new world

here's real cross of the same PRL issue, you can see the difference in quality. William

Doc, I've never seen real one close, but your cross looks really sloppy. Just look at the place where top section is attached to the cross - there's bad soldering job. I would expect better quality on such high level award. Plus, this type being awarded less than 20 times, what are the chances of you getting real one? William

That case was supposed to host something like this (Civil Merit order):

You are correct, the case is from old royal stock. This was common practice to use tsarist cases and to attach sheet with communist awardname printed on it. William

sold for $430

Rivets are wrong as well. William

Captain Osipenko was recommended for the award for organizing crossing of the river. Basically he was in charge of three groups: First group attacked the enemy and engaged him in combat to shift attention from other two groups. Second group was building engineering communications to cross the river. Finannly third group was working on the enemy's minefield, deactivating the mines and preparing path for the Russian troups to attack enemy from other direction. William

He was initially recommended for Nevsky order and was given OPW 1st class instead. William

Crown and cross do not belong together. Green crosses always go with Czar's crown. William

Jim, I would not loose my sleep over such matters. The reality is - such practices were always common on eBay, but they were less apparent in the old days where there were more listings for Soviet items and they were not watched by so many potential buyers. From seller prospective - it could be good for him if he knows market value of the award. Imagine he was offered higher amount than he had in mind when listing the item. Also, he saves quite a bit on eBay final value fees. Such fees could be quite substantial if item sells for $4000 or $7000. From buyer prospective - I guess you can file complaint with eBay, but they rarely punish sellers for such practices. If he provides valid excuse - such as "item got damaged" or "it was determined to be a copy" - then there's little eBay can do... In a way it's the same practice as dealers scooping most of good deals at OMSA or SOS in the first few hours of the opening day, essentially depriving collectors of a chance to find decent priced items in the following days. William

You can buy several real tractors for that price

Jakov, was there a document with the medal? I've never seen an award doc for this medal, I am curious if it ever existed... William

Did you manage to take close look at his awards?

I saw this ribbon bar for sale, please comment on authenticity. William

Rare set - only 1200 medals awarded! Even more rare with ribbon & case. William

Very nice! Did you manage to get the documents to the awards? William

and finally his Victory medal book

Order books with name pages

Order book 2

Order book 1

Here's nice group with 3 Bravery medals to a Red Army Private, recently offered for sale in Russia. William

Lovely medal, no question! How much would it cost without enamel damage - $30,000? William

In case you still wandering, here's the villain who made the name Goering famous - Nazi Reichmarshall and Airforce Chief, top war criminal at Nurnberg - Hermann Goering.

Inside of Goering's group

I saw this group for sale and I had to post it here. Red Star awarded to Russian guy with last name Goering. Can you imagine having such last name during WWII???? William