rocketscientist Wrote:Hello. I have got a Defense of Leningrad medal with award document. The document seems having been mistreated by the former owners but, more than that, it looks of a lower printing quality compared to other awards I had in the past.
I would be pleased to have your opinions on the matter.
I have tried to add a link to a large picture of the document, but it simply did not work. I hope that the 100k images I am allowed to post will be sufficient to make your assessment.
thanks
02-19-2013, 12:56 PM (This post was last modified: 02-19-2013, 04:07 PM by Bill Garvy.)
Marc, you are being polite, and yes, they have gotten so much easier to identify now. Funny thing is I probably would have paid for the blank unissued original documents what is being asking for the "improved/value added" documents.
Unfortunately these images are far too fuzzy for me to see anything in the paper/printing. But I also can't find a ukaz of that date awarding anything to anyone, let alone to non-Soviets as this seems to be named to Dario Pérez Gutierrez (of whom I can also find no mention).
Perhaps he is a Cuban national given the date of issue. I am told this document might fetch in excess of $1000 at auction, which is more than I am willing to spend, especially if it is a forgery. Nevertheless, it is an interesting piece for exposition and discussion.
If the name is legitimate I'd say that over 99% it would be a Spanish Republican that was in self-imposed exile.
There were some cases where nationals of other ethnically white nations who ended up in the Soviet Union through whatever series of events took on fake Spanish identities to become a little less conspicuous but that's another story all together.
All I have to say about the $1000+ price tag is, some people must have money to burn. Even if legitimate I'd say more like well under $200, even with attached story of exile etc.
