Albania Order of Freedom

[Bob]

No scans (yet) but let's keep them all in this thread so we maintain a "clean" forum:)

[Eric Schena]

This was one of the highest awardes in Albania. The Order of Freedom in the 1st class was the premier order - only the titles of Hero of the People and Hero of Socialist Labor ranked higher. Here's a 1st class made by our friends at Pr?wema:

[Eric Schena]

Here's a 3rd class made by IKOM in the 1940's. This one came cased in a titled cardboard box:

[Bob]

Difficult to determine sometimes... even 3rd class (?) appear to have some gilt.

When I received this one I was surprised to see it's relatively small unlike the tendency to make these Albanian awards rather massive.

[Eric Schena]

Difficult to determine sometimes... even 3rd class (?) appear to have some gilt.

Hi Bob:

That is definitely a 3rd class. The tip off is the center medallion: the third class was the only one to have that dark gray color medallion, the other two classes are light gray/bright silver in color. This color difference is even specified in the rules and regs for the order (well, the early regs at least, the later regs are not as comprehensive in their descriptions). In any event, I do love these IKOM orders!

Cheers,

Eric

[Bob]

A friend of mine recently returned from a trip through former Yugoslavia and brought back a nice metal plaque with the buste of Tito on a beatiful wood backing. I examined it and flipped it around to see the back... where it said IKOM to which I burst out with pleasure "ah, IKOM in Zagreb"

should have seen the look on his face when I explained where it came from... knowing this of course due to my interest in Albanian awards. This leads to the question: is the rest of the world crazy, or is it us phalerists which are crazy?

[Eric Schena]

This leads to the question: is the rest of the world crazy, or is it us phalerists which are crazy?

Of course we're the crazy ones - who else would go bonkers over communist Albanian medals Heck, my friends and family think I'm nuts to have even thought about writing a book about them let alone actually do it ("Why on earth would you do that? Who cares?").

Their loss

Cheers,

Eric

[Ed_Haynes]

We care, Eric, we care.

But we're mad too!

We're all mad here!!!!!!!!!

[Bob]

Here's a Prawema first and second class. Note, for identification apart from the Prawema on the screw, the little "nick" at 6 o clock on reverse. From the manufacturing process I guess.

[Bryan]

Heck, my friends and family think I'm nuts to have even thought about writing a book about them let alone actually do it ("Why on earth would you do that? Who cares?").

Eric, may I know where does your fascination about Albanian medals comes from? I'd really like to know!

[Eric Schena]

Hi Bob:

Nice set! I have noticed that reverse die "flaw" on other Pr?wema made examples of this order, and you are definitely correct to say it's a good diagnostic. I have seen some of these with IKOM screwplates and sold as IKOM versions, but the quality and that mark on the back is a telltale sign that the screwplate is not original.

Eric, may I know where does your fascination about Albanian medals comes from? I'd really like to know!

Hi Soviet:

I've always been interested in the less well traveled collecting paths (I have a rather large collection of medieval Russian "wire" coins that for most are usually seen as mere novelties, plus other obscure stuff). Going down well-trod paths does not lend itself to adventure or the possibility of the thrill of discovery. I have also had a very long interest in communist decorations and history, so I have been trying to put together a decent representative collection of Eastern Bloc decorations. When Soviet medals got too expensive for me - I have not bought a Soviet decoration in over 10 years save for a Victory over Germany medal to a Bulgarian - I went to other less expensive but no less historically interesting Eastern Bloc nations, but ran into the brick wall that is Albania. Finally, a couple of years ago, someone was offering a couple of Albanian medals (an Order "Red Star" and a Bravery Medal) and immediately got them. Then I started to try to research these things to find out any kind of info on them. That's when I found out there was next to nothing on them in the usual literature and what was there was wildly contradictory (look at the thread on the Order "Red Star" below for an example of that), plus they were only collected as curiosities of a bizarre Stalinist holdout and not treated in any scholarly manner. It also didn't help that until the collapse of communism in 1992, Albania refused to release any info on their honors at all. So, I started collecting info even more voraciously than the medals themselves to get to the bottom of it. That info collection formed the basis for my modest monograph on them. In addition, I strongly recommend reading up on Albanian history, in particular 20th century history and you'll rapidly find out how tortured that poor nation has been through its history, the wild characters (Zog and Hoxha in particular), the weird events, all sorts of stuff that is sadly neglected in the West. Many might find the challenge daunting but I have found it immensely rewarding and a whole lot of fun! My only hope is that somehow my little book helps to right some misconceptions about their decorations and in some cases (particularly the WW II medals) shed some light on the sacrifices that nation has had to make through its history.

Sorry for the long winded explanation

Cheers,

Eric

Edited September 25, 2006 by Eric Schena

[Ed_Haynes]

Thanks, Eric. Is is important for those of us with (what seem to some as) odd collecting interests to both understand and articulate why we do what we do and how we got to the interesting phaleristic niche where we reside (often feeling lonesome there). Thanks for taking the time to share this. (And keep up the good work!!)

