My first medals were purchased in 1993.
1. 60th Anniversary of the Red Army- 5 dollars
2. Order of Honor- 10 dollars
3. Order of Red Banner of Labor- 10 dollars
4. Order of the Red Star- 5 dollars
I was so happy to get so many high quality medals for under 30 dollars. I went to that gun show looking for German stuff, but it was way too expensive for me at the time.
I was able to eventally get some really nice stuff over time, before moving focuses:
1. Order of Lenin with Orders Book- 475 dollars
2. XX Anniversary of the Red Army with photo/award booklet- 200 dollars
3. Screwback ORB- 190 dollars
and many more.
I stopped collecting Soviet Orders and medals in 1995 and ended up with a lot of great groupings and etc. I am so glad that I kept them all. Ironically, even though I make much more money now, I would never be able to afford many of the items I have in my collection. I do have regrets in not getting certain orders and etc, when I could, but I am very happy to have what I do now.
Paul