Fake Restoration, Construction and Development Medals

[deValcourt]

I saw this one the seller on the auction site sent to me in a monthly newsletter. I have serious doubts about it (the ring, for one). The document for it is next (but the stamp appears to have the pre-GPW number of ribbons on it:(). Paranoid or is my gut telling me "No way" for a reason. These types of medals are not my area so I don't know what the price should be compared to what he is asking.

For the moment at least, these are the only pictures (which also makes me wonder):D. Oh, and "no returns accepted."

Thanks in advance,
Phillip

[Alfred]

Phillip ,

the ring looks okay to me. There are two variations of the medal. One with a bigger flat ring and one with a round ring.

Bigger pictures of the medal without ribbon would be helpful.

best regards
Andreas

[deValcourt]

Thanks Andreas. And I suppose that the stamp could be a republican stamp which would explain the lack of ribbons in the seal. $45 just seems too good to be true for a medal I don't see all that often and the document. I see many more unnumbered labor medals with documents for about $40-50, not these. However, I never really was looking for these either...:)

Phillip

[Stahanov]

The document looks good to me, too.

[Stahanov]

Thanks Andreas! I like the details, and the patina is very similar to the one pictured in Mondvor.

Anyone else want to take a shot at the authenticity of the medal in post #90?

[deValcourt]

Thanks Andreas! I like the details, and the patina is very similar to the one pictured in Mondvor.

Anyone else want to take a shot at the authenticity of the medal in post #90?

Is this what is referred to as a "thick gold wash" on the medal? My usual suspect is the ring. I don't know about the "deposits" on both sides of it, only because I have not seen it before. As for the medal itself, it appears that the wash has made some details less crisp than I would normally like, but again, I've never actually held one of these.

Sorry if this only makes things less clear for you.:o

Phillip

[Stahanov]

Phillip, I think the ring holds up to comparison with a real one. Check this out: Медаль “За освоение недр и развитие нефтегазового комплекса Западной Сибири”

[deValcourt]

Stah, now that I've gotten a good look at one (from the Mondvor site - thanks:thumbsup), I'd say it's the real thing. The surface wear on the smooth parts of the medal is very similar to the one you are showing here. It also has the thick gold wash and the same slight distortion of sharp edges of letters from the reflective nature of the medal.

Phillip

[Lapa]

Phillip,

Both medal and document are :thumbsup

As you rightly guessed, the stamp is definitely republican.

Marc

[deValcourt]

Thanks Marc. I'd almost forgotten about it.:)

Phillip