Labour Honour Medal.

[Dolf]

The enamel ribbon for the Honorary Medal of Labor.

Dolf

[Dolf]

The cloth ribbon for the Honorary Medal of Labor.

Dolf

[Pravda]

Does anyone know why the third version of the Honorary Medal of Labor (A38.2) has a stamped serial? I have not seen any stamped serials on the Honorary Medal of Combat and I just wonder what the rationale was.

[medals73]

A more detailed nomenclature follows. Battushig'a A38.2 is what is given as a type 1.2.1 below.

Type 1.1.1 (Screwback, Mongol bichig, numbered “No.”) Low = 2/High = 1499

Type 1.1.2 (Screwback, Mongol bichig, SN without prefix, seperately soldered ring) Low = 1557/High = 11953

Type 1.1.3 (Screwback, Mongol bichig, SN with "No" prefix above the SN) Low = 10663/High = 10668

Type 1.1.4 (Screwback, Mongol bichig, SN without prefix, ring part of the medal) Low = 12001/High = 16993

Type 1.2.1 (Screwback, Cyrillic, impressed number) Low = 16785/High = 21645

Type 1.2.2 (Screwback, Cyrillic, engraved number) Low = ??/High = ??

Type 2.1 (Pinback, ribbon) Low = 22468/High = 36295

Type 2.2.1 (Pinback, enameled ribbon, silver) Low = 737/High = 4892

Type 2.2.2 (Pinback,pentagonal enameled ribbon, bronze, unnumbered)

Type 2.2.3 (Pinback, enameled ribbon, silvered bronze) Low = 23750/High = 25236

Type 2.2.4 (Pinback, enameled ribbon, silvered bronze, unnumbered, unawarded escapee?)

[Pravda]

Thanks for the detailed response! I asked because I was trying to establish if this was a more rare version of the medal and it doesn't look that way. Am I safe to assume the first Type 1's with the "No" are still the most sought after?

Can we expect a similar level of detail in the next book? If so, I think that would address many of the questions that new collectors have.

Cheers,
Will

[medals73]

Originally Posted by Pravda

Thanks for the detailed response! I asked because I was trying to establish if this was a more rare version of the medal and it doesn't look that way. Am I safe to assume the first Type 1's with the "No" are still the most sought after?

Well, when that first type (est. 1500 issued) is compared to a Suvorov 3rd class type 1 (est. 2760 issued) or a "Tractor" Lenin (est. 800 issued), . . . . And when/if/as research becomes available, those will have interesting tales to tell.

Originally Posted by Pravda

Can we expect a similar level of detail in the next book? If so, I think that would address many of the questions that new collectors have.

Cheers,
Will

Gosh. I sure hope so. And more . . . . :rolleyes:

What do we want to know? What sorts of information?

And, back to your original question, no varieties of the Honorary Medal of Combat have turned up with similar stamped numbering, though there is that odd unnumbered variety (not the recent unnumbered escapee variety).

For a while I had thought that the labor medal's stamped numbering was the same as the 25th anniversary medal, but side-by-side the numbering on the anniversary medal is much smaller.

One more puzzle, but likely just a function of a production run (maybe 5000 medals?) that was done up differently.

[Lapa]

I am not sure that it is proper to compare the numbers of T1 medals with that of Suvorov 3rd class T1, as there happens to be one MAJOR difference: the T1 Suvorov had to be exchanged for T2 due to a regulation change. T1 Mongolian HMLs did not face this type of requirement, and as such, survival rates will be radically different.

Marc

[medals73]

Originally Posted by Lapa

I am not sure that it is proper to compare the numbers of T1 medals with that of Suvorov 3rd class T1, as there happens to be one MAJOR difference: the T1 Suvorov had to be exchanged for T2 due to a regulation change. T1 Mongolian HMLs did not face this type of requirement, and as such, survival rates will be radically different.

Marc

True. I was merely citing sample numbers to provide some perspective.

But we do not yet know what the expectations were for the return and replacement of Mongolian awards as the designs were altered.

[Pravda]

These are all good points. The Mongolian medal market is surely going to continue to grow as more information is uncovered. I too wondered about the reissue question. Either way, I think I am going to have to put a Type 1 on my list for future acquisitions!

Cheers,
Will

[Urnuh]

Well, the change in the obverse inscriptions (from Old Mongolian into Cyrillic) or the change of the medal's attachment device on the Mongolian medals including the Honorary Medal of Labor (HML) did not result in the withdrawal of the older types and re-issue of the new ones. It was apparently very expensive to withdraw HML with Old Mongolian inscription on the reverse and re-issue new ones. On the other hand, the need to award the HML steadily increased (compared to a Honorary Medal of Combat) with the expansion of Mongolia's economy (from 1960s) and ensuing numerous labor achievements. Therefore, the Presidium of the People's Great (later People's) khural, according to archival documents, barely managed to have the medals ordered and produced at the Moscow Mint and also delivered to Ulaanbaatar. I have posted a copy of the Certificate of Quality and packing list of the HML issued from the Moscow mint on August 5, 1965. Such documents always accompanied the newly produced orders and medals made at the Moscow Mint. The copy of the documents are from the Mongolian archives, see the stamp.

BTW, the medal quantities and serial numbers of the medals listed in the document are for the part of the HML with the stamped serial numbers on the reverses.

The scan is just a part of the numerous documents that are made in Russian and Mongolian for this specific package of the HML. There are other documents such as official letters, invoices, payment certificates, etc. The same goes for other orders and medals of the MPR.

I can later provide the interpretation of the documents. My book "the Orders and Medals of the Mongolian People's Republic: 1924-1992" is based on such archival documents.