General questions/ comments on GDR awards

[Greg Collins]

Well, I just received Pickard's book- right on time- and have been pouring over it for the past couple of hours. Outstanding work at first glance! After I have the opportunity to fully ingest it, I'm sure I'll have more to say about it. One aspect which is somewhat disconcerting is the hiding of the identities of nearly 98% of those individuals pictured (I assume they were alive at the publishing). Other than that, and at first glance, a great book.

Yeah Taz, I will agree with your wife somewhat regarding the quality of East German medals- especially when compared with Soviet medals. But, with the exception of orders, the East German medals are generally way above Mongolian medals insofar as quality is concerned. The one (yes- one) East German medal I have that I consider surprisingly poor (for it's level of importance) in this aspect is the Kampforden fur Verdienst um Volk und Vaterland (Order of Merit for the Nation and Fatherland), Bronze grade. It's molded rather than struck and has a cloisonné emblem stuck in the center. Not crazy about that one at all; but necessary for the collection.