Before Yeltsin came to power, there was siege of the Russian parliament building in Moscow, or the 'white house' as I' heard it called.
A number of those who defended the building were awarded a medal for 'Defence of free Russia'. As far as I know there were only issued in silver, and are serial numbered.
However, I've seen them available in bronze, without a serial number. An example is attached. Were these also issued in bronze, perhaps a lower class, or is this a fake?
Well, according to some experts only the silver color is genuine and the bronze is a fake.
There were no classes to the medals, and original cost $90-110. I saw the gold color offered for $30.00.
The bronze is not a fake, but an unfinished mint product before Ni-plating. Apparently a bunch of them were stollen from the mint.
Interestingly, according to the Statute signed by Yeltsin in 1992, the medal was supposed to me made of tombac, but I have never seen one yet. Even medals with very low serial numbers are made of Ni-plated brass.
Thanks for your opinion, the details do look sharp.The thing that was worrying me most was the missing award number but maybe it hadn,t been issued, or do you know any other reason?
Eddie
Everybody's equal, But some more than others!
"Those who come to us with the sword - will be killed by the sword" - Alexander Nevski
