Medal Of Ushakov.

[Nota Bene]

Hi Everyone,

This one was listed on eBay at $49.50, and the auction was stopped before it had a single bid. It is a genuine post-Soviet Ushakov Medal.

Alexei

[Tal Inbar]

Post Soviet Ushakov medal with award document is offered for $265.00

It is interesting, the document is dated 1993, but has the Soviet symbol of the Russian republic...

Even more strange, there is no visible number, no mint mark and no line:confused:

[Ed Maier]

Tal,

OK, here is the skinny on post-Soviet awards. They fall into two catagories, 1991-1993 transitional pieces, and Russian Federation awards after 1993. The Ushakov medal is interesting in that it was awarded in both periods with very little difference from the Soviet award type.

The 1991-1993 Ushakov does not normally have a serial number. I say normally because I have heard of a few cases (i.e. one or two) that had numbers but I've never seen one with the serial number. It was made of one piece as well. The document pictured is the correct style document with the correct emblem for the Russian Federation at that time period. I do not remember the exact date, but the governemnt didn't officially revert back to the double-headed Eagle symbol until 1994 or so (give or take a year) and used the sysmol of the soviet Russian Republic for a few years. All transitional awards awarded between 1991-1993 have this document. These awards are hard to find when you consider how few were awarded in the limited time span.

The Russian Federation Ushakov medals made after 1993 are serial numbered on the left reverse of the medal, on a line with the letter "N". They are one piece construction as well. You will see several different "variations" when it comes to the anchor reverse (this is true of the 1991-93 awards as well) as sometimes the anchor is "darkened" and sometimes it is not. I do not know why this is so.

A price of $250 for the documented Russian Federation Ushakov seems low to me in that I was offered one from one of my suppliers about a year ago for $400 (wholesale). And the price of $50 for the transitional piece is a steal.

The prices on all of the new and 1991-1993 awards have softened in the last year or so, but that seems to be from a lack of interest from the collecting market (one of the same reasons Soviet prices have softened) but I think that these can be desirable in the future. I have picked up as many groups as I can of new Soviet awards and have a nice set from Chechnya and one from Bosnia.

I hope this helps.

Take care,
Ed

[Nota Bene]

Ed,

Great information, thanks!

I think the auction was closed for that medal, because somebody had offered a seller a better deal or he just made a mistake. These medals do not sell for $50.

Alexei

[Christophe]

Foreign veterans of World War II decorated with the Ushakov Medal

From the website of the President of Russia :

"Dmitry Medvedev signed Executive Order On Awarding the Ushakov Medal to Citizens of Australia, New Zealand, and the United States of America.

The list of foreign veterans decorated for their personal valour and courage during World War II while taking part in the northern convoys includes 190 Australian, New Zealand, and US citizens.

The medal bears the name of outstanding Russian admiral Fyodor Ushakov (1745–1817).

April 27, 2012, 11:30 "

Source : President of Russia

[slava1stclass]

Gents,

A nice gesture: Ill. Navy veteran gets medal of honor from Russia - News - Stripes

Regards,

slava1stclass

[Lapa]

Guys,

Interesting section that I had not noticed earlier. Unfortunately, not many decent pictures to illustrate the talk, so, let's get on to that.

As explained earlier, there are two types of Russian Federation Ushakov Medal:
. T1: not numbered
This first type is effectively the continuation of the late Soviet period unnumbered Ushakov medal. Unless the medal comes with its award document, there is no way to distinguish a late Soviet Ushakov medal from a T1 Russian Federation Ushakov Medal.

[Lapa]

For "comparison" purposes, here is an example of a late Soviet period Ushakov medal.

If anybody can come up with a way to differenciate this one from its successor, I'd LOOOOOOVVVVVVEEEEEE to hear it :D

[Lapa]

. T2: numbered
These are the latest type. They are very similar to the previous one, but have a raised Moscow Mint mark and a raised "№" and line over which the serial number is engraved with a rotating tool.

These are still quite scarce and info about them is very patchy, since most of the recipients are still in active service or recently retired. When available, they tend to be found without their award booklet, which is understandable since it (and not the medal) is necessary for getting whatever benefit linked to it.

For information:
No 264 was awarded by ukaz of 20/7/1996
No 1279 and 1289 were awarded by ukaz of 22/12/2006
The highest number I have seen to date is 3470

Marc

[Lapa]

To continue, a word about fakes and "Mint reissues".

First and foremost, FAKES.
As can be expected, these medals are faked quite convincingly. Here are a few examples of known fakes. They are all struck, in silver, definitely high quality production; the major telltales are the mushy mintmark and "N", and the hanwriting. Here are a couple of examples.