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Soviet Medals Physical Characteristics, History, Types/Variations, Identification, Collecting Stories, anything relevant to the collecting of Soviet Medals (Медали СССР) is here.

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Old 08-15-2005, 02:36 AM   #41
Laurent
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Does anyone know, if there is a difference of weight between these two variations? it could be a good way to determine authenticity...
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Old 08-15-2005, 12:07 PM   #42
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Check the mondvor site it will list weights.




Quote:
Originally Posted by Laurent
Does anyone know, if there is a difference of weight between these two variations? it could be a good way to determine authenticity...
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Old 08-16-2005, 03:39 AM   #43
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But I can't see any indication concerning the wieght of a genuine varation 2 medal... :confused:
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Old 08-17-2005, 06:33 AM   #44
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I don't believe the weight difference to be significant enough to be measurable on anything other than a precision laboratory scale. Gold plating after all being measured in microns of thickness and this would deposit such a miniscule total weight of gold as to seem to add no weight to the piece unless your scale can measure micrograms of difference. Most of the digital scales we get are OK to 100'ths of a gram but this would not do for this range of weight differece.
For the time being it would seem the color difference below the red enamel of the star is the only way to tell the difference.
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Old 04-06-2010, 07:30 PM   #45
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Gold-plated medals..Old question - no answers?

I've had this one for some time now and I've seen others that were obviously fakes (spray paint and the like). This one is an exact duplicate of my standard AFV medal in every respect - including the lip around the suspension ring. I have no doubt that it came from the mint like this. However, I have been known to be mistaken on ocassion.:rolleyes: What little I have found to read suggests these were given to retired high-ranking gents like generals or marshals, etc. Whether or not it is actually a gold plating, I do not know. What I can see is that right next to it in my display is my Combat Cooperation medal and they both have the same finish on both sides.

Has any concrete evidence surfaced in the last few years since the thread above ended regarding awarding and regulations for these?

Thanks,
Phillip
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Armed forces vet 1.jpg (42.1 KB, 23 views)
File Type: jpg Armed forces vet 2.jpg (44.5 KB, 18 views)
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Last edited by CtahhR; 11-23-2012 at 11:54 AM.
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Old 04-07-2010, 01:19 PM   #46
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re: Gold-plated medals..Old question - no answers?

There was a big debate on one Russian forum about those. Everyone agreed that this is a home-made ones. But there is a person, who mentioned his experience, taht he had seen those towards with usual ones and someone had to do to zavnachsclad (assistant of manager of the stock in army) :) don't know how to translate it right) a big favour to get one of those golden medals. The story took place in the Brezhnev times. I don't know how true it could be though.

And here is a page from Russian Avers 6 catalogue ( but anyway most people said it's a rubbish)
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Old 04-07-2010, 02:59 PM   #47
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re: Gold-plated medals..Old question - no answers?

It's one of life's great mysteries; like a sasquatch, the Loch Ness monster and the giant Pierogie of the Edmonton forest, it's pretty doubtful but one will never know 'for sure'. :)
Still, if given the chance I'd grab one.
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Old 04-07-2010, 06:36 PM   #48
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re: Gold-plated medals..Old question - no answers?

Guys
There is an answer :D - it is a homemade variation.
Gold plated medal does not exist :thumbsdown
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Old 04-07-2010, 06:59 PM   #49
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re: Gold-plated medals..Old question - no answers?

Quote:
Originally Posted by ericlida View Post
Gold plated medal does not exist
Well obviously it does since we've seen numerous examples including an image of one in this thread.
Methinks the OP here is trying to get past the speculation and find some sort of recent proof, one way or another, to explain the existence of this medal.
Surely, some Soviet soldier would have said "yes, I've seen these issued." or some faker will come forward and say "yes, I plated these, you fools."
Either way it's a valid question as we've not seen any gold plated veteran of labor or other medals of the late Soviet era.
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Old 04-07-2010, 07:46 PM   #50
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EricFG View Post
Well obviously it does since we've seen numerous examples including an image of one in this thread.
Methinks the OP here is trying to get past the speculation and find some sort of recent proof, one way or another, to explain the existence of this medal.
Surely, some Soviet soldier would have said "yes, I've seen these issued." or some faker will come forward and say "yes, I plated these, you fools."
Either way it's a valid question as we've not seen any gold plated veteran of labor or other medals of the late Soviet era.
"OP?" = "Ole Phil?";)

Of course I'm trying to get a more recent take on this age-old (at least for Soviet collectors) question. I am 100% certain this is mint production because of the way the gold plating is done (no bleed overs, no areas that look different) and like I said and will post when I get home, the finish is exactly like the Combat Cooperation finish - even the reverse; same shine and all.

There is one possibility that the guy I bought this one from a while back said that also makes sense. They could be post-1991 production from the mint specifically for sale to either high-ranking folks or anyone who would buy them. Since they were making the Combat Cooperation medals pretty much the same way, it wouldn't take much to add that last step.

I'm not saying these were regulation medals issued to anyone via the military, because that is ultimately my question; however, like I said, the quality is such that I am convinced these are not "homemade" and were in fact a product of one of the original producing mints. I have no proof other than my eyes and my sense of touch (and a strong 'gut' feeling).:)

But Eric(FG) makes a point. By now, since there are relatively few of these to be had, I wonder why no one has come out and admitted how, when and for whom they were minted?

Okay, now things are getting a little muddier under the camera eye. When taking the pictures of the Armed Forces Vet and the Strengthening Military Cooperation medals side by side (below), I noticed a few things.

1. The type of "stippling" on the reverse is markedly different - more than I remembered.

2. Since I do not polish any of my medals and I've had both about the same amount of time (mostly in plastic sheaths) I could see some of the base metal (zinc?) coming through in spots on the veteran medal - or it could be tarnish. It is mostly on the reverse that you can see this though there is a spot in the second picture just to the right of the hammer's handle and on the H&S surface itself.

3. The "depth" of the gold is clearly better on the SMC than the AFV specimen.

7. I still haven't learned the right settings on my camera to take the best pictures (the SMC on the right kept moving while I was holding the camera "steady":rolleyes:).

All that being said, I still believe it was a mint job because of the fact that to gold plate the border around the enamel star correctly would be practically impossible if the star was already in place. Under magnification, you can see that the gold color goes down inside the rim and at least partially beneath the star as far as anything can be seen - not something I can show in a picture.

So, I'm back to the same questions: for whom, when and why? I can easily imagine some guys in a mint being paid a little extra by a few colonels or generals with a little extra cash - especially in the tough economic times of the 1990s - to take a standard Army Vet medal and run it through a quick gold wash before putting the enamel in for the star. I know for a fact that some of the Moscow Mint workers made extra money by smuggling and selling unissued medals, orders and badges (I was on the receiving end on at least one occasion;)). However, to me, this does not diminish the beauty of the award - only the history (which is an entirely different kettle of fish for another thread:)).

Phillip
Attached Images
File Type: jpg compare1.jpg (44.7 KB, 22 views)
File Type: jpg compare2.jpg (48.0 KB, 26 views)
File Type: jpg compare3.jpg (38.2 KB, 21 views)
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Last edited by CtahhR; 11-23-2012 at 11:57 AM.
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