"Honoured Member Of State Security" Badge.

[medals73]

Originally Posted by CtahhR

Those mint marks really do it for me.

I would say the main concern in collecting Mongolian items is not fakes but actually receiving what you have purchased. Over 50% of Mongolian items I have purchased have not arrived. Dodgy dealers or poor postal system I'm not certain. I have seen an Order I purchased from a dealer in Mongolia that never arrived, offered for sale by another dealer a year later, who happens to be a US based forum member. I didn't receive a refund either. That's one of many negative tales I could tell about buying Mongolian - Lots of happy stories too.

Guess you just need to buy from reliable sources. I am, I think, either at 100% happiness or close enough to it that phaleristic bhodisattva status is assured.

[CtahhR]

It's all a learning process. The Ulaanbaatar based dealer did supply me with some very good deals before totally flaking out and the benefit of when they were a good supplier more than compensates for an Order going missing. When you get a Type 1 Halhingol Badge thrown in for free you can't really complain. With the exception of one dealer I never count my chickens until they are in my hands. The collecting experience will be different for each and every one of us though

A great deal of Mongolian items are now dispersed all over the globe and I've found more Mongolian items outside of Mongolia rather than in over the last couple of years. A situation mainly driven by dealers buying up so they can to resell expecting a Soviet type price explosion. As said before Mongolia is a rather more mellow situation than the former Soviet Union.

Although Mongolian items vary greatly in quality and style this particular Badge is of exceptional quality. Design and workmanship which is only very rarely equalled and seldom bettered.

[medals73]

The clearing out of The Bank sent many items out into the market at very low prices. Most of those are still happy in collections (globally). After that, most of what comes comes from families and you need trusted sources and, in turn, be trusted. And that is a very feudal and trust-based relationship in Mongolia. The Russians come own to pillage the weekly stamp/coin/medal gathering in UB, but the salad days are long gone.

[janes medals]

Whew! Yup got the Soviet doubt for sure :o
Save for some very minor scratches it looks really nice!
Cheers!!

[deValcourt]

Originally Posted by janes medals

Whew! Yup got the Soviet doubt for sure :o
Save for some very minor scratches it looks really nice!
Cheers!!

It's good - see my avatar:) Yours has the same slight bend in the flag "tip" (left side) that mine did when I got it. Unfortunately, I can be a bit OCD about "symmetry" and after a few slugs of vodka, I very carefully straightened it. I do not encourage either behavior - the drinking or the attempt to "fix" such a valuable piece that could have been easily ruined. Thankfully, I have learned much since then.:rolleyes:

I bought almost all of my Mongolian state security items from people I trusted and that particular badge from one of the "holy trinity" of sellers (of which there are about 5 - and yes, pun intended;)). I would never have sent money to anyone actually in Mongolia knowing what I learned here about the postal problems with that region of the world.

I have finally taken the quality photos I wanted to in order to both post them here and in my catalog of my badge collection.

The same makers' marks are present - the 916, the profile and the three-letter mark that I am never certain as to what letters are there (MYX?) and if they are Latin or Cyrillic. Just being made in Russia doesn't preclude the maker's mark being in Latin letters. We need to remember that when these and many early Soviet awards were made in silver, the jewelers and silversmiths for the Tsars were essentially drafted into service for the Bolsheviks/Soviets.

Since Mongolia was the first country to fully support the Soviet Union without becoming an official republic (and be the farthest member of the Warsaw Pact from Warsaw), it is fitting, in my opinion, that some of the best work of Russian silver and enamel craftsmen was done on awards for Mongolia. Considering the focus of my collecting on state security items, it is no surprise that I consider this one of the most beautiful badges of its type.

First there are two views of the obverse since in different light different aspects can be seen (that's not a crack in the badge across the text in the center; appears some stray fiber made it into the photo.) Then we have the reverse, and several close-ups of the makers' marks.

Ok, here is the reverse and two shots of the makers' marks.

And a reverse (flipped) view of the letters I do not know for sure about. The shadow makes this appear to project from the badge, but it is simply the same shot above rotated. Also, there is a picture of the screw post nut with the Moscow factory writing. The solder was applied a bit too heavy on the rings attached to turn it with, but the text is still visible.

Well, I've got to get back to my reading.

Phillip