Lukasz Gaszewski

R.I.P. Mervyn [*]

Are you sure the oval medallion is of the Order of Nishan-e Iftihar. I cannot find any image of award like that anywhere. Could someone post a picture please?

I have found this picture showing joyful, cheering North Korean veterans. I have noticed something which is probably a new medal, unknown to me. The man far right has two such medals. The ribbon is yellow with red and white stripes and most probably red borders. Does somebody know what it is? Notice that it is worn on the right.

Yes, it is the Medal (rather than order) of Culture from the imperial era. Awarded for cultural achievement and quite popular. Dave is right : the inscription reads "farhang", ie. "culture" in Farsi. Not sure about the ribbon. Most copies I have seen had either the Iranian tricolour or no ribbon at all. Will you please show the other side together with the ribbon? What is its width?

Beautiful ribbon bars, indeed. Wish I had one like that, too. The ribbons are as follows:

• Order of Sukhbaatar
• Order of Sukhbaatar
• Order of Red Banner of Combat Valour
• Order of Military Merit

• Order of Polar Star
• Medal of Combat
• Medal of Combat
• "We Won/Conquered" Medal

• "40 Years of MPR" Medal (1961)
• "50 Years of Mongolian Revolution" Medal (1971)
• "60 Years of Mongolian Revolution" Medal (1981)
• "70 Years of Mongolian Revolution" Medal (1991) (?)

• "80 Years of Mongolian Revolution" Medal (2001) (?)
• "30th Anniversary of Victory over Militaristic Japan" Medal (1975)
• "30th Anniversary of Victory at Khalkhin Gol" Medal (1969)
• "40th Anniversary of Victory at Khalkhin Gol" Medal (1979)

• "50 Years of Mongolian People's Army" Medal (1971)
• "60 Years of Mongolian People's Army" Medal (1981)
• "50 Years of State Security" Medal (1972)
• "50 Years of Police" Medal (1971)

• "100th Anniversary of Lenin's Birthday" Jubilee Medal (USSR, 1970)
• Victory over Japan Medal (USSR, 1945)
• "30 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War" Medal (USSR, 1975)
• "60 Years of AF USSR" Jubilee Medal (1978)

• "Brotherhood in Arms" Medal (Bulgaria)
• "Brotherhood in Arms" Medal (USSR)
• "100th Anniversary of Georgi Dimitrov's Birthday" Jubilee Medal (Bulgaria, 1982)
• Order of Scharnhorst (East Germany) (?)

• Medal for Strengthening Brotherhood in Arms - 1. Class (Czechoslovakia)

Hi, this is Lukasz,

The dimensions, loop, and finish suggest that Gordon's cross can be original. Paradoxically, even its fairly poor condition speaks for it. Original crosses were susceptible to rust if stored in a humid room. I have seen a few certainly original ones, with even poorer look.

What regards the badge, I have seen one like this before, but as far as I know it does not represent any particular unit - just an eagle sitting on a lance pennant. A befriended officer used to wear it as a lapel pin on his civilian clothes to signal he was military, but it was certainly nothing official. If I find anything more about the badge I will let you know.

Hello everybody,

I am researching the orders and medals of Marshal Dmitriy Ustinov (1908-1984), the Soviet Defence Minister from 1976. I have found one of his last photos (1984), with I believe the most complete ribbon set. Unfortunately, the photo is bw and the ribbons are quite small. I have enlarged and sharpened them as much as possible. Will somebody help identify his ribbons? I am particularly interested in the lower half. Thanks.

Yes, it is possible, thank you. I would be good to know what the other ribbon is from. Note that it looks "hand-made." The central white stripe looks glued to the green ribbon. Perhaps it is some hint.

No, it seems ok. The total diameter of the crosses of 2nd and 3rd class was 45 mm, so they could look big, compared to other medals on the uniform. Miniatures did exist but they were only ca. 15 mm of diameter and they could hardly be confused with full size badges. 

