Ferdinand

Maybe you're right. Still, it's a strange bird with the extremely heavy wear on the tips of the rays, while the rest of the order and most of the enamel are practically flawless.

That's a different sub-variation, just compare the serial numbers. Plus, even #53764 has much sharper edges. Compare the star above to this one of mine. Identical serial number and mint mark style, but mine has much sharper edges.

What a strange-looking Red Star! The mint mark and serial number look good, but it doesn't have the sharp edges it's supposed to have...

I'm have been using my Epson Stylus CX6400 all-in-one printer-scanner for some some eight years now and I'm still very satisfied with it. It was cheap then and I'm sure they are dirt cheap now. In my experience its 600-DPI scans are sharpest. Here are two sample scans. Even the reverse of the order is fairly visible, despite the 2-cm screwpost.

I see I am not the only one who found this fascinating citation. It's on the shortlist for my book

The costs are not that bad actually, now that most citations are in the free online database... All you need is the record card.

It's an original star, aside from the replaced enamel on the top arm. It was manufactured in September 1945

I really don't like the handwriting in the booklet. There is a Pavel Ivanovich Kalinichenko on Podvig Naroda, but that guy received two OPW2s and a late 1944 Red Star, so that can't be this guy. Or it is this guy, but his booklet has been bleached and new serial numbers have been entered. The stain in the booklet is a bad sign. I see that more and more these days.

This year another book on Nomonhan was published, called Nomonhan, 1939: The Red Army's Victory That Shaped World War II, by Stuart D. Goldman: http://www.amazon.co.../dp/1591143292/

His name is Abbas ogly Allakhverdy... Probably from the Azerbaijan area.

Likely to be issued in the 2nd half of 1945.

It all depends on the classification one uses. I'd say this is a type 4, variation 1.1 (in accordance with the Mondvor.narod.ru system: type 4 has a suspension, var. 1 has a dimple on the location of the screwpost, subvar. 1 has a stamped serial number).

Yes, numismatists know everything about faleristic items... :unsure:

You shouldn't believe everything people tell you, Mogul... This one too is not what it purports to be.

This is not how a Soviet mint engraver would have engraved it. The shape is off and it's too shallow. Have a look here, they don't have a 1st Class pictured but it gives you an idea: http://mondvor.narod.ru/OZaSlRod.html Plus, things that seem to be too good to be true usually are. If you got this for under the market value that is a red mark. Do you really think the seller couldn't tell the difference between a 2nd and 3rd Class? Deals like these could happen with a rare variation of an award like the Order of the Red Star, but not with a Homeland 1st Class. If the piece was real, the seller must have paid a fortune for it and wouldn't have sold it to you for a low price.

The better fakes are made of real silver and real hot enamel, and of course they have the correct weight. In this case it's the reverse and especially the serial number that is off.

I agree with Oleg, this is not what it purports to be.

PM sent.

Absolutely! I'll PM you.

First: "Seaman Viktor Vorozheikin, senior diver with the Pacific Fleet. Risking his life, he saved a comrade in 1956. Awarded the Order of the Red Star." Second: "A group of seamen and petty officers awarded orders and medals in 1955 for a mine-sweeping mission. Red Banner Baltic Fleet."

The Russians have been awarding "catch-up" WW2 awards on a regular basis for many years. I have had these photos on my computer from an award ceremony on July 3, 2008: See http://archive.kremlin.ru/eng/text/news/2008/07/203523.shtml for text and photos.

It happened from time to time due to the sometimes chaotic front-line situations. The award nomination sheets weren't always perfectly in order regarding the overview of previous awards. It mostly happened with 3rd Classes, but this guy received two 2nd Class Orders (and a 3rd Class and 1st Class): http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=9403

Jean-Sébastien, I'll email you. Auke

I think an important aspect to keep in mind is that citations don't always mention locations, or perhaps just some names of villages on local and tactical level. In the case of Kursk, no fighting took place close to the city, so awards that can be considered "for Kursk" don't always mention this city. The same goes for a considerable part of the awards that can be considered "for Leningrad". I think that is why we don't recognize many citation as detailing a fragment of a major, famous campaign. It takes some order of battle research to find out where the recipient's unit was at the specified time to be able to place those citations in context. In the case of Stalingrad, a lot of fighting took place in the city itself, making it easy to link a citation to the battle of Stalingrad.

Paul, why don't you just ask a 'real' researcher to find his record card. It will cost you no more than $20 and will tell you when the two orders were awarded and whether or not the group is real.