Medal "Soldier-Internationalist From The Grateful Afghan People".

[Tretov]

It is "Medal from the Grateful Afghanistan people" and I assume its purpose wass to express a "Thank-You" from the Afghanistan communist government to the Soviet soldiers that fought bravely for Afghani peoples freedom 1979-1989.

[desantnik]

Blank documents of this type still abound. I'm not saying that all of them lacking this particular stamp are forgeries, but extreme scepticism should be applied. Yes, Soviets did use Soviet stamps in these, but forgers often hide beneath this and use all kinds of stamps to make these seem legitimate.

The left image came directly from the veteran himself with his Soviet "Internationalist" medal certificate. The other two were obtained under other circumstances in varied places.

Note the same Order #240 authorizing the medal and the Islamic date on the right, upper image (the year 1367).

[Kirchgoens]

What do you guys think of this one? There's no evidence under loupe that the red enamel was removed. It really appears to have never been there.

[desantnik]

Originally Posted by Kirchgoens

What do you guys think of this one? There's no evidence under loupe that the red enamel was removed. It really appears to have never been there.

I'd say it's a mint error then. Curious.

[25 unor 1948]

old stock or new restirke on old dies,sold as souvenir to isaf troops,i have spotted it about a year ago here in holland(but with a red ribbon) it was offered with lots of afgani/ussr medals on wrong ribbons the soldier told me that there was more of that stuff in a bazar/shop price 1.00$ each in mixed lots of 25 medals

[Kirchgoens]

I don't think this one is that. The quality and construction are identical to the "real" one, the ribbon is correct in color and older/worn, and the enamel very closely matches that of a full-colored one except for the missing red. This came out of Uzbekistan in a non-tourist bazaar, a spot that tends to have good Soviet awards kicking around. Also, the southern UZ borders are only open to a very limited amount of traffic and almost no troops pass through here and have not for years.

I'd expect that these Soviet ones found in the FSU were struck in the Soviet Union and not Afghanistan?

Holding it in my hand, it's clearly feels to not be a fake. Did the "ISAF" copy you have also have missing red only?

[Nota Bene]

I don't think it's a fake. Looks like a mint error indeed.

Alexei

[medals73]

And, while I'm at it, the better known International Friendship Medal document, only awarded to Soviets, I believe.

And, as we know, you also see this with a Russian-language stamp (the third image).

[medals73]

Yes, you see all sorts of PDRA awards mis-mounted onto pentagonal suspensions. Whether this were done by Soviets, Soviet-emulating Afghans, or inventive and tricksy dealers is unclear.

The same thing happens with Mongolian and other awards.

From a museum exhibit on the Soviet war in Afghanistan seen in Copenhagen a few years back. I suspect the 'group' was concocted to dress-up the uniform, but . . . .

[deValcourt]

I should guess the set is real. After all, he was a major and he had to earn that big star some sort of way.;)

Phillip