Glory.

[EricFG]

I was wondering, do the ring at the top and the serial number look good?

Yeah, was wondering about that ring as well. And some seemingly non-random wear.

[JensF.]

Here is one on a big medal bar of a defender of Moscow. I really should research this one; I think this medal bar wasn't put together:

[EricFG]

Here is one on a big medal bar of a defender of Moscow. I really should research this one; I think this medal bar wasn't put together:

Nice, worn medals and an old suspension. Brand new ribbons?

[JensF.]

No, not brand new. They show quite a lot of wear, but they are quite clean.

Nice, worn medals and an old suspension. Brand new ribbons?

[vpah51]

hello,
here is my order glory third class number 91478. I have no information on the award.




Richard

[Lapa]

Richard,

That is a nice one, definitely original :thumbsup

Next time, please post pictures of the medallion only, no need to show the suspension.

Marc

[EricFG]

hello,
here is my order glory third class number 91478. I have no information on the award. Richard

Nice patina! (sse my sig) Probably awarded in the summer of 1944.

[Henry Sakaida]

Back in 2001, I bought a Cavalier Order of Glory set. The 1st Class Glory was serial number 1XX, which was extremely low!!! I immediately started my research to make it "talk." Was it stolen or sold by the recipient?

I got the cavalier's military records from Moscow and it listed his address in a small town in Russia. So I simply wrote to him, explaining that I was a journalist and wishing information about his war career. I never heard back. I did not say that I had his Cavalier set. My hope was to have him respond, and eventually tell me about his medals. I sat on this case from 2001 until March 2013.

Then I had an idea. I typed his name in Cyrillic on google.ru (ru=Russia).
Bingo! Someone had written up his biography, and photos!!! The photos, taken of him in 2005, showed him wearing his Cavalier set!!! How can this be, when I had them, and they had been authenticated by Historical Research LLC (Paul McDaniel)??? I even had the guy's order book.

So, either Paul was mistaken and I had copies or the Cavalier had copies. In looking at the photo of this man, I could see that his Glory1st hung higher on the bar than the 2nd and 3rd. I took my set and saw that the Glory
1st was level with the 2nd and 3rd. So it has to be that the Cavalier lost his original set and had them replaced. I also learned that he died about 5 years ago.

I can't imagine the Cavalier selling his Glories. So I surmised that it was stolen and he got them replaced. Under the Soviet law, he could get them officially replaced if he could prove that they were lost or stolen. But the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and I got the medals in 2001. But I don't know if under the Russian Federation law, it would be replaced.

But since he had the lost ones replaced, I will keep these. It took me nearly 12 years, but I get a kick out of digging for the truth! This guy was greatly respected. If I ever go back to see the giant statue of Rodina in Stalingrad (Volgograd), I will make a slight detour and visit the town where he is buried and lay flowers on his grave. I can find his daughter, no problem. I hope to visit her as a journalist, and I hope she will tell me what happened to her dad's original Cavalier set!

[Lapa]

Henry,

Interesting twist of events! I can provide a few precisions:
. It is possible for a veteran, and in some specific cases for his/her family, to receive duplicates of Soviet orders, Russia as the legal heir to the Soviet Union has taken on its responsibilities.
. Given the quality of the photo showing the veteran with his set of OGs, I would not make any sort of supputation as to why his OG1 hangs higher that his remaining ones. There may be various possible explanations without even going into the fake option.
. Paul McDaniel is "only" a human being, and he has been known to occasionally make a few mistakes.

Marc

[Henry Sakaida]

Thanks to your comments, I am now determind to get to the bottom of this!
Gives me a big excuse to go to Russia again!