China Sino Soviet Friendship Medals

[Guest Rick Research]

That is another February 1951 no day filled in document but it is BLANK in Chinese. I've never seen one typed in in Russian before. I doubt the award paperwork is being faked-- yet.

Unfortunately that medal itself is one of the current tidal wave of Chinese fakes covering our poor collectors planet. It bears the absolutely wrong "shower curtain" material ribbon with incorrect suspension and is a nasty incorrect metal without enamel.

BAD medal.

?? document.

[ilja559]

Rick,thank for the answer. I know that a medal fakes, but has bought the complete set because of the document. Nobody can tell about doc???

[Guest Rick Research]

I've never seen one like that, typed details in Russian.

But it looks like it should be OK to me. Can you get the unit identified from the Military Post numbers?

[speedytop]

Hi Rick,

what do you think about this medal with (star)screw:

I assume, that it is a real worn medal.

Regards

Uwe

Edited December 11, 2017 by speedytop
double pictures deleted

[Ed_Haynes]

The use of a Russian-inscribed screwback with "St. Petersburg" would seem to suggest either pre-Revolutionary recycling or contemporary "augmentation"?

Edited September 23, 2007 by Ed_Haynes

[Guest Rick Research]

A brand new screw-disk to be sure, but looks like a perfect post-1953 medal, and the ribbon mounting itself would have to be old and genuine. You can't bend that brittle plastic ribbon covering on and off-- it splinters apart from age as is.

I have never seen that style of ribbon star before-- if you unscrew the disk, is the star on the screw post, so it will come off if pushed through? If not-- if the star stays on and is not slid through as a replacement unit with the screwpost, all that has been replaced is the screw disk. I've never seen one of these yet that didn't use some sort of pinback fastener, but in over 50 years of wear, I'm sure many an old veteran updated his own award's method of wear...

though I wonder if the screw-post on this is so SHORT-- flush with the screw disk-- that it could not have been pushed through clothing and then secured! That's why I wonder if the star/post are replaced for appearance and it could not actually have been WORN on any clothing.

[speedytop]

The screw is long enough, it could be secured behind the clothing.

But it had been partly recut for the new screw disk

And it is a worn medal, you can see it on the reverse.

Uwe

Edited December 11, 2017 by speedytop
double picture deleted

[Guest Rick Research]

Ah! A very nice recipient-made way to wear this medal!

[usairforce]

photos

[Guest Rick Research]

EXCCELLENT photo from a Soviet air force private and Yefreiter.

The message says:

"In memory

for service friend

Tum-Zi. Do not forget

our service.

From: Fedya Fadeev

15.4.1955"

[Bob]

Here's an issued (to a V.G. Shejko), boxed, documented one incl. photograph. No more info than this unfortunately.

Have been fond of this award for some time now and finally found the right one on eBay. Was at a dinner party a few months ago and the host had a picture of her father who was wearing this medal - somehow the conversation when off to another topic before I got around to asking all the details

[Ed_Haynes]

Very nice indeed. It would be good if the Chinese archives promised any research possibilities.

[Guest Rick Research]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

You've just made history here, Bob.

Right side up

This is dated

1

9

6

Year

8

Month

2

Day

That is the first

the only

post-1959 (when the mutual love fest turned back to periodic hate, as it always has)

dated one I have ever seen!!!!!

And the pre-printed "5" in the year is NOT present, so we now know that there exists

at least ONE

dated AFTER the 1959 relationship collapse.

Much better scans when this arrives, please. I would really like to know whether the entire year is written in, or the 1st three numerals are printed, as they were in the 1950s issues.

Oh my oh my oh my.

[Bob]

I feel endebted to the GMIC community - this site is really a big learning opportnunity.

Good thing Rick - it's arrived already

[Bob]

After a closer look - it doesn't look pre-printed to me.

[Guest Rick Research]

It's harder to tell there than where his name is filled in, contrasting the printed characters with the inked in ones, but it looks like

1

9

Year

Month

Day

are printed (as they were on the 1950s issues) and the third and fourth numbers of the year have been inked in by hand along with the numbers for the month and day.

Now if only we knew who this guy was!

You realize this Changes Everything, now?

1959 had always been the cut off date before, when the Bear and the Dragon almost came to blows again (as they always will, along that land frontier)...

but if 1959 was NOT the Final Year...

what WAS?

[Bob]

When I googled Shejko I didn't get an excessive amount of hits so perhaps on a rainy day I'll try to click through them, send some "do you know this and this person" emails and see what comes out.

Is there any formal documentation on this award anywhere? E.g. clarifying whether it was actually awarded in China or whether perhaps China just shipped off a boatload of these to USSR where they were "freely" distributed by the Soviet authorities?

[Guest Rick Research]

Well, BLANK, never filled in cased examples came out of the former Soviet Union in large numbers, which is why anyone buying one has always had to be very careful that the folded Chou En-Lai version award document WAS actually filled in.

That suggests these cased awards were IN the Soviet Union, for distribution, and sat long long years in a government cellar before being put onto the market 10+ years ago. Or it may be that the unissued ones WERE handed over, with the Russian entitlement slip like yours, and Chinese language documents simply left blank. But that suggests distribution by Russian rather than Chinese authorities as well.

All I know is in the 10+ years I have looked over every one of these that I see, there has NEVER been one dated after 1959 before yours.

[Bob]

All I know is in the 10+ years I have looked over every one of these that I see, there has NEVER been one dated after 1959 before yours.

Luck must be with the dumb (Dutch saying) - first time i really focussed on acquiring one and it was this exotic one.

As long as we all keep sharing on this site we should benefit - and who knows, some day more details will be uncovered somewhere somehow.

Probably most helpful would be to speak with actual recipients

[Ed_Haynes]

Two images of the medal in wear:

[Ed_Haynes]

Reverse:

[Ed_Haynes]

Another, softer focus alas:

[Ed_Haynes]

And one more, he was hiding. Also soft focus.

[Ed_Haynes]

Reverse.

[Guest Rick Research]

:Cat-Scratch: Where have you been hiding THOSE?

Air force Major General Vladimir Andreevich Krivko was attested on 9.2.54 by Deputy Commander of Unit 78488, Guards Colonel Semyan.....

The Lieutenant General dated 1978 is last wearing his 1958 Jubilee medal. Not sure if the single name is his or what: Verov.....

The Vice Admiral 20.11.55 is Grigory Ivanovich Tsch.... but once again the deleterious effects of shooting people with good penmanship and filling the higher ranks with officers who last attended school at the age of 12 is plainly evident in the appallingly illegible chicken scratches that passed as Soviet handwriting.