Eric Gaumann

Wonderful stuff, Rick, like usual. :cheers:

That bar with Odessa, Sevastopol, Caucasus and Leningrad is suspicious, as is the three ORBs bar; I'd think at least one of the other two would be numbered.

I'd guess 70s era judging by the pin.

I think your are correct assuming they are made-up parts bars. Their value is just as individual parts.

Man, nice stuff there Paul. I especially like the para badge and the Merchant fleet badge.

That's what I thought at first as my Hungarian medal's ribbon has faded similarly. But my example's reddish parts are wider, extending almost all the way to the edge.

So a general, political nicknack then? If so it's nice. And cool. And certainly worth 75p. I like it!

Gracias Ricardo! What I like about this is the thin, steel backing bar and the thinner (height-wise) ribbons: that to me says 'early rather than later'.

I don't like the bar above. The missmatched ribbons sizes don't feel good to me although there is a possibility that they are legit. This one came in today from Riga, Latvia. The borders on the first ribbon are almost totally faded but I think I can detect a hint of yellow remaining making it almost certainly a CSM. I can't imagine what else it could be, possibley a BM but I doubt it highly. The second ribbon is almost assuredly a VoG and the third, without doubt is a Berlin medal meaning that this couldn't probably be worn much after the end of 1947. This has got an interesting thick plastic coating (which has lots of wear to it) and it seems to have been melted or heated at least around the corners to fasten it in place. Also, and most important to me is, the tabs of the ribbons on the reverse have no scratches on them which, to me, indicates that it hasn't been messed with at some point after 1947. Therefore, IMHO, this is a rarely seen pre-1948 ribbon bar for a common soldier; Ivan Frontnovik if you will. There were tens if not hundreds of thousands of these bars being worn in 1947. Many have been lost and most have been added to as the soldier or veteran was given more baubles from the Soviet State for his or her valient service. But this, I think, was worn for a very short period of time between 1944 and 1948.

With my limited Latin skills I decipher the obverse to be Francis, Austrian Emperor. And I see the date 1829 on the reverse. Maybe this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperors_of_Austria?

Man, that obverse image looks *so* photoshopped....

We can probably delete this thread now.

Some do. I'd give a 'thumbs-up' to a post-Soviet sub-forum. The one at SMAP is just too long and out of control. I'd suggest at least two sub-sub-forums: Russian Federation and Ummalatova.

I compiled a list recently based mostly on info from the The Red Book and the Mondvor site and I came up with 9mil for the labor version, 2mil for the military version and 5k for the foreigners version.

This site seems to be pretty good at explaining the differences. http://www.jdsworld.net/article/m_theresia_talers.html

Looks like you next to best case scenario. And at least you've got the medals. I once got a photocopy from the seller showing a signed receipt for delivery. Trouble was it wasn't my signature and the medals of course I never received. Filed a complaint with the Post Office and they just totally blew me off. Be very thankfull you got any type of feedback from them, especially positive (aka money).

What about the three lefthand ribbons looking so new and the four on the right having such serious fading????

A27 actually. But I get the picture already. They are no larger than, say, the Polar Star or the Mil Merit/Combat Svc. And it does indeed help, as does the speedy reply. Many thanks Ed!

Guys, what are the dimensions of a T1 Red Banner? Just height and width please. And it doesn't have to be exact. TIA.

On the first one I got В ПОМОЩЬ ВОЙСКОВОМУ ВРАЧУ ПО САНИТАРНО-ПРОФНЛАКТИЧЕСКОМУ ОБСЛУЖИВАНИЮ ВОЙСК В ПОЛЕВЫХ УСЛОВИЯХ to be FOR THE AID TO THE ARMY DOCTOR ON SANITARY-PROFESSIONAL NLAKTICHESKY SERVICE OF ARMIES IN FIELD CONDITIONS That one word's got me stumped though.

I think I'm kinda in the same place/stage as you Darrell. I started out, 35 years ago being "into" German and US WW2 stuff. But being a kid I could afford very very little; just got a few very cheap items. When I finnaly got some discretionary income I got the obligatory EKs and whatnot. I initially focused on TR but that got expensive. Then went to Imperial, and I got a pretty decent set of stuff (for my budget). Then I went to Soviet and went nutsola. Most of the early US stuff is gone or just collecting dust. The TR and Imprial items I still have and I enjoy displaying them. I just don't see me going back and enlarging that collection. Unless I hit the powerball and then all bets are off!! My thinking is I'd like to keep and display much of what I have. But, there is some of it that when, if the time comes when I really need some serious dough, I'll sell. Not without serious reservations, but will sell and enjoy the fruits of my collecting. To me these are just material things and they should take a back seat to serious attempts to improve ones happiness or lot on this planet. How about focus yourself and go that route but keep a few of the very best other goodies? Just in case.

The one thing I've found searching for Sovibars is that for every one that is the totally correct order there are at least ten that are not.

It is a CoK ribbon and it's much more greener in real life. It's just that the lighing conditions were a bit dodgey when I shot it, *and* I fiddled with it Photoshop. So apologies for the confusion. It does kinda look like a chocolate bar, doesn't it? :)

Here it is. I tried a side shot as well. Apologies for the poor image quality; it seems my photographic skills have desrted me for the moment. Plain dark green/black cloth backing.

Nice one Ricky! As you well know good bars are getting harder to find. Sadly I don't have any really fancy schmancy ones like your example but I do have one with what looks like aluminum foil under the ribbons. Lemme go get the camera out!