10-13-2002, 03:00 AM (This post was last modified: 10-14-2002, 12:18 AM by d-riemer.)
I have a corroded "1st Medal of the RSFSR" that looks as if it was buried for quite some time. The front with the image of the worker is more pitted than the back with the big text, indicating that the medal was pressed against something while in the ground.
Since this medal is faked a lot, I assume that the corrosion authenticates the medal. I figure that the medal was buried during WWII before the Germans came to hide any signs of support for the Soviet regime. This theory makes the aged medal more interesting than a perfect one.
"Right ok so apart from the roads,education,sanition, medicine,the wine,the aquaducts, irragation, the public baths,a fresh water system and public order, what have the romans ever done for us?"........
reg from life of brian.
just like to add that just because a medal looks loke its been in the ground for years does not mean its real fakes of the knights cross have turned up rusted burned and even with stories of a bullet having torn the cross in 2 so just watch artiffical ageing rust etc!!
"Right ok so apart from the roads,education,sanition, medicine,the wine,the aquaducts, irragation, the public baths,a fresh water system and public order, what have the romans ever done for us?"........
reg from life of brian.
Doesn't being a battlefield relic presuppose the awards were worn into combat and remained behind when the wearer did likewise?
I may be wrong here, but I've always thought that Soviet soldiers -- unlike their German opponents -- rarely if ever actually wore their awards into combat -- despite all the stirring images on the posters. The system, as I have understood it, is that the medals were kept under secure lock and key backl at headquarters, and were unlocked and reisssued when photo-ops were on the agenda?
I experienced the first Soviet soldiers in a town in eastern Germany that was occupied on Sunday, April 22, 1945. As a German boy, I had always been surrounded by German military and had developed a great interest in uniforms and decorations.
I remember that on this same day in the afternoon when the initial fighting had stopped, I was admiring for the first time the strange medals worn by Soviet soldiers that had just fought their way into town.
That the fighting was still heavy is indicated by the fact that there are several cemeteries for Soviet soldiers in my home town (and everywhere in the former East Germany) maintained by the German Government under an agreement signed at the time of re-unification.
I have a Leningradmedal that was found in the Baltic, I think. I'm not a big fan of dug-items. How do I know that it's not taken from some grave somwhere? I know that it's not always the case, dug doesn't mean: taken from grave. But how can I be sure? Supporting grave robbers with my money is not a nice thought...
The reason for few soviet dug-awards is probably money. Why get a crappy-condition dug Leningrad medal when a new one cost 5$? The really rare orders/medals are probably hard to find in the field. By the way I got my medal as a gift.
Kim's point about grave robbers is excellent. I also worry about this in my collection of ancient/medieval arrow-heads and mace heads.
Nevertheless, I do find that dug items have a great deal more history, especially if the location is known. I am a great sucker for the history/human story side and I would pay more than the standard "new" price for a dug medal with a good story - not so much more that it encourages lies though. What I would really love to see/get someday is a dug order (OPW II or Red Star or Glory III) with a number that could be researched!!
On a related note, I have a dug unit banner that I greatly cherish. It is actually not a unit banner but an award banner from the Komsomol to an Artillery Unit. The story is that a unit veteran went and found it (maybe he knew where it was left ??? or maybe that is too romantic a notion) and "repaired" it - the remnants have been sewn to a neutral backing. Only the last digit of the unit number remains but I am 95% sure I have ID'ed the unit based on long research and process of elimination.
