RedMaestro

I have to stand up for Nick here. 1. Nick has a great sense of humor, but one that some people find hard to digest. I can guarantee there's no rudeness or mockery intended. If you can't take those smileys right, well... 2. "We have yet to see your collection" - very childish challenge. Funny too how some "experts," whose advice has been gobbled up, never (or rarely) showed a piece of their own and weren't called out. (I respect their choice for privacy, personally.) Did I mention that Nick's primary interest is not Soviet awards? I do believe he's shown some non-Soviet gems from his collection elsewhere. 3. The point of the "eastern Ebay" threads is to educate, to show what's out there, to give people something interesting to look at. We've certainly had some visitors who can and do afford them. As for translation, that's rather a lot to expect of someone, very time-consuming just to provide for general interest. And there are indeed members who can understand the originals. I've certainly learned a lot from these threads and don't find them boring at all. If you do feel like dozing off, why not post something more interesting? 4. Regarding investment value - there are some economists among us who would probably very much like to see reliable, statistical proof that "it is true." Please do provide if you have it! Eric, if this is your present approach to the issue, I respectfully suggest rethinking it.

Thanks, All, for your thoughts I forgot to mention earlier that Ulanov received a 1985 OPW 1st Class, according to Podvig. Auke, I think the second theory can be safely discounted on the basis of the text that came with the photo (I believe provided by relatives). Translated, it goes: "Born in 1925. Mobilized in January 1943. Fought on the Leningrad Front in a sniper company [not quite right], was severely wounded. Rank - sergeant. Awarded the Order of Glory 3rd Class and other decorations." I guess strictly speaking the text would still be a true statement if he received additional 3rd class orders, but I think it's a good bet multiple awards would have been noted. The potential bureaucratic errors you pointed out seem very likely though. I've seen double Glory 3rd Class awardings before, but not triple. Has someone else observed this scenario?

April 1945 awarding. Looking forward to your comments!

February 1945 awarding, the only confirmed one.

Here we have the August 1944 awarding.

Gents, I'd like to share what seems to me the extremely unusual award situation of Sergeant Nikolai Frolovich Ulanov, whose Order of the Red Star – a 1960/61 catch-up for June 1945 – now resides in my collection. In this 1970s photo found online, Ulanov is depicted in civilian dress bearing, in addition to his Red Star, the Order of Glory 3rd Class, Order of the Badge of Honor, Medal for the Defense of Leningrad, Medal for Victory Over Germany, anniversary medals (100 years of Lenin's birth, 50 years of the Armed Forces, 20 years of victory, and veteran's badge on the other side), and one unidentified medal. Ulanov's military award record card confirms both the Red Star and the (one) Order of Glory, awarded by decree of the 135th Rifle Division from February 23, 1945 and received on-time. What is unusual is that Ulanov was recommended and approved for the Order of Glory 3rd Class on three separate occasions – August 1944, February 23, 1945, and April 7, 1945 – for separate actions. None of these instances acknowledged each other (no recommendation for 2nd class, no previous Orders of Glory noted, etc.). Documents to be displayed in further posts. How is this situation explained? Bureaucratic error? Something not shown by these documents? Perhaps I missed something? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Nice! It's sorta in the same spirit as this German recruiting poster.

Paul, the thread title is a little misleading. "Duplicate" usually means reissue (the recipient lost the original award and received a new piece, engraved with the old serial number, to replace it). "Double awardings" is closer to what you have in mind. I still think the recipient of the above group was a beetroot farmer.

No full scans yet, but here's an image of the full stamp/signature area and a description of what's going on: This is from a partial of a group of anniversary award documents to a KGB Colonel in foreign intelligence (the real spies ). The unit: http://shieldandsword.mozohin.ru/kgb5491/structure/1GU.htm or in English (and less technical) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Chief_Directorate The signature: http://shieldandsword.mozohin.ru/personnel/kirpichenko_v_a.htm Kirpichenko was both Deputy Head of the Main Directorate and head of Directorate "S" ("Illegal Espionage", or non-official cover). It was an administrative fact that if you held one post, you simultaneously held the other. Several additional medal docs are signed by other generals who occupied the same positions. The stamps on those vary, however. Some just have the military post, some are from an unrelated bureaucratic department. The question is, again, in this context, what does the "IV" mean? Does it indicate the Fourth Department of the First Main Directorate (Western Europe)? Does it indicate the Fourth Department of Directorate "S" (the Americas)? Or does it mean something entirely different (or nothing at all)? Unfortunately, despite the recipient's rank (high enough to lead some sub-department), I haven't been able to trace him. But then again, there are much higher-ranking KGB types who are even less traceable.

Rick, good to have you back Top secret. At one time in another place, at least. Seeing as I'm at a roadblock solving this one, I'll probably post later. Stay tuned.

Gents, Here's a scan of part of a military post stamp on an anniversary medal doc. There's this roman numeral IV after "military post". What does it mean? Would it indicate a department within the unit? Thanks in advance for your help!

