DDR Order of Friendship - is it original?

[Lukasz Gaszewski]

I would like to know your opinion: original or copy?

[ÖSTA]

Hallo Lukasz,

I think what you have is a second piece - meant for everyday wear. Reasons being that the details of the Hammer & Compass are a little bit suspect! and the needle systen looks a bit too flimsy to carry the weight of, in this case, gold or gold plated metal or the silver version.

If you look at (maybe you have) the book 'Deutsche Orden und Ehrenzeichen' - Nimmergut/Feder/Von Der Heyde - Battenberg Verlag - 2014 - ISBN 978-3-86646-102-4. Page 177. Items 1022-25. You will see that this is an extremely rare award.

Hope I am wrong with my opinion on your "Stern der Völkerfreundschaft" Trotzdem, a nice looking medal.

Best wishes

ÖSTA

Edited August 31, 2014 by ÖSTA

[Gordon Craig]

Lukasz Gaszewski,

I haven't commented on your star for a couple of reasons.

1-The pictures are very poor. I usually hesitate to give a comment on pictures. One can only really be sure of something once you have held it in your hands;

2-I haven't taken the time to get my Gold Star out to compare because of the poor pictures.

I have never heard of a wearers copy of this award. As far as I know, when worn, the original was the one that was worn. The one comment about your star that I can make is that it has the early latch for the pin. If I can find the time this week to look for my star I'll do so and post pictures of it so you can compare it to yours.

Regards,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

Lukasz Gaszewski,

Here are pictures of my star for comparison to yours. For your reference purposes, I'll start with the cased award and move on from there.

Regards,

Gordon