[Bryan]

Thank you very much Eric! As a relatively young collector I started collecting Soviet awards 2 years ago and I have noticed the fluctuation in the awards prices. I am very interested in almost all ex-communism countries and so am I with there awards. However as a university student, collecting Soviet awards can be very expensive. I?m that kind of guy you spend some of my scholarships in my collection, but because I can?t afford some awards for now, I decided to jump into Yugoslavian awards for few reasons. 1. I?m interested in Yugoslavia history with all his nations and 2. They really have gorgeous awards in IMHO. I would also like also to collect Mongolian or Albanian awards, but I can?t just collect everything for I?m interested in for now. I hope I?ll have the chance to collect those awards one day, but who knows, they might be as expensive as Soviet awards one day.

[Bob]

Here's two IKOM order's of freedom. I tell you, those 3rd class ones are a bit odd because they do have some kind of goldish wash over them which makes it appear to be 1st class.

Note the nice screwplates.

[Belaruski]

Here's mine. Possibly another manufacturing variation?

The 'bowl' in the back boes not have a flat bottom as others appear to, but that may be due to the angle of the photographs, screwnut markings etc. But the Prawema screwplate is different to the above ones, with a nice beaded raised edge.

Again the central medallion is aligned with nothing but itself (like Albania!).

((and no small 6 o'clock position mark on the reverse))

Edited February 15, 2007 by Belaruski

[Eric Schena]

Hi Belaruski:

That's a nice older Pr?wema one with the larger screwplate and may be from the 1960's. The ones I have seen are the later ones that are not nearly as well made, so that is a good find!

As for the misaligned central medallion, that is not the first time I have seen that. I have seen a couple of Orders of Bravery made by Pr?wema from this period with similar misalignments. I guess quality control varied over in Markneukirchen every once in a while

Cheers,

Eric

[Eric Schena]

Oh, one more thing: I have seen some IKOM made examples of the order that have a light gold color but dark grey centers. Every statute with descriptions says that for the 1st class the center should be bright white/silver and the only class with a dark center is the 3rd class. In fact, the Pr?wema made 1st class examples show a bright center medallion. I suspect (but cannot definitively prove) that these are 3rd class examples with some sort of weird patination that makes it look gilt and that they are not true 1st class badges. That said, the jury is still out.

[bifter]

Hi!

My 3rd class has a greyed centre & a slight gold wash over the rest! My 1st class has a greyed centre, but the rest is DEFINATELY bright gold plate!!! Just like the misalighnments of the centre medallions, maybe this was just a daft mistake by workers grabbing from the wrong pile of parts.

There is no mistaking that the 2 examples in my tiny collection, are DEFINATELY a 3rd & a 1st class though.

I promise that scans will follow on ;as previously mentioned, i am having trouble getting help do them!!!! When i do you will be pleased with what you see!!!

[Belaruski]

Heres my set of all 3. The 1st class is the early Prawema one I showed earlier, while 2&3 are Ikom ones. Side by side the Ikom ones are 'finer' with sharper detail and a slightly less chunky feel, although that does sound vague! These really are nice awards.

[Bob]

http://www.dnw.co.uk/auctions/catalogue/lot.php?auction_id=320&lot_id=1581

Interesting UK group with an albanian award in it

[Georg14]

Good Day, Gentlemen.

What was the number of awards by different Albanian orders ? There is possible to find this informanion ? Thanks.

[Bob]

Eric Schena's PDF book had some directional estimates but they may in fact be inaccurate.

Probably the most accurate records will be available for Soviet produced awards. I have a Russian book on Albanian awards coming my way and suspect it may contain some directional info on this.

Also, the type 1 Skanderbeg 3rd class (ie the one with serial nr on reverse) probably has a directional indication of 1000 or so

[utopis]

That's actually something I'm interested in, too. Numbers of awards, I mean.

Bob, what do you think of the number given on this site: http://sammler.ru/index.php?act=Gallery&cat=1208

Though it says that these numbers are only until 1980 they seem very low to me.

[Georg14]

Also, the type 1 Skanderbeg 3rd class (ie the one with serial nr on reverse) probably has a directional indication of 1000 or so

Morning,

that is why I highly doubt these data (http://sammler.ru/in...allery&cat=1208). Especially there is no source of information and I think also these data are unreal or wrong.

Unfortunately other information I can't found anywhere else...

P.S. I have only Schena's 2nd edition is there a newer ? Thanks.

Edited March 19, 2014 by Georg14

[Bob]

By coincidence, I just received the 'new' book on Albanian awards which I was referring to. Unfortunately I don't speak Russian (and also unfortunately the authors appear to have ripped off pictures from this - and other? - online forums... incl. MY pictures) but there really does appear to be a wealth of information in this book incl. items I've not seen before, comparison to award systems of other communist countries, scans of Russian (?) archive materials regarding quantity of Albanian awards produced, etc.

Will review the book a bit longer in coming days.