Red Star.

[desantnik]

I am curious about who was doing the engraving of the numbers. They are so "sloppy" that it seems that kids or teenagers might have been employeed for this job.

.

In defense of this poor, anonymous engraver, as a jeweler's son who has done plenty of MACHINE-engraving, hand engraving is a lost art that takes a lot of time to master. Don't knock it until you've tried it.

[jefflgarrison]

Not knocking it, the word sloppy was in quotes since Mondvor used that word to describe it in another thread.

But this "beautiful" handwriting seems to run the whole range. Looks like after a few thousand it would get better, no?

[Lapa]

...Looks like after a few thousand it would get better, no?

Jeff,

Don't forget, it is still handwriting; as you know, some people are simply hopelessly indecipherable even "after a few thousand" ;)

Marc

[jefflgarrison]

Funny thing is, those are the people that tried to turn their handwriting into a font back in the day when those kinds of fonts where a fad.

Interesting, maybe I will come up with a "MzPP" font!!!

[Lauri]

Hi Jeff,

check Mondvor site discussion forum. Some days ago i but a nice documented group with two Mzpp red stars pictures to this forum. This orders are given to one man and are number after number.... interesting.
In red stars forum i believe You find also lot's of interesting reading about MZPP stars.

BR,

Lauri

[Sverdlov]

Hello!

I have recently started collecting Soviet medals and orders and could do with some help.

I have two ORS and have noticed that the screwpost on one is 15mm whereas the other is only 10mm. Would the different lengths have been like that from the start? Or has someone made the screwpost shorter? Why would they do that?

Thanks for any information any of you can give.

[Alfred]

Hello Sverdlov,

a picture would be helpful.
Normally they shorten the length of the screwpost for better wear. Soviet soldier wore their awards also during combat missions on the uniform in World War II, so they shorten the screwpost for better wearing comfort.

regards
Andreas

[Hyperfocal22]

Greetings,

Thanks for allowing me to be part of your circle.

I have recently taken up an interest in Soviet medals; previously I have tended to concentrate on British and Commonwealth awards. However having married a lady from Volgograd my interests have moved over to this area of collecting.

I have just purchased two Orders of the Red Star from different sources, and both appear different to each other. I appreciate from my reading they may be just variations of the same, but at this stage it is difficult for me to tell. Having already acquired some very good British fakes, namely the Air Crew Europe Star. I would be greatful if the experts here could have a look at the attchments and pass an opinion on the worth or otherwise of my purchases.

The first star no 3678703 came on its own and is a slightly lighter colour to my other example, also the backing plate is much thinner. The second example 1856502 came with a booklet indicating the Order belonged to a Nikolay Rybko from the Ukraine. It also came with a couple of commemorative badges.

[Lapa]

Hyperfocal,

Both of your red stars look OK; of course, with scans of that size... Next time, try to take your pictures on a white background, and use a higher jpg compression factor, the end result will be more readable.
Your second star (1856502) is a MZPP production, a somewhat scarcer variation, with a distinct hand engraving.

Marc

[jefflgarrison]

Any of you out there that have MZPP "Red Stars", these are the stars with the funky writing. Can you send me Hi-Res images of the serial numbers?

PM me for the email address. I have 23 scans already and I am looking for plenty more.

Since there are 700,000 stars in this group, there shoud be more out there.

Thanks.