Eric Gaumann

With a face like that it's easy to see why groups like Cheka, Gestapo, CIA &c can be so successful in what they do. Then again it's dangerous to judge a book by it's cover. This guy might have been gentle shepherd and the father of a happy family.

"Order of Survivor "??????? Damn, a new medal to collect. Man, I tell ya what, those are two sweet awards! Talk about "minty".

This is the Khalkhin Gol? Sheesh, how can ya tell? I mean, I can vaguely see the flag, sword and horse, if I squint hard... Not that I doubt GZ got this and wears it it with pride...it's just so hard to recognize from this image. Y'all got good eyes.

That photo of Dmitrusenko seems vaguely familiar. I've seen it in some sort of "red" book me thinks.

Agreed. "Insurance value" is different, and almost always higher, than market value. Just watch Antiques Roadshow for a while. And Christian, thanks so much for showing what the different parts of a multi-piece order looks like. I see that maybe once a year here, there and at the other forum. Very rare and informative.

Wow! Nice! Holy Smoke! Super! That's what I call a collection. Can I come over to your house?

Hmm...that name rings a bell here...

So back to this particular e-seller; His current auctions, or at least the one I put an initial bid on are private auctions. Private as in "High bidder: User ID kept private". So there's no way to tell if the same guy has two (or more) registered IDs on eBay and uses one to sell and one to shill. I'm not accusing anyone of wrongdoing, and maybe I'm just paranoid, I have no proof whatsoever. But it makes me wonder (and not bid too high at all). Certainly in the West these sorts of business practises, if my fears are correct, are frowned upon. Maybe in other parts of the world it just part of S.O.P? Sigh....

I like the fact that the Michael's frames can be opened. Witht the way I mount my suspended medals I cn open the case and even take the medals out for study (or just fondling). But with the screwbacks they're kinda stuck to the mount, unless you take it off the wall and unscrew the plates.... And the Micheal's frames come in 3 or 4 different sizes at least. I did a store search for PQ. The closest (to Montreal) is in Plattsburg, NYS.

No. They are from a craft store called Michael's. Michael's is a large chain so there may be some stores in PQ. Or you could probably find the same or similar at a craft store chain by you. The frames are pretty basic, and made in China Dunno if the Indian River frames are wall mountable but I'd be surprised if they weren't The screwbacks are mounted through the backing. I drill a hole and screw them in place. With the pinback medals I put a thumbtack in the backing at a slight angle and slide the pin onto the tack. See my pictures on Art's forum for a better explaination. (PM me there and I'll link the thread for ya) The backing for these frames is some thick, stiff cardboard type substance. In this case I bought a piece of sandy coloured heavy paper and glued that over the backing to give it a nice color.

Those look a lot like rykers (rikers) although with a more rounded and pleasing form.

Wow! Cool. I wonder what it is?

It's got a TR oakleaf wreath vibe to it, too. What's the rear look like, mirror?

Not long after the framing I thought to myself how can I say 'this is a Mongolian collection' and so I found an image of a Soviet stamp commemorating something Mongol online and Photoshopped and printed it and then stuck it in the middle of my frame. Amongst others (Alexei, Jan, Gerd, Art, Rick, Darrel....) I'd like to thank Ed for helping me enjoy these beautiful Mongolian awards. Cheers mates, and Happy Mongolian New Year!

How do you display your Mongolian awards? Are they in a locked vault in the bank? Are they in a drawer in your desk? Are they stuffed in piles of yukky Rikers? Are they framed on the wall? Have you done something artistic with them to show them off? If you got something good show us please? Me, I like to frame my stuff and mount it on the wall. Mostly I like to collect (hoard is prolly more appropriate) Soviet and German ODMs but I have a small Mongolian collection that I thought I'd share. First is a shot of my four just after I mounted them in a frame from Michaels. I like this shot I took out at the pool mostly because of the blue sky background.

Interesting. What are they?

Too true, the first *and* the last. In any event I check in here every day or two, if only to check the lasted Ed-updated thread. Sadly, being a neophyte I have little to contribute. But the good news (?) is that I'm sockin' away some cash for a Red Banner (Combat or Labour, dunno which one yet) due mainly to the knowledge I've aquired here.

I have 4 very similar to these. I call them my "flaming Lenin" pins. They display well with my labor related items. Not sure why they were "awarded". Possibly on payday a good worker got one instead of a raise when times were hard? :/

You're more than welcome my friend. You in fact motivated me to drag my camera and my fat ass outside into the fresh air and sunshine..... I noticed that the hammer & sickle in the center of one of my OPW is misaligned (see below right). Is this common? Has anyone seen an order like this?

Nada. Zero, zilch, zip, bupkus.... ...on my OMM (OCV)-t1v2, OPS-t3v1, MoC-t1v2, HLM-t1v2sub1. They're all boring old plain screwplates. Somehow I feel slighted.

more closer upper

By popular demand.... 662170 443356

Anything special you want me to focus on?

Don't despair, I wander through here on a semi-regular basis and absorb with what few braincells I have left bits and pieces of knowledge.... Had I a bigger budget and more time I would try and contribute something substantial to the collecting field but for now it's just silly questions and observations. It does indeed. My sincere thanks.

Hi Ed, thanks for taking the time to spread so much knowledge around. Your helpfulness is much appreciated. What I was wondering is pretty general, I guess. From what I understand, and please correct me if I'm wrong, is there was once thought to be three classes of this award, in Gold, Silver and either Bronze &/or Copper. And at that point there were were two subvariations: mirror & flat reverses. Conventional thinking at that time, at least to me, leans towards mirror reverses being older (and of possibly) Soviet manufacture. But, as I read further in this thread, collectors are now of the opinion that there is only one class of this award and that the flatback (may) predate the mirror reverse. But then again, earlier images and opinions here seem to indicate fully gilded, partially gilded and ungilded-silver grades of the award (in addition to the "kriegsmetall" grade). Not only that but I see one or two very well-respected dealers referring to multiple grades of this award on their sales page. I'm just trying to get a handle on things as I surf the e-channel and consider spending money that really should be spent on things more immediate. Again, thanks for your help.