BTW, Malinin was awarded the 2nd class, but it does not matter much, as both the 2nd and 3rd class were of the same size. 

God loves Trinity, as the Russians say. Three Stars of Hero (one of labour I think), three Georgi Dimitrovs, three Lenins, three Karl-Marxes...

Stunning...

As there is no special section for identifying unknown worldwide items, I am putting it here. I have been asked to identify some ribbon bars of a Soviet general. There are two I really cannot do with. I have tried Africa, Asia and America. Nothing seems to match. They are certainly not Soviet, but at least they belonged to a Soviet military. Perhaps someone here will have more knowledge and luck. The uniform comes from 1st half of 1970s, so the ribbons cannot be newer than that.

Thanks in advance.

The three remaining loose ribbons are Israeli (clockwise): War of Independence, Sinai Campaign and Six Day War.

The ribbon does not look genuine. An original one should have narrow yellow edges.

A 1908/post-1908 photo.

If this should belong to Göring (I am sorry, the photos in the initial post do not show up to me), I would suggest the ribbon of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of King Zvonimir of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH). As far as I remember, Göring was a recipient.

Do not care much about colour shade. Photos (esp. old photos) tend to misdepict exact color hues.

Would you mind reposting the photos?

 

... and with the ribbon of the Military Virtue Medal. 

I believe the Order of the Star of Romania w. swords could be worn on that ribbon if awarded for war gallantry.

Thanks Matthias for sharing your medals and ribbons. BTW: are members of the Bundeswehr today authorized to wear full-size medals on the uniform or only ribbon bars?

As far as I know, the metal "Monte Cassino" device is a legitimate part of the ribbon bar and can be found on most ribbons. BTW: are you talking about the Monte Cassino Cross or Monte Cassino Medal that was established to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the battle?

Can you post a photo with the gravestone with the cross you were talking about?

The photo looks quite old, probably from before 1898 - otherwise he would wear the 1898 Jubilee Medal among his awards.

Tomorrow I will try to make some photos or scans.

The chest does not look too impressive for a three-star general

Do not know exactly, but it looks like something related to the Teutonic Order (not necessarily Austrian). It also looks like a modern product.

Hello and thank you for the answer.

I own some SFRJ miniatures - they look visually attractive to me (honestly speaking, more attractive than some of their full-size counterparts). I only have type 2 and 3, that is the ones on a horizontal ribbon bar. I actually do not know the producers, but regarding their number on market, I suspect that at least some of them (including these of the highest orders) must have been made by private manufactureres. But it is only my guess. No matter who made them, most of the ones I have were carefully produced with well visible details. Yes, indeed, to me a fake is a copy sold intentionally as an original item, and none of my sellers ever maintained they were original - whatever it would mean in this case. So I prefer to name them replicas or simply copies.

I am still missing a few miniatures, including these of the upper classes of the Order of Yugoslav Star and of the Order of Freedom, and I would gladly buy them, even if they were contemporary copies.

Best regards,

Lukasz

Well, regarding Yugoslavian miniatures I think we should first define what the "original" miniatures are. Are they only these produced by the State Mint when SFRJ existed? If so, are these manufactured by private producers fakes? I think the issue is not simple in this case. While a recipient obtained only one full-size order produced by the State Mint and he had to apply officially for a duplicate in case he had e.g. lost the original (I believe there was such a procedure), there were no limitations concerning the number of miniatures a recipient could have at the same time, for example to pin them to a few jackets. So if he bought them at different private manufacturers or purchased them later, when SFRJ did not exist any longer, can we really regard them as fakes? I believe the word "replica" or "copy" would be more approprieate here. "Faking" to me implies an intentional action of providing or selling a copy as an original. As long as we do not know what the originals really were, we should not speak about fakes. I would myself be delighted if I could buy a "faked" miniature of the Order of Freedom or Yugoslav Star 1st class. If someone can provide one, please PM me

Europe all that time. Working hard to earn for the living Wish I had known of that "brilliant" idea ealier.