El Ninja

Yes, there is hardly any professional research being done on Yugo awards. I mean, there is interest, but with archives being hardly accesible, we can only work with what we have. That means sifting through the awailable data, and cross referencing with what we see being done in practice. Many authors just rewrite something, taking it for a fact. Then again, there is information that is hard to come by, for example, IKOM product catalogues and such. It would be extremely useful to get a hold of their work orders and similar documents. If those have not been fed to some fireplace in the '90s.

Rudež Stojan Odlikovanja SFRJ Službeni list SFRJ, Beograd, 1987. Only source with reliable data. To be sincere, it does not state explicitly that these were of IKOM manufacture, simply that those were awarded after the war. All other authors simply asume that those were IKOM. Also, having refreshed the memory, author also states that IKOM made PS 2 were manufactured without serial numbers. As for the IKOM PS 2 not having been seen awarded, with such a small number of total awards, how much of them would have been seen if they did not find their way out of the depot? 15 years ago, PS 2 in general was extremely rare and expensive. I am sure that there are some who still remember this.

There is a backstory to the numbering system in Yugoslavia. As we all know, numbering was at one point completely abandoned. That was an attempt at restoring the prestige of the award. That is also why the naming was changed in the '60s, from first class to "with golden wreath" or similar. In the '80s the ranking of the orders was removed. Also, there were only around 650 PS 2 of IKOM manufacture awarded, all others came from the depot. And they were randomly awarded, so the numbers are all over the place.

Not all of the awards that Tito wore were actually awarded to him. By law, and by his function as the president, he had the right to wear any and all yugoslavian orders and medals. He was awarded 8 of the yugo orders, 10 individual, being the triple recipient of the Order of the peoples hero. And 101 foreign award. As for the numbers on IKOM made Partisan stars, that data has not yet been researched, as far as I am aware. It would be interesting to see the numbers range on those.

Well, we are here to share knowledge. 🙂

Sadly, no. Those numbers are quited in a book. Although, I would have to dig through the archive and books. They might be somewhere.

Many Soviets were awarded yugoslavian orders and medals, but after the 1948 Tito-Stalin split, many were returned or destroyed. Notable case is the Panchevo bridge medal, which was awarded mostly to Soviets, and today is extremely rare. Same thing happened in Albania, Enver Hoxha returned all of his yugoslavian awards to Tito. Edit: Highest known number for this type of the Order of merit to the people is 2834. Lovest known for the second type is 2155. Production of types was most likely concurrent.

Highest known number, untill now, was 7573. Lovest is 40. According to the available data, from july 1944, up to 19. june 1945. 8338 orders of the Partisan star 2. class were produced in USSR and shipped to Yugoslavia.

I went through the literature, turns out, there are several types of this sort of thing. Yours is the older type of this sort of adaptation. Later ones do not have the hallmarks, the class designation or numbers. Generally, after the 1961 reform of the decorations, and use of the descriptive system, these were being reworked. Because it was named "Order for the merit to the people with silver star" the gilding from the stars was removed, and applied to the figure instead. Sorry for the photo "quality", but it is some glossy paper.

It is a strange mix. I have not seen one like this before, and I have seen a lot of those orders. Usually, late type has a horizontal double needle. This one appears to have been polished, having the gilding on the star removed, and then the figure of the fighter has been gilded. IKOM may have been the original producer, but ZIN has done the majority, if not all of the subsequent modifications on all of the orders that originally had the screw.

There are several types of pins on Yugoslavian orders. Pin with a simple hook catch, pin with a pull-out catch (in the photo), and pin with a rotating catch. All types could be mounted vertically or horizontally. Those were mounted on orders by the manufacturers, either originally, either after the screws were cut off. Then, there are many types of pins that were mounted unofficially, as new world said above, to reduce the damage to the clothes. Those wary wildly, so any classification is impossible.

Yes, they do.

Here is the link to the book. I hope it works. Mali_yearbook

Long time ago, I had come upon a yearbook of national orders of Mali, from 1979. It contains photos (very low quality), of orders and medals existing at the time, as well as complete laws and lists of people awarded the National order. It is in French. If there is interest, I can post the entire book.

The version without the neck ribbon is the first version of the badge. Častni vojni znak teritorialne obrambe, (Military honor badge of the territorial defense). Those were awarded 26. October 1991. in Koper. The one with the neck ribbon is the current version. Territorial defense was a sort of paramilitary militia that was part of the armed forces of each of the republics in Yugoslavia, that was not under direct control of the yugoslav government, but under control of the government of the republics. It was a predecessor to the slovenian army.

The medal is For participation in the European war 1915-1918, awarded from 1933.-1941.

Second document is for the Order for military merit, it does not state the class, as far as I can see. The award date is 26.June 1938. First document is for some memorial medal, I can not decipher which one.

Thank you all for input. I will pass on this one.

Hello, I have been offered a grouping of awards, but I am not sure of the originality. Sorry for the bad photos, but that is all I got from the seller.

That is the Chetnik soldier's sign. It was made and issued in the aftermath of WW2 in camps in Italy and Germany. Awarded exclusively to soldiers, civilians were ineligible. It is no wonder that some were awarded to Allied forces, being that the Chetniks were attempting to represent themselves as genuine freedom fighters, and not collaborationists. Should be made out of aluminium. The document probably has the signature and stamp of the issuing officer, and maybe an exact location. As for the worth point, it does bear value, especially with a document. As those were easily lost or destroyed.

Well, those where almost always made by hand, so they vary in appearance quite a bit. That only makes them easier to fake, unfortunately. Find some online sources for testing the fabric for age, it is the only way to be half certain.

Branch is artilery, rank is a brigade general. That is stated on the document, rank is inscribed by hand. This should narrow down your search.

Yes, it is Yugoslavian. Commemorative pin for the Main headquarters of Croatia. The date on the pin is the date at which it was formed.

There is a lot that is unknown about the serial numbers and principle of distribution. Especially during the war time. Plus, there is an overlap between serial numbers of orders produced in USSR and those produced in Yugoslavia. Order for bravery, produced in USSR is awarded up to the number 13XXX (highest known is 13832), while those produced in Yugoslavia have numbers that start in the 10000 range. Partisan star, same story. There is also one more problem. Often times, during the war, delivery of orders and medals was delayed. So, during the ceremony, the order would not be handed to the recepient, they would simply read the document, congratulate the awardee, and issue the order when one was available. I can find specific witness accounts of such things.

It is Latin. First line is : Cor Jesu sacratissimum, miserere nobis. Which is a hymn. Sacratissimum is probably obscured by the figure. I cannot see the text on reverse clearly, better photo would help. But,it looks like: Sanctus paschalis Paulus. It seems to be french in origin, Medal of adoration of Jesus. https://charmantiques.net/products/adoration-of-jesus-medal