Prices/Value Discussion.

[Nota Bene]

Karlos,

I think back then HSU were selling for twice that much in Russia. Of course I may be mistaken.

I think it would be interesting if you could post prices for some of the awards from that period, just to compare with current prices.

Alexei

[d-riemer]

My experience in other collecting areas (e.g. stamps) has shown that, under normal economic conditions, prices are higher or at least not lower in the country of origin. The pressure caused by interest and number of collectors is greater.

There can be short periods of economic distress when owners must sell their precious goods in order to survive (e.g. Germany, Japan, Korea after WWII). I think that has happened in Russia in the 1990s, and since the economic conditions have improved, the price differential is returning to normal and items are moving back.

[Karlos]

Alot less information was available in the early 90's then today---and also I guess the internet growth has helped with communication, research, and pricing of items

Flipping through some of my old listings from dealers of the early 90's here are some prices they list:

Order of lenin--suspension--$430, $850,$600
Red Banner Screwback--$150,$240,$70
Red Banner suspension-$50,$48,$60
Red Banner #2 suspension--$122, $150
Red Banner #3 suspension-$315
Alexander Nevsky--$490, $310
October Revolution--$145, $175
Red Star--$28, $30, $13,$32
Patriotic War 1st class Suspension--$450
Patriotic War 2nd Class Screwback--$265
Patriotic War 1st class Screwback $250, $435
Nakhimov Medal--$465, $335
Friendship of Nations--$350, $280,$175
Order of Glory 2nd class--$288, $135
Order of glory 3rd class--$60,$35
Order of Labour glory 2nd class--$210
Order of labour glory 3rd class--$48, $45
Order of labour glory 1st class--$2700
Order for service to homeland 3rd class--$275, $195
Kutuzov 3rd class--$585
Bogdan 3rd class--$585
Motherhood Hero--$100
Hero Star--$600


All were for orders without papers

Prices were wild and great diffrences amongst dealers in pricing

Alot of negotiation room for some of the dealers---but again the information available was limited and prices reflected the limited knowledge

[Nota Bene]

Karlos,

Thank you very much for the information. Are you listing prices from several dealers, or are they for variations? It's interesting to see that eventually some prices came back to where they were back then.

Alexei

[Karlos]

Alexi

Prices were from 4 different dealer list

I found back then there was not the information widely available for types and variations as McDaniels book was not widely distributed back then.

Often times when meeting with these same dealers at militaria and gun shows the actual purchase price was much less

But in early 90's I was paying

October revolution--100-125
Badge of honour--25-40
Red banner---35-40
Red Star--20-20
Order red banner labour--25-35
Patriotic 1st class---80-125
Frienship of nations--150-200
Nevsky was out of my league back then as I had just graduated from university so the 400 US price was a little steep for me then when I had $25,000 in student loans to pay off also. Watched my father as I grew up and he collected brit, canadian, and german medals---he did quite well with them and managed to over double the size of our family home and pay for a inground pool with proceeds from collecting and selling----these were of course in the pre internet/computer days when personal contacts meant a whole lot more

Doccumented groups were in no way as abundant as they are now and were in no way as complete (with research) as they are now

I actually sold off almost my entire collection in 1994 to buy my first house (down payment) and have recently been replacing my collection with much higher end groups and orders as I have soem "mad money" again (following in my father's footstep iIguess). He is also a collector of soviet militaria and he "cherry picked" when I sold out in 1994---but is now very impressed with what I have managed to accumulate in the last few years or re-establishing my collection. Must admit could not have done it so fast and thourough without the internet----knowledge and communication ability speed eveything up---internet is key for todays collecting environment

[Nota Bene]

Karlos,

Thanks again for the list. I guess such extrems as $850 for the Order of Lenin on suspension can be explained by lack of information or high demand, but I still believe that at $600 that Hero Star could not have been genuine.

Alexei

[Tal Inbar]

Well, amazing thing - I just watched the final stage of an ebay auction, and the price was about $180, and SUDDENLY, some bidder was the winner - for $244.17!

Well, maybe he has more money than Knowledge....


Tal

Why not Order of October Revolution, # 23840 for $200??

[scook17]

So what about the Meritorious fighter pilot CCCP title Tal posted a while back. Herfurth recommends a price of around $330 for all of these type of awards. My 'Art of Russian Metal Miniature' book recommends $250. This particular one, with complete documentation, is going for $1250, some four times the Herfurth price.

Kind Regards,
Shane Cook.

[Tal Inbar]

What is going on with this order?

The price is climbing all the time. The order (with document), Type 2, was sold for $127

Order type 2 with no doc usually cost about $100-120.
Well, if the price reflects rarity, it is time to change the rarity!

(BTW, I picked 3 orders in Israel, for $65 each)

Tal

[Nota Bene]

Tal,

$60-65 was a dealer's price for this Order about a year ago, but now it's way up. I believe this can be explained by the growing price for gold and silver and the growing collectors community in the former SU. Basically the prices are up for everything except for the most common jubilee medals. If this trend continues we may have to re-think rarity for a lot of orders and medals.

Alexei