"Polar Star" Order.

[medals73]

Type 3

The common one, with Cyrillic legend. Has three varieties.

[medals73]

Type 4

Pinback, after about 1970. Just one variety (but see below).

[Nota Bene]

So far getting small bits and pieces :(

The PS numbering has been reset at least once, possible twice. Why?

Alexei

[Pravda]

Did they reset the serials when they switched from the 1936 type to the 1940 type? Also, does anyone know how many Polar Star were issued during WWII?

Cheers,
Will

[medals73]

So far getting small bits and pieces :(

The PS numbering has been reset at least once, possible twice. Why?

Alexei

Thanks again. Fingers are crossed.

From what I have now, it looks like the Polar Star numbers started over again with the 1940 type and started over again with the Cyrillic script type. Whether or not earlier awards were replaced with the new variety with the old or a new number is among the open questions. The tentative typology has some odd, overlapping serial number blocks, but this just makes me think they aren't real types in any menaingful sense, just meaningless production run blocks. An interesting question will be not so much where and when pieces were made, but where and when and by whom they were numbered. Awarding complicates matters, for I see no reason not to expect that the haphazard Soviet practice was followed and that awards were awarded when they were awarded and not always in anything close to strict serial number order. Only by accessing the registers in UB will some of our questions yield.

There are many MANY things that need to be known. What fun!

[Pravda]

I would like to pole the forum on the market price of a Polar Star, 1940 type. I have seen a lot of Polar Stars, 1940 type, for sale for $650 USD and up! This seems a tad bit high. What are your thoughts?

[medals73]

One well-known dealer (not in New Jersey) has (had?) one at $400 and had another at $230, while if you cross the westward border the price rises to $640. Prices in Ulanbaatar are rather lower, though supplies have declined. Pricing in Russia and China is more unpredictable and each of these sources carries its own set of problems.

I rarely think about prices. An item such as this is usually surrounded by much dealer-generated hype as to how rare it is and they further describe it as the "Uigur script" version, which it isn't, so you should take their descriptions lightly. There were maybe 3000 of this variety awarded and, by Mongolian standards, this is not especially rare. Many came out of the bank when they got a whiff of capitalism and sold off their stocks a few years back.

[Pravda]

Type 2 ca. 1940-41 - observed range 8-2878 (four sub-varieties)

Can you please elaborate on the four sub-varieties of the Type 2 and how to differentiate them?

Cheers,
Will

[medals73]

Can you please elaborate on the four sub-varieties of the Type 2 and how to differentiate them?

Cheers,
Will

Here is what I have, though it should be treated as very PRELIMINARY, as I have yet to fold in the information in Urnukh's wonderful new book.

Type 2.1 - Screwback; upward-curved МОНЕТНЫЙ ДВОР mintmark; Mongol bichig; SN at 6 o'clock near bottom - Low = 8/High = 2831

Type 2.2 - Screwback; downward-curved МОНЕТНЫЙ ДВОР mintmark; Mongol bichig; SN directly below screwpost - Low = 72/High = 2878

Type 2.3 - Screwback; no mintmark; Mongol bichig; SN at 7 o’clock - Low = 1562/High = ????

Type 2.4 - Screwback; hand-engraved МОНЕТНЫЙ ДВОР mintmark; Mongol bichig; SN at 6 o'clock near bottom - Low = 1710/High = 1776

Quite honestly, I doubt whether most (any?) of these are anything more than random "noise" in the production system.

[CtahhR]

Here's my Type 3 numbered 11005 which I picked up in either 2008 or 2009 for £20 ($30ish by today's exchange rate).