Red Star.

[Auke]

Strange... It is indeed a regular Moscow Mint piece, but the serial number falls in an MZPP range (1835001-1950000)...

[Bill Garvy]

I am totally mystified. I rescanned the number at 2400 dpi and cleaned it up a bit. . .

[Lapa]

Bill,

Nothing overly out of this world. It is most likely an early duplicate of an MZPP piece.

Marc

[Bill Garvy]

That is the conclusion I have come to thanks to your best thinking and the best thinking of many others. Two heads are indeed better than one!

[RedMaestro2]

Bill,

I am able to confirm that this Order of the Red Star is indeed a KGB award. I found a photo of a document for an Order of the Badge of Honor awarded to another Georgian KGB officer by the same decree. The document is executed in the same handwriting. Notice also that the date of issue is missing for both.

:thumbsup

Alex

[RedMaestro2]

Here is yet another related document.

[Lapa]

Guys,

It may or may not be KGB. You have to check the actual Ukaz number as on a specific day, many ukazi from different administrations could be published.

Marc

[RedMaestro2]

Guys,

It may or may not be KGB. You have to check the actual Ukaz number as on a specific day, many ukazi from different administrations could be published.

Marc

Hi Marc,

Very true. Evidently this was a big decree day; I've heard of at least 4 possibilities. So I think the second document (OSH3) I posted is a far less likely match. However, the first (OBH) still seems to me to confirm that this Red Star is a KGB award. Again, the OBH was awarded to a Georgian KGB officer, and the document handwriting matches exactly. In the absence of archival sources (which, if it is a KGB award, is unlikely to surface), I think it is a pretty safe guess.

Alex

[desantnik]

Hi Marc,

Very true. Evidently this was a big decree day; I've heard of at least 4 possibilities. So I think the second document (OSH3) I posted is a far less likely match. However, the first (OBH) still seems to me to confirm that this Red Star is a KGB award. Again, the OBH was awarded to a Georgian KGB officer, and the document handwriting matches exactly. In the absence of archival sources (which, if it is a KGB award, is unlikely to surface), I think it is a pretty safe guess.

Alex

I still think it a "for wounds received" awarding. If the docs you show really are KGB awardings, their ordenskaya knizhka serial numbers are far enough away from the Red Star in question, moreover for awardings that suppoedly occurred the same day :confused:

[RedMaestro2]

I still think it a "for wounds received" awarding. If the docs you show really are KGB awardings, their ordenskaya knizhka serial numbers are far enough away from the Red Star in question, moreover for awardings that suppoedly occurred the same day :confused:

Good point, I hadn't considered that. Sorry, I was presumptuous to state my hypothesis so conclusively.

I still find the handwriting and the fact that the BoH was a KGB award (if not for KGB activities, than at least to a Georgian, non-WWII-vet member) to be interesting coincidences, though.

My other question is when did he become a colonel?

Maybe I'm overthinking this?