Gerd Becker

As far as i know, there was nothing like a "soldiers only award" in the german army in WW2. There were different grades of orders for specific ranks in WW 1, when the several duchies awarded their own orders and medals, but in WW2 an award was not connected with a rank, at least not in the soviet way. Fascinating discussion, gents

I like it too. That must be the only Lifesaving-Medal, i have ever seen mounted... Or not, in this case Nice bar though

Dave, how much proof do you need? Look at this rare photo:

Christian, in my opinion you can?t compare these two. The Nevsky is a "commander" award and was given to Officers and in the most cases for exceptional bravery. I don?t want to say, this is not the case with Glories, but you got a Glory 2nd class for the same things, you got a 3rd class for. Its maybe a little different with the 1st class, i guess. Yes, i know, Igor sells his stock, but most probably not to me We?ll see , i have seen a lot of things... And no doubt, he has some very cool stuff and everythings real, thats the most important point. Gerd

Christian, admit it, you only have a lot of Glories No offense, but thats wishful thinking imo. I also thought, the asked 750 Dollar were a little too much and even with a group premium this group isn?t worth the now asked 1500 Dollar, no way. Not yet, at least. Did you see the bunch of unsold stuff on that website? I wouldn?t use this website as a price-level anymore. If thats really the new price-level, then good bye Soviet awards for me.

Dave, Glory 3rd class Nr 807732 is for sale on another website, you probably know too. For only 85 Dollar. If you are interested, i?ll send you the link per pm. Gerd

I really doubt, the set will sell for this price, but i am open to any surprise concerning soviet awards. I think, there is a limit reached with the prices for higher awards, at least for a while. Gosnak Red Stars for 33.000 Dollar, a Gosnak Lenin for more than double of that, 3rd classes of the "Commander-Awards" like Suvorov, Kutuzov for 3000-7000 Dollar, thats probably too much for the majority of the collectors. Even if i had lots and lots of money to spend, i wouldn?t pay these prices, at least not more than once to have one specimen of each. And i think, there is enough other interesting stuff for the rich russian buyers to buy too. It seems, like they are waiting for the prices to drop too!? Don?t know...

Hello Steven and welcome. Good to see you over here. Isn?t it much more civilized here? Gerd

Well, thats indeed a nice one I?d say, it looks like a late Type 2 with flared edges!? Lovely drawing and nice gesture

I?m in love

Its impossible to be certain about Duplicate Awards, you are completely on your own, as there are most different opinions, how one should look like. One experienced collector says this, another says that. I?m comfortable with my Red Star. The alteration is done very well and the "D" sign is the accepted font. Why should someone fake a number this high (if not to add a missing award to a group)? Dave, a lot of things probably come to light, now that the dealers can?t chose anymore from the top-stuff. Which of these new discoveries are real and which are just invented to sell their goods, will be hard to find out, i guess. Interesting arguments and though food for thought, gentlemen.

Dan, you have probably seen this one, but though.... Order of the Red Star Nr. 1.781.725 Duplicate with cyrillic "D" stamped under the serialnumber. I was told, most of these are pieces, which had the serialnumber erased, the back was sand blasted again and the new serialnumber was stamped. This piece seems to support this theory.

Mike, i guess, he got the "Ehrenmedaille der Bundeswehr". Finally an award to a foreigner Take a look on this website: http://s115255626.alturo-host.de/lvo/ezbw.htm best, Gerd

Interesting info, Christian. Well this is neither a combat medic nor a stretcher bearer, but a Colonel of Medical Service, Commander of Evacuation Hospital 325 in the city of Irkurtsk for the entire war. Here is his Long-Service Order of the Red Banner: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=10295 Gerd

Simon, excellent information, thanks a million. Btw, if you click on reply with quote, you can see, how the chart was supposed to be. best, Gerd

Nice one, Doc. I have allways liked the Romanian Order of Labor.

See, what you mean, Ed. And you are right, groups are of course nicer, as you normally get the citations of all awards and get a more complete picture. I am sometimes tempted to get the citations for the connected pieces, i don?t have, but that would cost too much money. I?m still chewing on the last bill. But whats money compared to the thrill, i get out of my research?

