Bob

How about the Soviet Afghani medals and orders?

I guess they'd count. On the other hand... they were essentially Soviet medals/orders, right? I.e. USSR was "occupying" the country so it's not like Afhanistan (like Mongolia or DPRK) sourced them from Soviet mint purely for procurement related reasons.

Also as i remember war and early after war awards of Poland were produced in Mondvor.

Poland caught me by surprise - my limited exposure to them never gave me the impression that much soviet symbolism was used in Polish awards.

Love those Yugoslav stars by the way! I only have a 3rd class one of soviet manufacture (but WITH award document apparently awarded to a Russian).

Dear Ed,

as usual, you are right .

But there are some more interesting - and cheaper to research - items in my collection, which should have priority, I guess.

Best regards

Christian

Couldn't you just sell the house instead?

Herr Zulus - looking at your awards from your "my collection" thread. I'm stunned you haven't gone out to get research for all of these yet!

The stories behind them must be very interesting!

Thanks for the insight Steve. I guess it's about time I give Alexei a try then. I've always been extremely satisfied with the level of service when he was selling awards on a more frequent basis so good idea to also go with Alexei on research now.

Well, I've learnt to be patient with research requests. I have an order of red star out for about 2 years and still waiting... which is probably not a good sign Too bad as it's in the range of red stars awarded to Mongolians.

The one red I have managed to get researched took well over a year.

Wellll... Jr Lts got Glories too, right? Possible he was a pilot... MIGHT be a unit clue from the stamp on his photo. I don't think I've ever seen enlisted ranks WEARING ribbon bars, which gets me to wondering if he was actually a Ml. Lt.

Hopefully I can provide clarity tomorrow. One of the stamps of his other medals specifically mentions Vilnius and I believe may also indicate something related to the unit he was in.

Mail is off to Alexei - keeping fingers crossed!

Yugoslavia, during the war and immediately thereafter?

Ah yes, forgot about Yugoslavia. Have a partizan red star (with doc) myself - one of the Soviet made ones.

Any other countries?

+2

Unfortunately (or: fortunately?) Albanian awards hasn't been much of a hit yet with the rest of the collecting community but the few enthusiasts are sure to want to help!

It's clear that there's a substantial amount of Mongolian awards manufactured in Soviet mint(s) and this partially explains their popularity. Same is true for the earlier North Korean awards. Albania had limited amount of awards manufactured in USSR (in particular the partisan red stars - in gold / silver).

What other countries had (some) awards manufactured by the Soviets?

Thanks Rick - the whole package it will be then. I'll post a pic of Ivan tomorrow. Right now, looking at the photograph I don't have the impression a rank can be determined. He appears to not be wearing anything remotely similar to a "fancy" uniform although he does appear to have a bar with ribbons on his left chest.

Just a brave young Ivan with a nice group of battered awards.

Just acquired a nice group to Ivan Ivanovich Gannenko. Will be posting pics once back behind my scanner and then send details off for research. Here's what Ivan has:

- Medal of Bravery - 395994

- Order of Red Star - 774925 (missing from the group)

- Order of Glory 3 - 640120

- Order of Glory 2 - 30789

Above 4 are indicated in award booklet (with a rather unassuming photograph of Ivan). Added are some additional award docs etc. for typical jubilee medals. I guess (using gmic, no echoes of war in hand) that he was relatively late into the war and may have fought in Berlin.

So... am looking at Alexei's site:

Award Record Card - $25.00

Service Record Card - $25.00

Citation for Each Award - $35.00

I'm not so familiar with research - what should i be getting here?

If/when I get research, thread can hopefully move to the researched thread.

RECENTLY SOLD

pinback

- USD 1.870, nr 1.918, Nota Bene - JANUARY 2007

- USD 1.880, nr 1.785, Nota Bene - JANUARY 2007 (boxed)

- USD 1.950, nr 860, www.russianglory.com - MARCH 2007

- EURO 1.600 (roughly 2.100 USD), nr 1.183, www.huesken.com - MARCH 2007

- EURO 1.650 (roughly 2.200 USD), nr 1.514, www.huesken.com - JUNE 2007

- EURO 1.300 (roughly 1.700 USD), nr 1.246, private seller - SEPTEMBER 2007

- EURO 1.600 (roughly 2.200 USD - before fees!), nr 1.514, Andreas Thies October auction - OCTOBER 2007

- USD 1.850, nr 1.947, Nota Bene - NOVEMBER 2007

- USD 2.150, nr 1.837, www.collectrussia.com - NOVEMBER 2007

- USD 1.950, nr 1.437, Nota Bene - JANUARY 2008

- USD 2.000 (excl. 15% auction premium), nr 1,246, Dmitry Markov auction - JANUARY 2008

- USD 1.925, nr 902, eBay - FEBRUARY 2008

- USD 2.200, nr 1.617, somewhere in Russia - MARCH 2008

- USD 2.750, nr 1.635, www.collectrussia.com - MARCH 2008

- USD 2.750, nr 860, Nota Bene - APRIL 2008

- USD 3.200, nr 1.600, www.collectrussia.com - APRIL 2008

screwback

- USD 1.680, nr 644, Nota Bene - NOVEMBER 2006

- EUR 1.630 (roughly 2.150 USD), nr 585, Albert GMIC - MAY 2007

- USD 2.650, nr 644 (again!), Nota Bene - OCTOBER 2007 (boxed)

- USD 2.900, nr 640, www.collectrussia.com - NOVEMBER 2007

- USD 2.500, nr 777, somewhere in Russia - DECEMBER 2007

- USD 3.250 (excl. 15% auction premium), nr 427, Dmitry Markov auction - JANUARY 2008

- USD 3.225, nr 556, private seller - MAY 2008

CURRENTLY FOR SALE

screwback

- USD 5.000, nr 227, Coinsell (on eBay)

Yep - I have one more award letter coming my way for Bazhanov though. Apparently related to a chinese award.

