Hungary hungarian quality control

[bifter]

Hello!!!

I have noticed how so many Hungarian items seem to have faults!!!! Enamel that is too thin in places; rivets that are not secure properly; attachments that don't fit; cracks in the plastic or paint. Ribbons with bad flecks or missing threads!!!! This does not seem to have happened in the U.S.S.R. or afghanistan or poland etc... The same applies to Albania. I HATE waiting exitedly for a long awaited item, & then finding one or receiving through the post, one that is faulty. These faults are factory made.

[hunyadi]

Hi Bifter - I think you may be experiencing faults that happened to items in the late 1970's and into the 1980's. Generaly these were cold enamel work and the Hungarian Mint was experiencing the downfall of the Socialist economy. The other factor that I find causes such defects is actual neglect and wear. Most of the time these things were tossed into the drawer and forgotten about until the end of communism when they ended up in the trash only to be picked up by trash pickers to be resold at the flea-markets. I try to collect items from the early years when quality was much better - but even then the integral design caused many problems, take for instance the Order of Merit of the HUPR of 1949. The star has a massive convex to the star and the enamel, though of good quality is thin because of the design - wear it one the medal bar and it gets dinged around. When that happens you generaly see damage to the 5 o'clock arm of the star. Or just drop the thing once and the enamel is damaged. I have a bornze class that sat in my display case and just from the rapid change in temperature and barometric pressure - it popped a section of the enamel off!

[hunyadi]

the convex reverse

[hunyadi]

compare the enamel work from the 1970's...

[Gordon Craig]

bifter,

I have to second Charles on this one. Although enamel work declined in Hungary, as it did in other East Block countries in the 80s, a lot of the damage to Hungarian awards happens either in the home, or more often, in the Flea Markets. Most awards on the open market IE ebay etc, have come through a Flea Market at some stage. As such, they sit out in the sun, and all kinds of weather, totally unprotected from the elements. It doesn't take enamel long to deteriorate under these conditions. Unfortunately, digital pictures often hide enamel flaws. Here is an example of good enamel on an award that never sat out in the sun.

Regards,

Gordon

Edited June 18, 2007 by Gordon Craig

[hunyadi]

There are also some questionable storage practices of some dealers that will render many enameled pieces to be damaged as well.