Chuck In Oregon

Yours looks like item 2504, page 521, in Avers 8. They show only an illustration. I infer from that it is rare or, at least, seldom encountered.

You're right. It is a Georgian TsIK badge from the 1920s-30s, item 2549, page 527, in Avers 8. I stand corrected and still confused. ​Not only that, I can't find my notes about this badge or the group I bought. I'll keep looking. Thank you. Chuck

I sold off my modest deputy's badge collection a few years ago. I could never find the scarce ones and I gave up trying. However, last spring I came across a small Abkhazian group that included, sure enough, an Abkhaz deputy's badge. I'll post the other things separately but I thought this deserved its own thread. Anyone else have any of the rare ones? The only others I kept are part of a 40-year set belonging to a former head of the Georgian KGB.

I'd like to share an aviation badge that I acquired a month or so ago. It is from the Democratic Republic of Georgia Air Force. The DRG existed from 1918 to 1921 and it must have had, I surmise, a very small air arm. The plane is an Ansaldo SVA-10, not one I had heard of before. Wiki says they had 10 Ansaldo aircraft in 1920. The two letters are a K and an A, for Kartuli Aviatsia or Georgian Aviation. The cross is a classic Georgian cross of drooping grape vines known variously as St. Nino's Cross, Georgian Cross or Grapevine Cross. This badge is not yet in my hands but it is in the hands of a close Georgian friend. There is an associated group which I have yet to see or pay for. I'm pretty curious. Enjoy

Could it be for Excellent Service in the Ninth Five Year Plan? Chuck

What TacHel said. You have a wonderful feel for stark realism. It may be time to put self doubt aside go all in with your talent. Not quitting your day job, I'm sure Don would advise against that, but putting yourself out to more important venues and galleries. Oh, did I mention my lack of qualifications to advise on artistic endeavors? As for me, I enjoy your art and I'd like to buy in at the entry level. I have one of Don's paintings (he is definitely not cheap) and we're negotiating on another. He lusts for a 1st gen Colt SAA that I own. I lust for a major work by him... but it is a really nice Colt. Good thread. Chuck

My good friend Don Prechtel is a well-known military and western painter. Your work is fantastic. I'm going to show it to him. Check out his site with the link. I think you'll like it, as will anyone interested in military and old west art, as well as a few other of his favorite themes. Do you already sell your work? Sorry, but this is all new to me. I hope you do. Chuck

Could it be that suicide in exile was the same as murdered in exile?

Well, THAT'S pretty darn interesting. Tell the story!

That would make an excellent screen saver. Great picture.

My thoughts exactly. Why bother?

Well said, Brian. I was a magpie collector for a long time before it dawned on me that there are other ways to collect. What interests me now are documented and attributed items and groups in certain areas, and individual items in a particular theme, say, like early Russian aviation. I'm starting to thin my collection of many individual items that are not in a particular field of interest for me or don't fit a theme that I'm collecting - even nice things - or, at least in a couple of fortunate cases, have become too valuable to hold onto without hiding them in a safe deposit box. No one in the family wants my collectibles or my guns or even my tools. I don't understand it but there it is. What's the point of collecting if you can't bore people with you new acquisitions? I'll sell some collectibles now and my darlin' wife knows to contact Paul Wood about the remainder when the inevitable comes about. In the meantime, I enjoy the heck out of owning and learning from them and participating on this forum and, I must add, collecting more things but with a more sophisticated eye. Maybe.

Paul Wood has had a chance to examine this piece in person. He offers the following opinion which, for me, will be definitive: The Navigation medal is unfortunately an electrotype, the obverse is inserted into a core containing the reverse and the rim and also it does not ring correctly as one would expect an original silver piece to do. It is quite likely, especially given the case, it was made during the Czarist period and may will have been made for display purposes, the electrotype would have been taken from an original example and therefore would not be distinguishable from such in an image. Unfortunately as such it is going to be of quite small value I had not previously heard of such a copy but that means nothing. I am grateful that Paul took the time to examine it and offer his opinion. Paul also has two of my other things in hand for the Morton and Eden July 2 sale. Getting them to him was not without its difficulties but he has them, has catalogued them and already shown them to some potential bidders. I'm excited about the prospects and I'll let you know more as things progress. I intend to send more for his December sale. Chuck

There is a similar one for sale HERE. No endorsement intended or implied. Chuck

Learn something new every day. Why not three? Chuck

Nice picture. I didn't know you could wear it on your uniform. In fact, I guess I thought it was a civilian-only award. Thanks for sharing this. Chuck

Aleksi Inauri died well before I first visited Georgia. He was a WW II Red Army armor commander and long-time head of the Georgian KGB. By the time I arrived in Tbilisi his family had already sold his things to a couple of guys who re-sold the important pieces at quick-sale prices. Damn. They did not seem to want to bother with the minor items so I relieved one of them of that burden in 2002. The minor items included a number of documents, some minor medals, some really good senior-level KGB badges with documents, some foreign awards, his ten consecutive badges with documents as a deputy of the Georgian Central Committee and this, his eight consecutive badges and documents as a Deputy of the Supreme Soviet. This is the entire trove of Aleksi Inauri items that I own. Well, not the entire trove but the other things that photograph well. I've been holding back on sharing these all these years. Don't really know why. I'll post a few of the others later on. Enjoy. Chuck