01-16-2010, 05:50 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-16-2010, 03:07 PM by deValcourt.)
I finally did what I should have done a long time ago - I pulled mine out of the case.
Since I have no firm information that says the LMD did not mint badges like these, I will simply have to rely on a comparison of a known MMD version.
The first thing you notice is the lack of "depth" in the badge design - this one is very flat compared to the MMD version. Though whoever made it got the basic details of where things should be in terms of most of the proportions and "texture" of the ribbon beneath the enamel, the height to which the elements (60, star, ribbon and lettering) rise is not even close to the same. If you turn it over, the reverse is even more obviously "flat" by comparison. It was the reverse that first made me doubt the badge. Note the detail of everything on the reverse - ribbon "texturing" and even patterns in some of the rivet impressions and on the curl of the hand guard on the sword. You can also see the "heighth" of the "depth" I am talking about, especially on the 60 and the star. In comparison, the one for sale looks like it was simply stamped out en masse. Moreover, from the ribbon down to the bottom of the badge, the blood grove in the blade is missing in the ePay version and the Ribbon and blade just meld together - unlike the one here.
Another thing that I first thought I didn't see, then tried so hard to see that I started believing it had been there before, is the silver wash. All of the KGB Moscow Mint "Honored Employee" and anniversary badges were coated in silver plating (except the earliest ones made from solid silver). This layer is definitely missing completely from the badge and this does not happen that evenly with normal wear. The missing silver plating is most apparent on the reverse.
The other thing about all of these badges was the peculiar effect the enamel has of being concave or "indented" rather than curved slightly outward as is the case on most other badges, medals and orders. I asked for close-up pictures of the ribbon for just such a reason.
Lastly, the only reference book I have seen that has a 60th anniversary badge as even being possible as anything different than the one pictured is a catalog of badges that are all hand-drawn. There is nothing in any of the Avers books I've seen or own to indicate a variation.
From a logical point of view, if there were some made by the Leningrad Mint in 1977 for the local branch, the LMD standards of production would have been the same as the Moscow Mint - regardless of the colors (or lack thereof).
It just doesn't meet the same standards of sharp detail, to my eye, as what one would expect from either of the two mints.
Phillip
Since I have no firm information that says the LMD did not mint badges like these, I will simply have to rely on a comparison of a known MMD version.
The first thing you notice is the lack of "depth" in the badge design - this one is very flat compared to the MMD version. Though whoever made it got the basic details of where things should be in terms of most of the proportions and "texture" of the ribbon beneath the enamel, the height to which the elements (60, star, ribbon and lettering) rise is not even close to the same. If you turn it over, the reverse is even more obviously "flat" by comparison. It was the reverse that first made me doubt the badge. Note the detail of everything on the reverse - ribbon "texturing" and even patterns in some of the rivet impressions and on the curl of the hand guard on the sword. You can also see the "heighth" of the "depth" I am talking about, especially on the 60 and the star. In comparison, the one for sale looks like it was simply stamped out en masse. Moreover, from the ribbon down to the bottom of the badge, the blood grove in the blade is missing in the ePay version and the Ribbon and blade just meld together - unlike the one here.
Another thing that I first thought I didn't see, then tried so hard to see that I started believing it had been there before, is the silver wash. All of the KGB Moscow Mint "Honored Employee" and anniversary badges were coated in silver plating (except the earliest ones made from solid silver). This layer is definitely missing completely from the badge and this does not happen that evenly with normal wear. The missing silver plating is most apparent on the reverse.
The other thing about all of these badges was the peculiar effect the enamel has of being concave or "indented" rather than curved slightly outward as is the case on most other badges, medals and orders. I asked for close-up pictures of the ribbon for just such a reason.
Lastly, the only reference book I have seen that has a 60th anniversary badge as even being possible as anything different than the one pictured is a catalog of badges that are all hand-drawn. There is nothing in any of the Avers books I've seen or own to indicate a variation.
From a logical point of view, if there were some made by the Leningrad Mint in 1977 for the local branch, the LMD standards of production would have been the same as the Moscow Mint - regardless of the colors (or lack thereof).
It just doesn't meet the same standards of sharp detail, to my eye, as what one would expect from either of the two mints.
Phillip
Phillip
