Dolf

Another NIB apparently Mongolia - USSR, with a date, 1989. Diameter: 24,08mm Dolf

Another NIB apparently Mongolia - USSR Friendship. Diameter: 25,18mm. Dolf

Ok, now for the NIBs. NIB apparently USSR - Mongolia Friendship. This one is quite larger than the other round Badges I'll post below and the one Ed posted above (which I also have). This one has a 36,50mm diameter, while the others are smaller, for example 24,04mm fot the one Ed posted above. Dolf

This one looks like a I 30 Bulgaria - Mongolia Friendship , but there are a couple of minor differences, including what seems a coat of arms on the white part of the Bulgarian flag on the I 30 on Dr. Battushig's book, which doesn't exist on my specimen. Dolf

I 29 Vietnam - Mongolia Friendship. Dolf

Ok, so let's add a few more of these. It's almost a test with a new Epson scanner 3490. Every scan I'll post below was done on 24-bit Color (the scanner allows up to 48-bit Color But I didn't think it was needed here) and on a low definition of 300 dpi (this scanner allows definitions from 50 to 12800 dpi, but it seemed to me 300 dpi was enough here). In 99.99% of the cases, rather than using the Auto Exposure I opted to use the Image Adjustement (only changing the brightness + contrast). Most of the scans will have a black background. I just used a method used by Bryan ("Soviet", one of our fellow members) which consists of keeping the cover of the scanner open and then make the scans with the lights off. It's the night here now, so no natural light. Well, the TV was still on on the same room but apparently didn't have any influence on the results. A couple of scans have a white backgroung, except for one case, these are scans of the reverse of some pieces. In these cases I closed the scanner cover in order to try to keep the entire area of the reverse paralel (at the same distance) of the glass so I could get the whole area focused. I guess I could get better results but I just got it so these are the 1st few tests. And I guess that's it for the technical clarifications, so let's posts those Friendship Badges that I believe haven't been posted yet. Ed, just as a side note: have you noticed that on the I 06 you posted above the 3rd letter is different from the pic on Dr. Battushig's book? Funny because I also have one of those and mine is exactly like yours, with the 3rd letter looking like a "H", while on Dr. Battushig's book the 3rd letter looks like a "C". I'm starting with those I can find on Dr. Battushig's book, then all the NIBs. First scan is of a I 05 USSR - Mongolia Friendship. Dolf

Thanks. Right Dolf

I was thinking of the same process used to remove stamps from envelopes, for example: steam (I believe is the english word). It kind of dissolves the glue. Just not sure it would work here because, 1- if some modern glue was used that would probably be quite hard to dissolve it 2- the process could damage the rest of the ink from the stamp Dolf

Only the picture is bad, right? (Apparently not even the slightest trace of the stamp on the pic! And the guy certainly doesn't look like a 1959 Mongolian guy should look ) What about the rest of the booklet, probably ok, right? Would that be too hard to remove the pic, btw? Dolf

You obviously mean a yellow star. Dolf

Right, also got the same, from "World of Medals". But who the heck is this "WoM"?!... And how did he get everybody's email addresses?!... A member here? A guest-spy?!... It strongly smells like another scam Dolf

Wow! Very nice job, Scott! And some great pictures! Thanks for posting. Dolf

Some people are really amazing! What an incredible imagination This guy should be writting novels or any kind of fiction books, he might have a future in that field Thanks for posting it Kevin. A good laugh is often a good therapy even for an annoying headache Well the damn headache didn't go but at least for a moment I was able to kind of forget it Dolf

From this pic the red enamel doesn't seem of the same kind as the one on B 01 (am I right, Ed?), but anyway, it's still a very nice Badge! Congrats, Ed! Dolf

Dolf (Words, what for?...)

WOW! Simply breathtaking! Geez, what a beautiful piece, Ed! Congrats! Dolf

Dear Ed, I suppose there are a few reasons to explain this, among them: -I believe the number of Mongolian awards collectors is really small if compared with any others -Most of these collectors (including me) already have in their collections most of the types, variations, sub-variations etc, of those awards that they are interested in -The supply has substantialy dried-up, even from those more important in the source suppliers -AFAIK almost nothing really interesting has showed up recently (apart a couple of exceptions like that ORCB #4, S/N5 that you got) either on eBay or even from the two well known Western dealers These are just a few reasons that come to my mind. Obviously I could be wrong. A couple of new sellers recently started selling on eBay, an old one returned, but apparently nothing really interesting for a non-beginner. I would add that in my case I just can't afford those few items I'd still love to have in my collection, even if they were available! So if no news, no new interesting additions, what to post?... (Notice that I still have a few Friendship Badges to post in the thread you created for these, but being busy with other stuff lately, and anyway that is old peanuts stuff, nothing really fancy...) Just my two tugriks, Dolf

