Soviet Soviet ribbon "collection"

[IrishGunner]

I am assuming that this is a Frankenstein ribbon bar, but I'm hoping to use it to learn a few things. It only cost $4.00, so not a lot invested. Here's the ribbons as I've identified them:

Order Great Patriotic War 1. Cl

Order of Red Star

Bravery Medal

Combat Service Medal

100^th Anniv. Lenin

Defense of Caucasus

Victory over Germany

20 Years Great Patriotic War

Victory over Germany

60 Years of Armed Forces

40 Years of Great Patriotic War

Veteran of Labor

50 Years Armed Forces

Veteran of Armed Forces

Valiant Labor

70 Years of Armed Forces

[IrishGunner]

A couple things I've noted right off:

1) The second VoG, 60th AF Jub, and 40th Jub GPW are smaller than all the others.

2) 40th Jub GPW and Vet of the AF are backwards.

3) The order of everything after the second VoG just seems to be out of chronological order.

4) If that really is a Valiant Labor in next to last position; shouldn't this be higher (and why would a Labor award be with the combat awards?)

[IrishGunner]

Now the back side; as we can see there is a cloth patch connecting three separate felt pieces.

Felt #1 has the first 8 awards - OPGW to 20th Jubilee (all the combat and campaign medals are in this group also).

Felt #2 has six ribbons - the 2nd VoG, 60th Jub AF, 40th Jub GPW, 50th Jub AF, Vet of the AF, and Valiant Labor (a quite odd grouping and seemingly out of order).

Felt #3 has two ribbons - Vet of Labor and 70th Jub AF (these are on top of each other to fill in the corner when the 8x and 6x pieces were attached).

So, with this construction, it is almost certain a Frankenstein.

[IrishGunner]

Now here's where my hope comes into play and a question:

Is it possible that the first 8 ribbons - OGPW 1. Cl, ORS, Bravery, MMM, Lenin 100th, Caucasus, Victory/Germany, 20th Jub of GPW - is it possible that this is a real bar that was attached to the other Frankenstein parts?

I know felt is a warning sign for fakes - but aren't there real bars with felt? Or is this just wishful thinking?

[Ferdinand]

This one is absolutely made up. The first VoG was probably intended as a Glory 3rd, but the order of the ribbons is just completely wrong, and add to that all the different sizes... But the first eight ribbons could once have been a good bar I guess. I don't see why someone would put so much effort in turning a $3 bar into a $4 bar though.

[Alfred]

This one is absolutely made up. The first VoG was probably intended as a Glory 3rd, but the order of the ribbons is just completely wrong, and add to that all the different sizes... But the first eight ribbons could once have been a good bar I guess. I don't see why someone would put so much effort in turning a $3 bar into a $4 bar though.

The bar looks okay to me. The two bigger ribbons are most likely added by the veteran himself.

The first yellow / black ribbon is the ribbon for victory over Germany and the second one on the bar is for the jubilee medal 25 years Victory over Germany. As there is no official ribbon the veterans used sometimes the ribbon for Victory over Germany.

Here are two examples with older plastic coverd ribbons.

On one suspension you find two of the Victory over Germany ribbons and on the other bar the last ribbon is the 25 years over victory medal (yellow - black)

best regards

Andreas

[IrishGunner]

Well, that's one vote AGAINST and one vote FOR.

The last two rows - last eight ribbons just don't make sense to me - even though I'm clueless about Soviet ribbon bars. Different sizes, backwards ribbons, odd order. Just seems as is = made up.

I really like the first two rows - first eight ribbons though. :whistle:

[IrishGunner]

This is another Soviet ribbon bar that makes me wonder if it's "made up". One ribbon is reversed (30th GPW); and there is a ribbon for later award (60th Armed Forces) that if are accurate would make one wonder where are the previous jubilee medals.

Caucasus and Konigsburg are unusual combo; along with both Victory over Germany and Japan.

Bravery Medal

Military Merit Medal

Medal for Defense of Caucasus

Medal for Victory over Germany

Medal 30 Years Victory GPW (reversed)

Medal for Victory over Japan

Medal Capture of Konigsburg

Medal Veteran of Labor

Medal 60 Years Armed Forces

But then again, why would anyone make up such a bar? The back looks good. Then again, the dealer just gave it to me as a "gift" because I've made several purchases (albeit small ones) from him. Oh, well, it was free and it's interesting. Good combo.

[RedMaestro]

Hi Rick,

That one looks good to me. The first one you posted looks iffy to me. I like your theory about adding on to a legitimate ribbon bar. Then again, I'm no expert on ribbon bars. If anyone could recommend a good resource (on the internet especially) for ribbon bars - how they were made, what general wearing habits were, how to spot fakes - I would really appreciate it.

On another note, I just looked back at the Soviet order of precedence for ribbon bars, and all I can say is "Huh?" Why are "capture" and "liberation of" WW2 campaign medals below anniversary awards? I thought the Lenin centenary medals in these bars were completely off, but it comes right between the medal for distinguished labor and the partisan medal 1st class. And why are 10, 15, and 20 years of irreproachable service below the 800th anniversary of Moscow? Back in the day, 20 years of service was a whole Order of the Red Banner!

Alex

Edited September 13, 2010 by RedMaestro

[Ferdinand]

That last one looks good. There can be several reasons as to why someone didn't receive all the jubilee medals. I've seen quite a few documented groups where certain jubilee medals are missing (and were never there). The ribbon for the 20 or 30 Years of Victory Medal upside down isn't uncommon either.

[Bill Dienna]

Alfred's post above answered a question that I had regarding a ribbon set that I have, specifically, why there appeared to be two "Victory Over Germany" ribbons in the set?

Was there actually a medal for the 25th anniversary of the victory over Germany?

I don't recall ever seeing such a medal.

Can anyone post a pic?

Thanks !

[Alfred]

Alfred's post above answered a question that I had regarding a ribbon set that I have, specifically, why there appeared to be two "Victory Over Germany" ribbons in the set?

Was there actually a medal for the 25th anniversary of the victory over Germany?

I don't recall ever seeing such a medal.

Can anyone post a pic?

Thanks !

Yes Bill, there was a medal for 25 years of Victory.

best regards

Andreas

[Bill Dienna]

Alfred....

Thank you very much !

I appreciate it.

I am familiar with that badge. I just had no idea that it was something more than a commemorative piece, and I was unaware that it's receipt was reflected by veterans on their ribbon bars.

Thank you again!