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Guys, I spent a couple of hours on Russian sites, and didn't come up with much more than you did... Marc

I can't tell, I was just shown the medal, and told that it is "very expensive, about $20,000". Marc

Rick, The Order of 9th September comes only in 3 classes. There has been however different types and variations: 1st class: 66mm white-enameled star on both obverse and reverse 2nd class: 60mm white-enameled star on obverse only, reverse blank 3rd class: 60mm red-enameled star on obverse only, reverse blank There exist both a military (with swords) and a civilian (no swords) versions. Vithout going into the detail of all the subvariations, early 1st classes were neck orders, while 2nd and 3rd were screwback. Then, all went on 5-sided suspension. Marc

Guys, I think it is best to refer to numismatists, as they have now more than 2000 years of experience storing metals Anyway, here are a few links that I have collected over the years, as this seems to be a sempiternal problem: . Some general information about different types of storage solutions . Viking Cabinets . Mahogany Cabinets by P. Nichols . Plan for DIY Marc

William, I actually had the chance to hold this one in my hands and to examine it upclose a couple of months ago in Moscow. These are simply incredible!!! Marc

Rick, If I am not mistaken, two persons were awarded 5 medals "Za Otvagu" Marc

Paddy, I though that the question was settled, and that Ireland IS in Europe Marc

Christian, We'll be waiting with unabated expectation Marc

Christian, OK! You got that one nicely pinned down. Your turn. Marc

Right, guys, let's get the ball rolling again. As usual, this should not be overly difficult 1. What happened on 24 May 1940? 2. Where did it happen? 3. Who was involved? (here, you need to give me at least the names of the two main participants) Marc

Benten, As indicated, this is a Soviet star from the 1930's~early 1940's. It should be magnetic, as the base was made of steel sandwiched between 2 layers of brass. Marc

Christophe, It seems that we might have the same basic reading sources Marc

Christian, Here is some glue then: 2. Ursula (also known as Ruth) Kuczynski / Hamburger / Beurton / Werner 5. Swiss communist Pierre Nicolle nicknamed her "Petite Souris" (small mouse) to celebrate her success in penetrating and setting up a reliable spying network in Western governments. 6. She was personally involved with Roger Hollis who, later on, headed MI5. Marc

Christian, On 5 November 1943, 127 civilian and military railroad workers received the title of HSL Marc

There has been a lot of private museums opening up in Russia over the past few years. I suspect that trend to be implicitly "encouraged" by the authorities. Marc

Christian, I am sort of a multicultural chameleon, but I carry both Australian and French passports. Russia - Soviet Union - is a long-standing (and ongoing) love affair Marc

Anatoly, Could it be that the enamel was damaged then replaced? Marc

Congratulations Christian, you got most of it. I'll definitely give you this victory, but please complete a bit your answer: 1. Who is Sonia? Colonel of the Soviet Army Ruth Werner aka. Ursula Beurton http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Werner TRUE 2. What was her full name (given/family) and nationality? Ursula Ruth Kuczynski, German (sister of marxist economist J?rgen Kuczynski http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%BCrgen_Kuczynski ) INCOMPLETE give me all of the different Family name under which she was known; I was thinking of 'Nationality' in the Russian sense of the term 3. Where and when was she born / die? * 15th of may 1907 in Sch?neberg; ? 7th of july 2000 in Berlin TRUE 4. Who was her employer? What was her occupation? GRU - she had been one of the top-spies for the CCCP TRUE 5. What was her French sounding nickname? Who gave it to her? It was the surname of her husband WRONG 6. Name at least 2 (famous) people with which she associated Richard Sorge, Sandor Rado, Klaus Fuchs etc. etc. TRUE could you name one more (a specific one...) who got in lots of trouble when it was revealed who she really was Marc

OK, Guys, let's try for an easy one. As usual, a multipart question that require full details 1. Who is Sonia? 2. What was her full name (given/family) and nationality? 3. Where and when was she born / die? 4. Who was her employer? What was her occupation? 5. What was her French sounding nickname? Who gave it to her? 6. Name at least 2 (famous) people with which she associated Marc

Christian, Living in the former Evil Empire since many years (and having travelled there since the early 1970's), that bit of "common Western wisdom" is, IMHO, nothing more than an attempt at self-reassurance - what the French call "Methode Cou?". Fakes - of quality varying from laughable to very high - were produced in many fields (OMDs, uniforms, collectables, etc) as early as the 1980's, if not earlier. One must always keep in mind that Russians have their own understanding of what an original, a copy, a replica, etc, are. I addition, the Soviet Union promoted what I nickname a culture of the "real fake": copies of the original made by specialized masters to be as close to the original as possible. An example of this is the cap Lenin wore when Nelly Kaplan shot him; I have personally seen at least 3 or 4 "originals" in various museums, each one with, among other things, the bullet hole and Lenin's spilled blood looking as they should Marc

Guys, For what it's worth, I regularly see quite a few of these medals at the local club meeting although I personally never paid any specific attention to them. My impression is that these have been seriously "restruck", and not necessarily by the official producer... Marc

Christian, Here also, some clear, good quality pictures would go a long way helping to assess your beauty Marc

Christian, How about some clear, good quality pictures to try and solve that "mystery" Marc

Christian, I somehow did not read this thread before, so sorry for chiming in late. I am not going to talk value, as this exercise has already been made at great length. Your order is actually more damaged that anyone mentioned. The underlying star should simply be the silver one. The upper piece (with the medallion and the axes) should actually have all 5 enameled arms attached. In effect, the top enameled arm was somehow severed, an has been affixed to the underlying star as a convenient way to repair it. Now, I know that some bothersome minds will ask "But how do you know, you have barely posted anything on this forum". I once held such a "matrioshka" order in my hands and could study it upclose and in details, as well as several "regular" T2. All of them were as I described. Marc

Christian, Let me sleep on that one Marc