Soviet manufactured orders of other nations.

[RedBanner1920]

Are Soviet made orders of countries like Mongolia and North Korea a good investment? Some of them have a immense beauty but im curious threw out the years have they gone up in price and demand or have they always stayed at the same price level? In the past 8 years i have seen some soviet medals go up from 200 to 1,000 usd. Is this also the case with Mongolian and N.korean awards as well?

[CtahhR]

I just bought 4 DPRK soviet made orders which from their numbers will have been issued from 1949-1954 for $20 each delivered. I also last year picked up a screwback Mongolian Order Of The Polar Star for $30. I think the value is decreasing rather than increasing but using awards as a commodity will result in the same way as investing in any other commodity, they can go up as well as down. Right now investing in items without a practical use seems like a VERY bad idea to me.

[RedBanner1920]

I"m curious about value yes. But I'm more curious about demand of soviet made awards from those countries. For me personally i don't collect soviet awards so much for there value. I collect because i love the history and the beauty behind each award. If any of my awards go up or down a few bucks that still doesn't add or take away from the love i have for each of those orders. But on the other hand if i had the opportunity to get some soviet made awards from other countries I want to know that if a few years down the line if i want to sell or trade them that i can at least break even or make a few extra bucks and that these mentioned awards will have any kind of demand. I'm just asking a question as a person who has no real idea about medals and orders of the Mongolia/Asian genre but who is still curious to acquire some.

[CtahhR]

Maybe a survery would be a good show as to the popularity with members. I like DPRK and Mongolian awards but I don't think they are in the "priority" of most collectors. I'm sure if most folks have a set budget that they would go for the Soviet awards first and then the Mongolian or DPRK with left over money. With Soviet awards prices up and a general world lack of money I don't see their prices going up any time soon. This "depression" everyone is in may get worse and anyone can only speculate how long it will last. If there is an opening of the DPRK borders too the markets will also flood with their items. The Mongolian order I got for $30 the person had paid over $300 for not long before but that is just how things go. I suppose the best advise is don't spend money that isn't "disposable". I use my "beer fund" for awards and I've found that the awards don't flush as easily.

[RedBanner1920]

. I use my "beer fund" for awards and I've found that the awards don't flush as easily.[/QUOTE]


These days i never spend my salary money on awards. I generally buy misc. items at flea markets and re sell them on epay and what little i can make i will save towards which award i like. But even this method is dying these days as everything half way good in any genre people stick on epay rather then set up at a flea market.

Actually this raises another question. What do people in this forum think the future holds for soviet medals. Ive heard many opinions from the market will collapse on itself to medals and orders will sky rocket in prices again. I cannot see the future but in my opinion the market will dry up as time goes by and better and better fakes will be coming out all the time. So as time goes demand will grow greater even for even common orders. In 10 or 15 years time you cant say prices will be cheaper then now can you? I would love to hear some feedback on other collectors opinions on what the future holds for this hobby.

[deValcourt]

There is no point in even trying to guess when it comes to prices. I've said it many times before: something is only worth as much as you are willing to pay for it. That "you" can be somebody with no knowledge of the history involved, but has lots of money, in which case the price will be high, or that "you" can be someone who has a significant interest in the actual item for amateur academic reasons but limited funds, in which case the price will be lower.

As mentioned above, items without specific functions are not a good investment at any time, much less these days. Even if the world economy rebounded completely and overnight, people are going to be wary of "frivolous" spending for many years to come.

The supply and demand aspect (as time goes by, supply will dwindle) is valid, but there also has to be a corresponding rise in demand for prices to go up. Half of my college-level students think the Soviet Union was Russia and only Russia. The only examples of "communism" they know are China and after Palin's comment today - the new US (though to be fair she did say "socialism" and made a bad joke about Russia).

My point is, real historians - even amateur ones like me - are not a large group and as we get farther from the Cold War, it is less likely that droves of new people will suddenly discover Soviet history and want to know anything more than they got from their bad high school text books.

Sorry to sound so glum, but I think this is a valid point of view whether we choose to recognize it or not. However, certain types of awards will always have some value either based on their precious metal content or their reputation (Order of Lenin and KGB, respectively).

As for awards made in the SU for other countries, I can only say that from personal experience only, Mongolian awards will have value because of the quality involved. But remember, the Mongolians were more involved in the production of the awards than most and as soon as they had the facilities started to do the work themselves. As for other countries mentioned, I'm not interested in collecting anything from any region that is still openly hostile towards the rest of the world.

I also think that as more sellers from the former Eastern Bloc continue to get on ePay and sell off those items, the price will continue to drop - they picked the wrong time to suddenly start unloading the really good stuff onto the market when there isn't that much disposable income available.

All of this is my own opinion and is not based on much information other than my gut and what is popping into my head right now.

Phillip

[CtahhR]

Some more valid points there. As for collecting items from "hostiles" I think that is part of the thrill of collecting. Back during what here in England is known as the "Blitz", every child and a good share of adults wanted German goodies from Shrapnel to Clothing. Nearly all the GPW period German items I have were collected at the time when there was no need to make fakes apart from for film sets. Back in 1945 many defeated soldiers were VERY happy to trade their awards and uniforms for food, in the future maybe "defeated" collectors will feel the same.

[EricFG]

Originally Posted by REDBANNER1920

Actually this raises another question. What do people in this forum think the future holds for soviet medals. Ive heard many opinions from the market will collapse on itself to medals and orders will sky rocket in prices again.

I don't think so. Depending on the global economy I expect things to remain fairly static, except for the high-end stuff. There always seems to be a demand for that.

[deValcourt]

Originally Posted by EricFG

I don't think so. Depending on the global economy I expect things to remain fairly static, except for the high-end stuff. There always seems to be a demand for that.

Yeah, what he said.

Phillip

[Eryk]

Small market, obscure product, entirely discretionary, that sums us up. Moreso the English speaking market than the whole world, though prices have fallen in Russia as well.

My sentiment is that prices still have a way to fall before they stabalize, such as that is. Prices have never been really stable, what with the world wide market. Wide range of prices for all levels of awards from what I've seen in the past decade. (No experience before that.)