Order for the merit to the people/ Orden Zasluga za narod I. class 1st type / prototype.

[sinissa]

Don’t see a lot of interest in this topic. 😊

However I promised to be back in few days …

The statement (in expanded form) to which I promised to return was: ""The evidence that the boxes in which the orders were found really belong to the orders itself, is that the boxes are cut out on the inside in the shape of the order."

It could be true statement, that we are unlucky that the boxes of the real Order of Merit are also cut in such a way that this same prototype also fits perfectly into those boxes too.

Hereunder I am attaching a picture of the empty box of the Order of Merit II class, which shows a chamber inside a box whereas  the prototype (diameter of 49 mm, provided with a screw/nut fastening) could easily fit as well (box size 87x72x32).

 

You could also ask yourself: What makes the boxes shown in Danilov's book so different from the boxes used for real order?  Judging by the pictures - nothing. The displayed boxes, in terms of color, dimensions and inscriptions, fit into the large variation of boxes made in the period 1945-1960.

 

What is particularly strange in Danilov's book is the box shown for the class III prototype. This box is larger than the class I and II prototype boxes (probably size 133x93x23). The question that arises by itself is: why did they choose to present an order of the lowest class in the biggest box?

 

If someone has already made so much effort to make three different boxes, both in terms of color and dimensions, for the needs of the presentation of the prototype, you would expect they will expose a first class order in the nice shiny large box. But no – here is seems to be everything just opposite.

 

 However, the main issue is that if we want to consider these boxes as an “ultimate proof of prototype's YU origin” we first need to proof that these boxes date from the same time as the prototype itself: 1945-46.

 

I can only invite you to open Danilov’s book and judge for yourself of that big shiny box could be made in 1945-46.

My conclusion:  The theory of the boxes as an “ultimate evidence of prototype’s YU origin seems to be a quite naive thought.