06-09-2002, 09:12 PM (This post was last modified: 06-10-2002, 12:39 PM by Tal Inbar.)
The "memorial badge", made to make some profit in a very ugly way, is a known story. But, when you read this description (on ebay...) you get mad:
"AN ORIGINAL BRASS AND HOT ENAMEL BREAST BADGE ISSUED TO RUSSIAN NAVAL PERSONNEL TO COMMEMORATE THE LOSS OF THE SUBMARINE KURSK. COMPLETE WITH SCREW POST AND MOSCOW MINT MARKED BACKPLATE. MINT CONDITION."
While the whole idea of making money on this disaster is disgusting to me I can't really say anything about the badge. Most likely another fantasy piece, made in the Baltic states.
"Gold Russian Lenin Medal w/Ribbon commorating the 100th anniversary of Lenin's birth 1870-1970. Presented for Good Service to Russia." (just $10.00 as a start)
I think you are being a little too literal with the "gold" description. The medal is the "color" gold. It doesn't say that the medal is made of gold and does not even imply that. There are plenty of medal descriptions of "gold" in almost every other field of collecting and it does not mean that the medal is "made" of gold. For example, the German Close Combat Clasp in Gold, the American Silver Star (a gold star with a small silver star in the center.) The very fact that the price of the 100 Years of Lenin is so low, shows that he is not talking about gold metal content.
It's probably not my place to discuss English semantics :), but I think the seller would've avoided a lot of confusion by describing it as "gold color". After all eBay is an international market place.
You might be correct, but then again, this person was probably a product of the US public school system and asking for proper English from an American might be too much.;)
06-23-2002, 07:28 PM (This post was last modified: 06-23-2002, 09:28 PM by alconlon.)
The gold would be in reference to the the color and anyone believing the medal was made of gold would be a complete idiot.
No disinformation in the description unless the seller said it was made of gold.
I started collecting militaria at 14 years old and was taught by some old timers to obtain all the reference books I could find on what I was collecting.Now with the internet information is more readily available,so those that are too lazy to learn before they buy will get burned more often as to originality and paying a reasonable price.
I have noticed by looking at a number of major Soviet Orders and Medals dealors websites that prices vary widely for the same items.So it pays to investigate.
I disagree, I think it is the seller's responsibility to describe an item in every detail and to provide as much information about it as possible, and certainly try to avoid any confusion.
I also believe it is the sellers responsibility to describe things as clearly as possible, but the meaning of "clearly" varies with the knowledge of the seller. I would expect you or I to have a much more detailed description of a Soviet medal then just a regular person listing something on ebay.