I absolutely agree, but i might add, also the common orders like Red Banner, Order of the Patriotic War and early Red Stars can be a lot of fun too. I like the awards to the Joe or should i say Ivan Average, so i am happy with all the research-results, i get, as these display the normal life in this terrible war. I must admit, the reason, why i don?t have a Nevsky yet, is just, because i buy much too much common stuff and get it researched. But i don?t care, even if i will never own one.

Gents, thanks for the compliments and the excellent additions. Great advice!! Gerd

Tom, the displays are from IKEA, Model RIBBA, sorry should have been clearer in my other post, i guess. Do you guys in Britain/USA/Australia have IKEA-stores? Or are they limited on Europe? Not sure... And, Tom, thanks for the guru, but i am still working on that title Making your own display is allways the best option. Why don?t you start a thread with pictures, when and if you are doing that? I would be interested to see that. best, Gerd

Hi everyone, as we have a few new members, who are interested in soviet orders and Medals, i though, i put up some helpful hints. Feel free to add anything, you consider important this connection. 1. Buy Reference Books Its absolutely necessary to buy Reference books, if you plan to collect Soviet ODM. The one, i would recommend most is still "The Comprehensive Guide to Orders and Medals" from Paul McDaniel and Paul Schmitt. If you are interested in the history behind this awards, get the book "Echoes of War" , which is a great addition to the first mentioned book. Its about researched Soviet awards and sets this awards in its historical and localized (word?) context. Further there are some online-references, which are very helpful. The first, i want to mention, is unfortunately only in russian, but its a great website with a lot of pictures. Also understandable to a great degree without being able to speak russian. http://www.mondvor.narod.ru/ For The Order of the Great Patriotic War, the Order of the Red Star and the Order of Nevsky there is a great online reference here: http://www.soviet-screwbacks.com 2. Buy from trustworthy sources. As there are noumerous fakes out there of several of the soviet orders and medals, which are nearly not distinguishable to Originals, you should stick to dealers, which are known as honest. They should have a money-back guarantee, never buy without. Often a piece only turns out fake, when you have the opportunity to examine it closely in hand. Dealers, i can recommend are: http://pweb.netcom.com/~merezhko/militaria.html (Alexei Merezhko, the best in my opinion, a real pleasure to deal with, look at the Fakes-site too!) http://collectrussia.com/ (Awesome stock, prices high, but good and fair dealer) http://www.russian-medals.net/ (Dimitri Markov, good, but you have to be careful sometimes, as a fake or two slips hrough once in a while) 3. Be suspicous. If you find a piece to a price, which seems too good to be true, it most probably is. Of course there are still great deals to make and bargains to find, but you won?t find a real Order of Nevsky for 35 Dollar, believe me. Use your common sense. 4. Ask questions! The only dumb question is the one, you don?t ask. Profit from the knowledge of more experienced collectors and ask, ask, ask! The most of them don?t bite and are more than happy to help a newbie. 5. Handle as many pieces as possible. Visit other collectors and handle their collection or visit shows to look at originals there (with an experienced helper, if possible). 6. Get other collectors look at the pieces, you plan to purchase. The more people, you can ask, the better. Use forums like this to post good clear photos. I am sure, i have forgotten a lot, but i hope, the other members will step in with more advice. Will add a few points later, got to run now... best, Gerd

These are obviously very nice, now that i get to see a decent picture of it. Nice example, John. What would i have to pay for the screwback-version now? best regards, Gerd

Its original. But you should not pay more than 40-45 Dollar, as you get this variation readily available from a reputable dealer for 38 Dollar. Gerd

Christian, i must have had a monkey for breakfast. I apologize, when i have captured your thread. I?ll remove everything unrelated to this discussion, if you wish so. Gerd

Oh, you have a good memory, Jim. Here it is, the version with the ultrarare crazy font-version. I also got that from the honest ebay-seller Valery Ribboff. I have bought the most of my ultrarare orders from this wonderful individual, who sells the rarest Orders for bargain-prices to me.