Red Army Identification Booklets.

[CtahhR]

I remember 10-11 years ago when I was told I shouldn't be paying more than a pound a piece for them. I bought a few up for a pound a go, just added them to the at-the-time pretty small pile. Since then things have gone up and down, focusses changed and more resources become available. Paperwork seems to have been a better bet than the metal items in the last five or so years, especially when the paperwork often holds the key. Although that may be a bubble of its own. There is common and rare paperwork too. These booklets usually fall into the common section (although each is unique and you could find one to a well-known combatant). Imagine the number of these issued, every soldier got one (and there were a few million of them) and unlike the Nazi stuff, these were not destroyed en-mass after the end of the war. Soviet Soldiers were encouraged to keep their paperwork, whereas the NKVD (amongst other parties) actively destroyed Nazi ephemera.

The main problem is however, the paper items need far, far more careful handling and preservation than the metal pieces. I digitalise everything as is lands (unless doing so would destroy it), so there will always be a record of it, no matter how destructive time is on it.

The main fight these items now have is more nature than man.