Will post once in. Then to find what Chinese award it's actually for...

Kind of scary to watch these prices climb and climb.... when will this market implode?

I asked myself that same question when SB's got over 1.500 USD, 2.000 USD, etc. ... and now I regret that of course with current prices

Think we have a bit of an OPEC-like issue here... the tap can be turned on/off at will and dealers (especially at source in UB) are aware that just sitting on their inventory will get them a better return than any other investment will. Take the one screwback currently for sale... it was on eBay for 3.200 not so long ago and probably at that price the dealer would have made a nice margin... now he's saying 5.000 is my price, take it or leave it... because he knows, 2-4-6 months from now that will in fact be the going price and SB's with numbers around 200 are not easy to find.

Imagine what'll happen if/when research becomes available... let alone if research would turn out to be more than just a name and a date! It could cause substantial widening of the Mongolia collecting base and supply/demand will have it's effect even more...

RECENTLY SOLD

pinback

- USD 1.870, nr 1.918, Nota Bene - JANUARY 2007

- USD 1.880, nr 1.785, Nota Bene - JANUARY 2007 (boxed)

- USD 1.950, nr 860, www.russianglory.com - MARCH 2007

- EURO 1.600 (roughly 2.100 USD), nr 1.183, www.huesken.com - MARCH 2007

- EURO 1.650 (roughly 2.200 USD), nr 1.514, www.huesken.com - JUNE 2007

- EURO 1.300 (roughly 1.700 USD), nr 1.246, private seller - SEPTEMBER 2007

- EURO 1.600 (roughly 2.200 USD - before fees!), nr 1.514, Andreas Thies October auction - OCTOBER 2007

- USD 1.850, nr 1.947, Nota Bene - NOVEMBER 2007

- USD 2.150, nr 1.837, www.collectrussia.com - NOVEMBER 2007

- USD 1.950, nr 1.437, Nota Bene - JANUARY 2008

- USD 2.000 (excl. 15% auction premium), nr 1,246, Dmitry Markov auction - JANUARY 2008

- USD 1.925, nr 902, eBay - FEBRUARY 2008

- USD 2.200, nr 1.617, somewhere in Russia - MARCH 2008

- USD 2.750, nr 1.635, www.collectrussia.com - MARCH 2008

- USD 2.750, nr 860, Nota Bene - APRIL 2008

- USD 3.200, nr 1.600, www.collectrussia.com - APRIL 2008

screwback

- USD 1.680, nr 644, Nota Bene - NOVEMBER 2006

- EUR 1.630 (roughly 2.150 USD), nr 585, Albert GMIC - MAY 2007

- USD 2.650, nr 644 (again!), Nota Bene - OCTOBER 2007 (boxed)

- USD 2.900, nr 640, www.collectrussia.com - NOVEMBER 2007

- USD 2.500, nr 777, somewhere in Russia - DECEMBER 2007

- USD 3.250 (excl. 15% auction premium), nr 427, Dmitry Markov auction - JANUARY 2008

CURRENTLY FOR SALE

screwback

- USD 5.000, nr 227, Coinsell (on eBay)

Not at that price!

Though I've already GOT mine. Back in the days when nobody cared.

If they ever complain about not taking care of them good enough, I'll give 'm a loving home

Compared with other (non-eBay) auctions I've seen, the price isn't half bad.

Look here: http://www.russian-awards.com/Imperial.htm

this was on emedals.ca a few month ago (that's where it came from) for half the price...

Damn, would have loved to bid on this one

This is better than "order of respublic"

Elvis,another question to you:

You wrote Produced: Tirane,but it seems Soviet made medal.

I never see this quality in albanian made awards...

Same thought here. If there's a mint in Tirana, I'd love to visit it (if still existing) next time I visit Albania - which should be this summer.

Great

Sounds like it'll be an exhaustively detailed book on Albanian awards with lots of new info in it - exactly what all Albania enthusiasts will love!

Any insight into what it was awarded for - arts? science? etc?

the order of republic first class???

Are you sure?

Seems as medal for laureat of State prize.

Indeed - reminiscent of Soviet (and other) state prize's... but without a number

Hum, Bob, don't tell anyone, but North Korea has been on collectors' radars for a while now Stick to your first two suggestions.

Marc

Yep - but it's not (yet) reached the stage of $100 a barrel oil that Mongolian, Soviet, etc. have reached... I'm fearful of NK collecting though... Yemen / Uganda are much more contained areas of collecting I have the impression

And how long is that order been listed?

I personally don't take this seller and his price seriosly.

Why don't I list a SB for say $8,000 and see if anyone bites ?

The item's no longer listed on eBay so I thought, what the hell - send him an email and ask what's up.

He's now quoting 5K USD as a price and - to quote him - he's in "no hurry to sell".

Two things can happen... either we're in an SB bubble and eventually the local dealers will start selling off to get their investment back and prices will crash... or, this is a perpetual bull market for SB's. I suspect the latter, but feel free to offer me any screw back SB's for sale if you disagree