Eric Gaumann

And a "hot", closer up of the ribbon in question. BTW, any general observations about this bar are welcome. Thanks!

The reverse, for those who are interested.

Gentlemen, What is the bottom award on this nice, recently aquired ribbon bar please? The specific "ribbon" seems to be of paper while all the others are cloth.

It's kinda rare....the Yugo Army weren't that big..... Plus, they don't make 'em like that any more. Plus, they gotta be hard to find in the GWN (Great White North). They don't command a big price tag; $5 is an average price, and you didn't have to pay 5 to 10 for shipping so you're ahead there. IMHO these 'Elite Troops' badges, and the normal ones (w/o S&H) make great additions to Yugo ODM displays. They're nice and heavy, not thin, stamped metal like their Soviet bretheren.

I was gonna say, judging by the picture of the man's face, award to Soviet Navy boxing champion.

Fantastic set Jim! I, too, am a sucker for those worn-out ribbons. About that Bravery medal: throw that serial number into some of the databases around and someone might have it. Odds are low I know but they get better and better as our collecting community gets online. You might lucky.

I've seen those before. I'm no expert (I have only one Yugo ODM) but it's my understanding that those attachment types are of a later era. I'd opine that Yugo variations, beyond the 5 or 6 Torches, aren't collected heavily, mainly because there so few (ODMs, collectors and guides).

I like the fact that you've added the reverse image of so many of the orders. It's a great help.

Nice lid! One day, when I move back up north, and get a job that pays real money, and whole buncha other things I'm gonna get one of those hats for wear in winter. Seriosly. Much nicer than plain old ushankas. And those things have just GOT to be chick magnets! Is "papaha" the normal English spelling for that style of hat? I remember doing an eBay search months and months ago for a similar spelling and found a reasonable amount of said hats at (starting from) decent prices. (Not necessarily Soviet military issue lids I hasten to add)

Thanks again George! I appreciate your help so much. Yet another question: I've seen these medals with class designations: 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th classes as discussed above. I think I've also seen medals without such designations; they have a simple 3A храбрость. Any idea what's going on there?

Thanks so much for the help George. As an aside one of the stops I made today at work was a place called Saint George and the Dragon. My second question is that at one point did these medals come in two different sizes? The first and third classes were larger than the second and fourth classes, essentially making a large and small gold class and a large and small silver class. Is that correct? And at one point around the turn of the century did the medals all get resized into a standard size?

I'm trying to start a basic synopsis on the more common Imperial Russian medals and I'm having trouble with this one especially. I've seen what I believe to be near identical images of the medal pictured below as either the "St. George Medal" or the "Bravery Medal". In all cases the reverse carries the inscription "For Bravery" while the obverse carries either the Tsar in power at the time or an image of St George slaying a big lizard. Are these the same medals with different monikers, like the Soviet Combat Service Medal aka the Military Merit Medal or two seperate awards? Further questions will include why are some marked X class while other have no class designation, but for now the question above is what I need help with. TIA

Highly doubtful.

Thank you gentlemen!

Can anyone recommend a seller who has, or specializes in, Bulgarian ODMs? Thanks!

Well if nothing else I now know who *not* to buy from. I'm sure that doesn't make Bob feel any better but he at least saved someone else the headache.

The Green book kinda indicates early '44. The bar looks made up but nice nonetheless.

Thank you Christian for explaining that to me. I like the fact that it was awarded to Soviet officers as well because that fits in with my Soviet addiction. I've attached a close-up of the number and the hallmarks in case anyone is curious.

Gentlemen, I just aquired my first Yugoslavian Order; the B&U 2nd. A nice silver, 5 torch version. I was wondering what were these awarded for? What were the requirments to get these? Was it military? Poltical? Both? Neither? Would there be a rough equivalent in Soviet Orders? TIA

Thanks Rick.

Rick, would you mind if I copied and pasted your first image above into a thread I started at SMAP about images of early ribbon bars in wear please?

I heard recently, from a third party, that Andrew's very busy with personal stuff until the end of the year. I forget if it was work or school or what exactly but I doubt we'll see any updates soon. BTW, he's been silent at SMAP as well.

I sure hope not. I just received notification that a major German dealer has announced he's closing his doors at the end of the year. Kai Winkler, one of the German big three in Imperial and TR stuff, is out of business.

Thanks gents!

What's this? Currently on e, being described as "NORTH KOREA ORDER of MILITARY HONOUR CL3 . ... Pin Back with MAKER mark .. " Ugly....is it legit?