10-20-2008, 02:59 PM
With numbers that close, I'd think they were done in the same place. It might be as simple as the dude who did one of them had a different set of dies/stamps than the dude next to him doing the other one. The stamps are simply tools, and might be of mixed sets in a noisy and busy shop cranking stuff out during war. These are the little questions we'll never know the answer to unless some veteran of labor who worked in one of these shops does a memoir of his medal-making service. Somehow I don't think that book will ever be written. ;)
It also ought to completely dispel that rumor that still floats around the former Soviet Union that tongue versions came from that very short end-of-war land grab called the Victory Over Japan. ;) I still hear sellers try to pitch that story as they double the price of those tongues. I believe that we can just about safely say that these were probably made in batches that were generally mixed up with the others, and given out as catch-ups in those first few years after the war. We just need some citation research to nail it down more closely.
It also ought to completely dispel that rumor that still floats around the former Soviet Union that tongue versions came from that very short end-of-war land grab called the Victory Over Japan. ;) I still hear sellers try to pitch that story as they double the price of those tongues. I believe that we can just about safely say that these were probably made in batches that were generally mixed up with the others, and given out as catch-ups in those first few years after the war. We just need some citation research to nail it down more closely.
