JapanX

Photo of the cavalier (made somewhere in Rome or Moscow )

Check out this piece #370. Practically mint condition - even gold gilt is intact on the perimeter of the coat of arms and banner which is simply impossible for actually issued piece that "was in use".

Obviously not all unissued 1940 pieces were melted ... And not all 1940 pieces were "hummerized" Regards, Nick

Or this disgraced (by same hammer and pretty long time ago - judging by the patina) unissued Labor Banner

Very few of these "shields" were ever awarded ... As far as I know many of them were stored in depository of Central Bank of Mongolia (together with "ordinary" 1940 Red and Labour Banners) for years. As for the famous recycling ... The real question is how many orders were recycled (I heard only numbers in kg`s) and what exactly this "recycling" means?! Actual remelting or couple of blows by hammer?! Usually these 4th awardings (that came into market) have enamel splits on the banner Check out this piece

"Was going through my miscellaneous Japanese collection and ran across" (copyright © Richard LaTondre) this tiny beautiful badge (only 12 mm in diameter!!!). This one has number 18 on reverse + mark pure silver and was issued by Kasuga branch of Association.

Hi Ranjit, most photos in this book are in portrait format (up to the waist), so naturally no cuff insignia is visible. Regards, Nick

Nice vases with familiar marks ;)

Cool story about Yong Zeng workshop! Many thanks for translation Gavin Do all these Yong Zeng products bear the same mark as Yong Zeng Striped Tigers? Cheers, Nick

Nice!!! Cheers, Nick

That's definitely something new! Could it be some kind of souvenir from military fraternization? Any info about when and where this photo was taken? Regards, Nick

Dream on! P.S. If it comes to that - if we could just get the ruble strengthed against the dollar! Come on guys! We can do it! :lol: