Sergei

I have just come back from a dinner party, a regular affair among friends, nothing to do with the USSR or Mongolian award collecting - we actually watched a lousy movie and had a great meal - but just listen to this. After a few drinks we suddenly discovered that there were two people amongst us who were into collecting china (I cannot possibly repeat the terminology they were throwing around, half of it was in French, I think, but they seemed very happy). There was also a lawyer friend of mine who all of a sudden revealed himself as a long-term collector of playing cards, the earliest pack in his collection being dated to the 16th century. As I was becoming more and more excited after these revelations and more drinks, I learned that neither of my good old friends were members of any forums, they were getting bits and drabs of information from whatever came their way, they never thought too much about the monetary value of their colections (Oh, we'll just leave it to our children...) - THEY WERE SIMPLY ENJOYING THE ACT OF COLLECTING! This is when I thought, hang on, are we getting it all wrong, with our expert forums and professional ebay bidders/traders/watchers? Why do we worry so much about dealer's prices? Why are we so desperate about new guys (i.e. new money) coming into the field? Is it not unnatural to talk about 'the future value' of our possessions if we are simply collecting something we like? Eh? And finally, are we creating forums for collectors or subconcious dealers? What do you reckon? Sergei

I had a couple of emails from this individual too, never replied to him, was a little concerned that emails arrived to the address I did not use on the forums or to communicate with other collectors. How did he find it? Sergei

Bob, It may be a small country but don't I envy you! This award is a cumulative history of 2,000 years of a unique civilasation. What you have in your posession is an order af magnitude bigger than the 'idols' of our modern culture, i.e. a low calorie diet etc. Treasure it! Buy the way, I do not own one of those. Sergei

Gerd, Thanks. Great, a very detailed explanation. I do not own a Borderguard/Frontier medal so it's useful for me too. I do have a Public order one but I bought it so cheaply that I started to have doubts the moment I opened the parcel. Will need to scan it and post it here. Sergei

Jim, Are you referring to my larger scans or OoV's scans? If it's mine, do you reckon both of my pictures are fakes? Between the two of us we posted too many scans! Thanks, Sergei

Gerd, Why do you say that? OK, I am a little uneasy about the Partisans but with the Borderguard Medal and the Protection of Public Order you'll need to be a bit more specific. The ring may look so-so, but the sharpness of detail (or the lack of it) could be due entirely to scanning effects. Here is a coin, two different scanners - and even the Queen looks different! If I did not know it was the same coin I would have said the second one is made of cheap metal, is lacking in detail, the face is distorted (especially the cheekbones), the hair is wrong and so on and so forth. Hmm, I do hope that my coin is genuine Sergei

What an item And with a document ! Unless someone has already posted it, the name of the recepient is Voskoboinikov Timofei Prokofievich. Sergei

OoV, I have been through this rigmarole a couple of times asking people to make a call based on scans, photos and weight and size. Hard work. In the end I was lucky enough to pick up a definitely genuine 2nd class and a 1st class which the experts accepted reluctantly after I bombarded another forum with a dozen images (the verdict was along the lines 'agh, just go away'). If you wish I could email high-res scans of what I've got for comparison. Stalin's collar, Lenin's tie, the way the lettering looks jointed, some kind of rectangle just above Lenin's forehead in the 1st class, folds in the ribbon on the left - all this could be a scanning effect or a sign of casting. I do not remember what Stalin's moustache is supposed to be doing but I think there were two legit variations. The connecting link is cut - means anything? I don't know. Can you measure them? Sergei PS Just found a picture I had, the one on the left is mine, the one on the right is definitely genuine. Hope this helps.

Beautiful citation, no question about that! Slightly off topic, the Vienna and Budapest liberation medals were awarded under the Ukaz of 9/6/1945. I forgot (or perhaps never new it), was that a mass award Ukaz? Sergei

Are the Pioneer badges in posts 3 and 4 the only Mongolian decorations showing Lenin (or any other Soviet Union) leader? What made them put Lenin's profile on these badges, any idea? Sergei

Mondvor, Is it not amazing what you can discover about your own family - parents, grandparents - the things they did not want to talk about, especially The War ... For some reason I feel very touched by this story. Thank you! Sergei

It is so nice to be wellcomed in the community! I would like to thank OoV for his kind offer to accentuate /improve the award and other members of the Forum for their contributions. I have to say that I find the positive response slightly overwhelming (and at the same time very encouraging!). Sergei.

Last page of the docs.

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The docs.

By way of introducing myself to this Forum, here's some research on the order of Red Banner, s/n 109635, awarded to Guards Lieutenant Salnikov Yakov Nikitovich, tank platoon commander of the 18th Guards Tank Brigade of the 5th Guards Tank Army. Military terminology is not my strength so it will take me some time to prepare a proper translation (and reconcile some inconsistencies in the docs) but the essence is as follows: Salnikov. Y.N., born in 1915 in Voronezh region, participated in the Finnish Campaign and the GPW, wounded 4 times (in other records - a light wound in 1941), candidate member of the Communist Party from 1944. During the GPW, was at the Western Front from 23.6.1941 to 17.11.1941, at the 2nd Ukrainan Front 16.10.43- 23.2.44 and at the 3rd Bielorussian Front from 26.6.1944. The Red Banner was his only award for the fighting at (here's the file has a fold and it's hard to guess), and also at the Berezina river crossing and the capture of the town of Volozhano. The details of his heroic action are so nice that I do not dare posting them until properly translated. The award was given on 20.8.1944. Lieutenant Salnikov was killed in action on 28 March 1945. Thanks to D. for the instructions on how to research an award and to G. for supplying the research. Sergei.