I've seen them with the star but first time I see one with the "C" Dolf

Thanks for alerting me to this one Kevin. As I told you on my PM I really have no clue, but one thing is for sure, I never saw that kind of clasp in a WWI Portuguese Victory Medal, or in any other Portuguese Medal btw. I'll send the pic to another guy who knows much better than me about Portuguese awards and will see what he may tell. Most probably, being a teacher he may be currently on vacations so we might have to wait some time before I get a reply, will see. Anyway, imho I don't think that clasp belongs to that Medal. Just my two "escudos" (former Portuguese currency before the Euro) Dolf

Hi Dan, I'm the one who is sorry for my far from perfect rusty english. By "being a vet" I meant the old man in the picture, sorry again for the misunderstanding. Oh yes, definetely too close, and what's worst, unarmed, which made me feel as fragile as a sitting duck! On the other hand, and giving it some thoughts later, I think maybe it was better I was unarmed, because a guy with a gun that shoots against other guys, sooner or later the "enemy" will shoot at you too, so... No need to be sorry, it was my mistake As a civilian in a city transformed into a battlefield, with the machine gun bullets, the grenades and rockets and even kattyusha fire all around, yes, I guess I was lucky surviving, many didn't The next morning after that day they fired at me, with my sisters we picked a lot of bullets on the floor on that area (it was just at the gate giving entrance to our home), and one of my sisters still keeps all that stuff. The bushes and the walls and the floor were full of holes in that spot! Sometimes when I visit her I still look at those bullets and think: "Gee, one of these could have my name on it!!!" Glad it didn't, otherwise I wouldn't be here now chatting Cheers, Dolf

Sorry, I wanted to reply to this before but I missed it somehow. I believe it was the old Red Banner from the RSFSR that was worn on a circular rosete, a piece of a red kind of ... paper (?) or was it cloth (?). Dolf

Dan, Sorry to disappoint you but I'm no vet buddy! Where did you get that idea? I was born in a country where a war began when I was five (Angola) and actually witnessed people kill and get killed at that age for the 1st time, then lived all my youth hearing about that war in the news (as well as other wars of course, such as Vietnam, etc), or from soldiers who had been in action, then a civil war started when I was 17-18 and it was total chaos everywhere in town, I can't count how many nights and days we couldn't get out and with the fear of being hit by the bullets flying all around the best thing to do was to crouch or prone and wait for the fightings to end in the safest place in the house... I remember one day I was out with a friend and when we came back to my place there were machine gun fights in the street but as we couldn't see the guys that were hidding in the gardens and behind walls, as for a couple of minutes there were no shots we decided to run the last few meters... Big mistake! One (or more, I just don't know as I haven't seen them!) of the guys probably ahead of us must have heard steps behind him/them and not knowing who we were shot a few bursts at us with his Kalashnikov... We weren't hit by miracle I guess, as we felt and heard the bullets flying all around us... Scary, trust me! But I've never even been in the Army, when the time came I was already in Portugal and the war in the colonies was over so they didn't need everyone to join and simply didn't call me, putting me on reserve. While still in Africa I almost joined one of the Parties, but before I did something stupid my parents put me on an airplane to Portugal, so despite I was used to war and guns (I could recognise by their sound if it was a Kalashnikov, or a Ppsh, or a G3 or a Uzi... you name it) and handled plenty of them that belonged to fighting friends or acquaintances, never used them on people or in a real fighting situation... Only killed a few animals but that was before the civil war and it was with my father's shotgun Cheers, Dolf

Yes, maybe those not on the grey cloth are indeed regular pinback pieces, probably not as devastating for his uniform as regular screwback ones. Or that's all the grey cloth he managed to get and there's not enough room for all his awards! Who knows! From what I read and hear about life in Russia these days things don't seem easy for a lot of people! These men and women who gave their blood for the Motherland would certainly deserve more!... Dolf

Being a vet, I've been told before by more experienced gentlemen on the hobby that they are allowed every kind of excentricities, such as not respecting the order of precedence of their awards, mixing awards of different periods, etc, so I guess that includes preserving his nice uniform from unnecessary holes (I suppose his low pension won't allow him to shop as often as Putin or from where he gets his suits ) by hanging them on a piece of cloth. Maybe he thinks that grey color fits nicely with the color of his uniform Or more seriously that's probably what he managed to get! Dolf

Most probably because rather than ruining his uniform with a lot of holes he prefers to hang his orders on some cloth I guess. Dolf