Greg Collins

On to the badge. Brass with enamel and silver-plate. The sunlight was a bit harsh causing the ship and waves to appear brass- this is not the case; this is the patina of the silver-plate. A bit of the silver-plate has come off of the banner, but not too much. Also note that the badge back bears the mark of the Moscow mint; wonder why they didn't make this in Leningrad?

The grade sheet, front and back. Hard to read at this size as it is fairly large format, folded down to fit in the diploma, and is written primarily in pencil:

The outside of the license, the outer fold of another document (I'm unsure of what it is) that shows a graphic of the badge and the inside of the license:

A detail of the right side of the diploma:

Here's a badge I've had for awhile; re-found it while cataloging. One of those nice little items I thought I'd share. Got it in Israel, as I remember. Anyway, It's from the Leningrad Highest Merchant Fleet Engineering School and was awarded to Benjamin Solovei in 1981. Here's the diploma, grade sheets, license and badge- the whole kit. First the diploma:

That brown mass at the top of the back of the badge is a stray "gob o' glue". In this image note that the new banner is glued directly above the old banner. I love it!:lol:

OK, now for the fun part... apparently, a military academy was having a 20 year celebration and wanted a cool badge. Why not get some more mileage out of an existing design? And, voila! The same design, this time with no silver and three pieces! The soldier is now gold, the background remains gold and a third banner is made and glued over the background banner. Also, the new banner piece bears the "20" which sorta-kinda covers the "60" that was already there. Maybe this is why they left the maker's mark off the nut. Still a nice badge that inherits a bit of "cheese" when you know the story.

Well, so I'm back to the cataloging and, lo and behold, a couple of badges that fit this post nicely. So, here goes.

This is, without question, my favorite veteran badge. It is from Belarus and celebrates 60 years of victory in the GPW. Nice, heavy two-piece construction, gold and silver plating, nice enamel work. Just a really great badge. It is apparently, according to the nut, from an outfit called SZNS in Minsk.

The medal itself:

Next, the medal for "65 Years of Great Victory". Same quality as the previous medal... note the richness of the plating. Modeled after the Order of the GPW 1st Class and with that ribbon on the suspension. First the document:

Now, the medal... note the ribbon is also the ribbon of the Order of the Red Star:

These next two medals are either made or distributed by an outfit called "Comandarm.su" (they have a website). These are very well made, heavy and impressive... the enamel is spot-on (there are reflections in the photos- the enamel is perfect). The first medal is the first in a series that will be produced honouring "Commanders of Victory"- Marshall Zhukov. Modeled on the Red Star and with a very nice portrait inside the document. First, the document:

Now the medal:

I've come across a few unofficial veterans' medals I'd like to share. These are not Umalatova medals; I suspect these are made and then marketed to the various veterans' organizations. The first is commemorating 60 years of the Capture of Berlin, and is reminiscent of the 25th Anniversary of the GPW badge. A heavy alloy but with a dished-out back making it somewhat lighter, it shows the hakenkreuz (swastika) pretty clearly. First, the doc:

Hmmm, well, I suppose it could be explained in this way: the transition from Communism to Capitalism in Russia was, essentially peaceful, especially when you consider what happened in Romania. The Communist Party didn't go anywhere, as is evidenced by the seats it currently holds in the Duma. They were not accused of crimes or put on trial as the Nazis were- which not only was an indictment of individuals but of a system. In Russia, the monuments still stand, Lenin still rests in the mausoleum on Red Square, it is still called Red Square. In May, there will be a 65th Anniversary of Victory parade in Red Square- this year with units from the Allied nations (a first) and there will be plenty of hammers and sickles to be seen and, of course, the Russian holy-of-holys, the flag that was placed on the Reichstag. And, of course, we all remember Putin saying that the break-up of the Soviet Union was the most catastrophic event of the 20th century. Communism is just not the "boogy man" over there as it is in Conservative circles here- after all, it DID bring the serfdom that Russia was into the super power Russia became in less than 30 years.

And the medal...

Now, the "90 Years of the Soviet Armed Forces" medal, released in 2008. Modeled on the Order of the Red Banner, it's a heavy alloy with hot enamel and standard aluminum suspension. Beginning with the document:

The medal itself:

A couple more additions to this end of the collection. The medal to commemorate "90 Years of the Great October Socialist Revolution". Modeled, of course, on the Order of the October Revolution this is a heavy alloy with hot enamel and standard aluminum suspension. Note that the back bears only the hammer and sickle aspect of the logo. Released in 2007. First, the document:

Last for now (I have two additional medals in transit- will post when they arrive), the medal itself. Heavy, two piece construction (the portrait disk is white metal plated and attached to the base). Design definitely influenced by the Order of Lenin.

The next CPRF medal in the collection is for "140 Years of V.I.Lenin" issued around Lenin's birthday, the 22nd of April. First, the document:

The first CPRF medal in my collection is the 2008 issue, "90 Years of the VLKSM". Unfortunately, I do not have the document for this. Heavy one-piece construction with standard aluminum suspension.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the heir-apparent to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, has issued several commemorative medals. Insofar as I know, these are not awarded but, rather, sold to raise funds. These medals are NOT official, nor are they Umalatova medals. As I have already covered the "130 Yeras of I.V. Stalin" medal in another thread, I won't include it here.

It is worthy to note that, while United Russia holds the majority of seats in the Russian Duma, the CPRF comes in second with a little less than 1/4 of the total seats. Also, according to RT (formerly Russia Today), the CPRF has made new gains at more local levels recently.

First, the CPRF logo as it appears on the documents and on the backs of their medals.

Thanks, Carol!:D

Also no real military awards here- civilian awards and commemorative medals. Definitely not Securitate/Internal Ministry, but may be a civilian ribbon bar (probably Party member). As Kevin pointed out, two 25th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Country medals is kind of weird.