08-13-2002, 08:12 PM
My advice:
1) I am fairly new to "things Soviet" -- though not to "things phaleristic" -- so let me keep this general....
2) For the first two years of collecting, spend most of your budget ("budget"? "budget"! ha ha ha!!) on books and other reference sources. Read them, memorize them, worship them. And cross-check what you learn from them against this forum. We all learn daily.
3) Find reliable dealers -- and I do not include eBay in this catagory -- and develop relationships with them. All collectors have their personal preferences in this regard.
4) Realize: You'll find your Defence of Moscow medal anytime. So be on the lookout for the big-ticket, once-in-a-lifetime items. They may eat your remaining budget, but (a) will you ever see them again and (b) will you regret passing them up if you don't get them when they are available? And in this regard I mean especially groups.
Just my two kopecks worth,
Ed
1) I am fairly new to "things Soviet" -- though not to "things phaleristic" -- so let me keep this general....
2) For the first two years of collecting, spend most of your budget ("budget"? "budget"! ha ha ha!!) on books and other reference sources. Read them, memorize them, worship them. And cross-check what you learn from them against this forum. We all learn daily.
3) Find reliable dealers -- and I do not include eBay in this catagory -- and develop relationships with them. All collectors have their personal preferences in this regard.
4) Realize: You'll find your Defence of Moscow medal anytime. So be on the lookout for the big-ticket, once-in-a-lifetime items. They may eat your remaining budget, but (a) will you ever see them again and (b) will you regret passing them up if you don't get them when they are available? And in this regard I mean especially groups.
Just my two kopecks worth,
Ed