Min $1500.

Auke, thanks for the excellent stats! That's the sort of thought process this hobby needs more of.

As groundbreaking as those two books were, respectfully, there are now a plethora of ways to obtain better information for free online. For types and variations, http://mondvor.narod.ru/ is a good place to start.

Like I said, my bad. I was in a rush and looked at dates rather than content.

My bad :/

Looks like the sale is starting to cause a localized uproar According to Vedomosti, there are only four cities it can be: Novomoskovsk Lvov Kharabovsk Yaroslavl

Fascinating. How does something like that come to the market? Is it even legal? Also, the covered name isn't much protection. There are so many ways to look up which city.

Thanks for posting, Rick! This is indeed a 25th anniversary award, but for the Socialist Revolution of September 9, 1944 rather than WWII.

Isn't the Red Star for Finland?

Good rates seem to be: $20 for record card by recipient name $40 for record card by award serial number $20 for citation $35 for "classified" citation (Afghanistan, etc.) $20 for service record KGB/MVD and even labor record cards are available if you ask the right people. I was told $60 for a record card. Unfortunately, I found that channel after paying significantly more to a lousy researcher. KGB/MVD citations are not available. Neither are labor award citations. Personal experience with the labor citations - I went to an archive in Moscow, submitted a request for the documents, and was subsequently told they are actually stored in a facility 2500km away.

For the record, a Nakhimov 2nd Class was sold for $45k at auction this month.

This one awarded to Admiral Amelko for the Zapad-81 wargames. Has it made its way into a museum? Sold in 2003 by a well-known US dealer for ... $54,000. Pennies compared to what it might achieve today. Outstanding thread, Nick. Thanks for posting "Order of Nakhimov, 1st cl., #107, 1981 issue. Comes with McDaniel authentication certificate. Most outstanding near mint condition: 10 out of 10 rating by Paul McDaniel. Authentication was done several years ago, and since then the order has received additional wear to the gold from handling. The wear is very light, there is no enamel damage and the order would still rate 9 to 9.5 out of 10 in our opinion. Issued to Admiral Nikolai Amel'ko in November 1981 for leadership during war games "Zapad-81", this is one of the two Nakhimov 1st cl. issued that year. These two were the last Orders of Nakhimov 1st cl. ever awarded. Both specimens are slightly different variation than the earlier Nakhimovs, and according to currently available information only 2 of this variation have ever been issued. The order comes with Xerox copy of the order booklet for Nakhimov 1st cl. (the only decoration listed in that document) as well as Xeroxes of 3 other award documents. One of them is a 1964 order booklet showing his WW2 era and early post-war decorations including Nakhimov 2nd cl. #8 and three Orders of Lenin. The other two documents are a 1972 booklet for Red Banner, 3rd award and a 1985 booklet for Patriotic War 1st cl. Included is also a compilation of his archival record. Admiral Amel’ko served in the Soviet Navy since 1931. After graduating from naval academy he worked in the naval intelligence until 1938. In January of that year his life and career very nearly came to an abrupt end when he became a victim of the Stalin’s purge of the military. In a rare reversal he was released from prison just a year later and was able to return to naval service. At the beginning of the Patriotic War in 1941 he was commander of the training ship Leningradsovet. With his vessel he participated in the Baltic Fleet’s desperate escape from Tallin to Kronstadt in August 1941. It was Amel’ko’s superb leadership and skills of his crew’s that saved the ship and all 200 men aboard under uninterrupted attacks of Luftwaffe. By 1942 he already commanded a squadron, first of antisubmarine net boats, and then of minesweepers and smoke screen setting cutters. In 1944 his 10th Smokescreen Squadron provided protective cover for dozens of Soviet convoys in the Baltic. During the capture of several islands in the Gulf of Finland in June 1944 Amel’ko was under nearly uninterrupted withering fire of German naval artillery and warships. His boats not only provided smoke cover for naval infantry but also engaged German self-propelled landing barges. For these operations Nikolai Amel’ko was awarded with an Order of Nakhimov 2nd cl. After the war Amel’ko continued his outstanding career in the navy. In 1954 he was promoted to Rear Admiral. During 1962-67 he commanded the Soviet Pacific Fleet reaching the rank of full Admiral by 1964. In 1979 – 86 he was Deputy Chief of General Staff for the Navy and in this capacity supervised war games “Zapad-81” (“West-81”). His “courage, selfless and high skills” during these large scale maneuvers earned him an Order of Nakhimov 1st cl. $54,000.00 "

Although it lacked full glory groups, I thought the rest of the selection was one of the most impressive yet offered. No? Does anyone plan to attend the auction or lot preview, by the way?

This is indeed a wartime variation. 1st Class wartime orders had several pieces, 2nd class only the hammer and sickle separately attached (see the rivets?). 1985 commemorates were one-piece. Check out Alex Filer's website or http://mondvor.narod.ru/OPatWar.html.