Bob

Just in the mail (haven't scanned it yet), same Master of Sports but with a more commonly seen (soiled) 5 sided suspension instead of the red enameled "knot" - handywork at home or a 3rd version?

Bump - for old times sake Not much happening in Mongolia collecting land so why not reread some old threads :cheers:

130291248413 well, the foreign one is on ebay now and the seller (same as who offered it to me) has dropped the price (starting bid) to 900 Euro... the pics may be interesting thoughts?

There's a nr 258 for sale on ebay for a whopping 950 USD (somebody's selling some major pieces of a collection) Reminds me to get mine out of the vault for weighing in a few days so we can do some comparison and hopefully establish some weight ranges

Perhaps provide Jani your www-address so he can use it as a reference?

Any clarity on what the deal is about two versions of the ribbon: - red/black as Eric posted - but I've also seen several blue / white versions

For the die hard enthusiasts, this may be interesting: http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot_det...178085&sid=

Interestingly enough, I dived into my collection of awards documents and found an odd case: - award document with the phrase "certificate" on it - yet ALSO with the reference to a decree number (in the same spot as where other "certificate" documents have a number (e.g. 1234) this document has "1234 i dekretit") Hmmm :speechless:

Thanks Ed The preview on this auction only shows pics and it was chockful of Albanian awards this pic so assumed this belonged to it - incorrectly clearly :cheers:

I see now that the link doesn't work (it does if you irst go to the site, click yes to the required tick box, and THEN copy the link) in any case, some batches of albanian awards in this auction and the blue ones at right hand bottom look, well, new to me (perhaps they are modern awards?)

Correctemundo (as Fonzie would say)

http://www.andreas-thies.de/aktuelles/1942-038-08-jpg.html Look at bottom right hand corner.

Yeah, scanning the site he has some very nice items. Also, can't feel bad about a dealer who puts an SB on his front page While we cannot provide scientific "proof", I hope he doesn't mind his Soyombo being discussed here. The soyombo offered to me (162) was purported to be part of a group (belonging to an SB which I bought a few weeks ago) but right now there was no document available. Am still hoping the dealer can trace down the award booklet and then we might be getting a step further... Soyombo is an area of concern / curiosity, that's for sure.

Here's the text / pics from the site: "Hero of Labour, Golden Soyombo, #114. Ref. Batt. #A3.1. Soviet manufacture, 23k gold, early 2 piece construction. Has perfect enamel and shows only small signs of wear. It was authorized for issue on July 2, 1971. A record number of 32 Soyombos were awarded that year, no doubt as part of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Revolution of 1921. 20 were authorized on July 2nd, and although research is not possible at this time, according to Khendemleh and Tomorbaatar's Names of Persons of Outstanding Merit (2007) it may have been awarded to Mr. Damdingiin Sosor. $9500" I will email the dealer to make him aware of this thread. For educational purposes and overall help to the collecting community, I think it's good to document these interesting cases.

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=3437...mp;#entry322750 Should have posted that in this thread in the first place

Here's another one, offered to me for sale recently

Hmmm, that price for an original sounds appealing to me then! :cheers:

Both the site, the info AND the pic of Soyombo... One just like it was offered for sale to me, no line under the number on reverse... hmmm http://www.thorsonmilitaria.com/Mongolia.html

Hi Eric - I read that little gem of a book while in Tirana last year. A fun read - both insightful and humorous at times. Makes you wish that you were born a lot earlier in history:)

I've ordered (a long time ago, and STILL waiting for it! every couple of weeks Amazon sends me an email on progress... or rather lack of it) the following book: Albania as Dictatorship and Democracy (Albania in the Twentieth Century) by Owen Pearson It's part of a 3 book series on the history of Albania which - for the Albania enthousiasts - will probably be very warmly received. While I've not yet read it, the praise for the book is certainly very convincing. How many Albania collectors are out there is a mystery to me... not that many I guess:(

Just read in the Economist about a new book worthy of reading for this interested: "The Bloody White Baron: The extraordinary story of the Russian nobleman who became the last khan of mongolia" by James Palmer, 288 pages About Ungern-Sternberg

Yep, let's say around 6000-7000 during the first period (1 certificate = 1 award) and for arguments sake another 7.000 during the second period (decrees will have multiple awards (impossible to say how often this occured, not many award doc's and even more rare to find them with same decree nr) but there'll also be decress on topics nothing to do with awards... which would imply potentially 15.000 awardings. If we assume the third period is post-socialist then we have a decent guesstimate for the area of our collecting interest. Best thing would be: more documents, and research! :jumping:

Stealing from an email exchange with the captain: Until 1949 - All awards were given by certificate number ( no decree ) - Observed numbers range from 1686 to 5473 - One certificate number = one award Starting 1950 - Awards were given by a decree number (no more certificates) with one decree corresponding to many awards and thus also awarded persons - It appears the decrees started to be numbered fresh again rather than continue from the last known certificate number - Open question: decree numbers ONLY relate to awards or are also interspersed with decrees e.g. to build a bridge somewhere, defend against the pending invasion of Albania by foreign powers, etc.? - A known example is medal for bravery and medal of liberation given to the same person with the same decree number 1948 date 25.10.1954 - Based on my list, roughly 7000 of these decree numbers (thus a multitide of actual awardings but unclear how many) Starting ? - One decree corresponding with one award

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=9341 A VERY different numbering style and also the screwplate is interesting. Interesting! :speechless: