NavyFCO

Reverses....

As Requested....

Sure thing! I'll post the scans up here in a little bit. Yes, he was with the Black Sea Fleet Aviation as a (as I remember) Regimental Commissar. Thus the reason he ended up as "head of security" at the Conference - one of those great "multi-taskable" Commissars! Dave

And that may explain why it was never researchable! I'd love to see the order book close up again, if you have a scan of it. Since I sold the group originally, I feel responsible for the fact that the book was fake and I feel it my responsibility to offer to buy the group back at the price I sold it for - $950. Dave

Try looking on eBay for the more common items: http://collectibles.search-desc.ebay.com/r...rchiZQQsaprcloZ Also, there are a number of reputable auction houses that have document/manuscript/autograph sales on a fairly frequent basis which often include a good number of Revolutionary War documents. Dave

By the way, the owner of this group was in a rather famous photo that probably most of you have seen. Here it is, with him highlighted on the right. He was "head of security" for the Conference, and was nominated for the Nakhimov 2nd Class for this. Instead, he received his OGPW1 (talk about a pricey downgrade!)

By the way, here's a photo of the entire group...

Sadly, the sale of this group (for a whopping $1200) ended quite bitterly. I sold it on eBay to a collector in New York, using very clear scans (I can post them here if anyone is interested, but the one of the OGPW2 was part of those scans). The guy got the group and screamed about the broken enamel on the OGPW2, which I didn't state in my description (I figured it was obvious enough!) The buyer threatened to post negative feedback and smear me on a couple forums for being a dishonest seller unless I refunded him 10% of the purchase price. After going back and forth with him several times, he ended up getting group for $1080. Oh yeah... I sold that group three years ago... now imagine what it's worth! Dave

Here's a scan of the same OGPW2

And the reverse of the group....

Here's one that I owned in a group with a rather wild ribbon arrangement....

Reverses...

One last group.... Ushakov "100"...

Inside the book....

Here was another with document....

Reverses....

Another group. This one also had a Sebastopol, Odessa and Caucuses Defense!

Reverses.....

Closeups of the medals...

Here's one group I WISHED I kept... Imagine what it's worth now!

And the reverses - I think the chain was replaced on the leftmost one.

The Ushakov Medal used to be my favorite medal. I had a bunch... and sold them... and then couldn't afford any more! Back when I could buy them for $350-$400 each, here are some photos of the ones that I had...

I've had a couple thousand uniforms over the past 20 years, so here's my opinion... You CAN take it to the cleaners. IF the cleaners are competent and know what they're doing. Since this is as thin of material as it is, I would probably tend to stay away from doing that, depending on the level of dirt on it. Vaccuuming works wonders, as does a common lint roller. You can clean surface spots with a damp cloth and bit of woolite. As far as ironing, my favorite way is with an upright steamer. They are not too expensive, so they are a decent investment. Otherwise, what works well is a standard iron and a damp cloth. Cover the area to be ironed with the damp cloth, and then use the steam made from the dampness of the cloth meeting the heat of the iron to press out any wrinkles. This is also a good way to get rid of the "surface" dirt that collects around button holes and in folds, particularly with the older (Russian Civil War) uniforms that I normally deal with. For ironing the arms and collar, roll up a towel and use that instead of the ironing board to back the material so you don't end up with creases from ironing. Some folks claim that putting the uniform in the bathroom while taking a hot shower will get all the wrinkles out. From my experience, unless your shower lasts no less than around 2 hours, you're pretty much wasting your time with that method. Hope that helps. Dave

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