usually does not mean a purity of 999/1000 but rather 333/585/750/900 which means that 777/415/250/100 parts are not gold or in other words: these parts can show ugly reactions. In some rare cases even galvanic reactions can occur through the air between two exhibits if disadvantageous conditions dominate the room/vitrine (humidity, temperature). In our modern world almost every piece of furniture oozes fumes that can harm our valuables and aren't good for our health either. That includes glues, paints and lacquers (that aren't water-based), plastics, synthetics, rubber, all chemically treated fibre-materials, smoke, perfumes, evaporating materials (alcohol, gasoline), cleaning agents and so on but in most cases only contact to the surface will cause visible harm. Therefore glass will be the best way to go if you don't have the original boxes and not plastic foils and stuff like that. It always depends what pieces we are talking about: You shouldn't rack your brain about a soviet veteran of labour medal but if we are talking about scarce, very rare or even unique pieces we have a different case. For your enjoyment, the monetary and the historical value(as most of our collected pieces will probably survive us (at least they should(!) since these are pieces of history)) you should think about the storage of important pieces.

Well, maybe it does. As we know today these modern fabricated materials can affect metals and enamels badly if these are exposed to chemically processed cloth, wood or plastics over a longer period of time. Corrosion, discoloration and "slimy" patinas can be the consequences. Those two pieces are real beauties and it's always nice to see such rarities. Congrats

They are very beautiful. Now I need to get some, too....

Surely not all of these bids are real. But at least some of them have to be. Otherwise they would make big losses by getting ebay bills in the 3-4 figures range.

Well look at this. http://www.ebay.com/itm/SOVIET-ORDER-of-ALEXANDER-SUVOROV-1ST-CLASS-/281108107858?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4173595252 It seems that this isn't his only account. Same Location and same text "PAYMENT : Accepting PAYPAL (confirmed adress and items under 500,- $ only), for all other items accepting wire transfer ONLY!!! PAYMENT SHOULD BE MADE WITHIN 7 DAYS!!!" Now selling Soviet stuff.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Russian-Soviet-Order-group-with-document-Suvorov-Khmelnitsky-Nevsky-Red-banner/200923056410?_trksid=p2047675.m2109&_trkparms=aid%3D555003%26algo%3DPW.CAT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D142%26meid%3D7662195774206227548%26pid%3D100010%26prg%3D1076%26rk%3D1%26sd%3D121110070350%26 $6111 and still 4 days to go... fake Khmelnytski and fake Suvorov. Nevski I assume too. And the enamel on the banners of the ORB's looks bad. Location: Lithuania... Who spends more then $5k for a few items he clearly has no idea of?

Interestingly he has no negative feedback so maybe no one actually pays for those pieces?