Advice Please

[Mozzabloke]

OK, So Im new to collecting medals and I thought I may as well make use of all your brains!

For the time being I have decided to concentrate on the 5 sided suspension medals of WW2 ie Defence, Liberation, Capture and Victory as most of these seem to be at a collectable price and this is the period that interests me the most.

1. Where do you recomend I look for medals (Im already on Ebay)

2 . Is there a definative website or book I can buy showing me what to watch out for in the way of fakes?

3. what do you all consider to be (ball park) reasonable prices for medals of this type & period ie A=? C=? R1=? R2=? and so on

And any other advice is welcome!


Thanks

Mark (MozzaBloke)

[Ed_Haynes]

My advice:

1) I am fairly new to "things Soviet" -- though not to "things phaleristic" -- so let me keep this general....

2) For the first two years of collecting, spend most of your budget ("budget"? "budget"! ha ha ha!!) on books and other reference sources. Read them, memorize them, worship them. And cross-check what you learn from them against this forum. We all learn daily.

3) Find reliable dealers -- and I do not include eBay in this catagory -- and develop relationships with them. All collectors have their personal preferences in this regard.

4) Realize: You'll find your Defence of Moscow medal anytime. So be on the lookout for the big-ticket, once-in-a-lifetime items. They may eat your remaining budget, but (a) will you ever see them again and (b) will you regret passing them up if you don't get them when they are available? And in this regard I mean especially groups.

Just my two kopecks worth,

Ed

[Art]

Mozzabloke,

Without "tooting our own horn" to much, you can find all the information you are looking for right here. The main website to this forum:

website

Is dedicated to describing and showing images of all the awards. Within the forum ( where you are at now ) we talk about fakes ( go to the Fake Alert! forum ) pricing ( any of the forums, depending on what you are asking about ) and rarity ( same, just pick the forum and read and post ).

I would suggest looking through the forum really well ( use the search feature ) then as Ed mentions, invest in at least one good reference book. I would suggest McDaniels "The Comprehensive Guide to Soviet Orders and Medals". BTW, I allow members to sell reference materials within the forum. Check in the Reference Materials For Sale section. The prices there are really very good. I purchased a set of "Hero" books and Kutsenko's "Orders of the Soviet Republics" from Eugene. Both are invaluable. However, the book you really need as a beginner is McDaniels book. We all refer to it either when talking to each other, or within the forum.

Regarding EBay, It's O.K., but be careful. Many of us have been burned by unscrupulous individuals there. If you don't know what guys are honest and who is not, I would wait until you are a little educated as far as prices and rarity go. If you see an Order of Lenin being sold for $75, chances are it's a fake. If you see a Medal for Veteran of Labor being sold for $75, someone is trying to rip someone off.

Happy Collecting!

Art

[Nota Bene]

Mozzabloke,

Check out this posting:

http://soviet-awards.addr.com/forum/...3?threadid=302

It may help answer some of your questions as well.

Alexei

[Mozzabloke]

Thanks for the advice all, I will definately be buying the McDaniels guide.

It's good to know that there are people out there who are willing to point you in the right direction.

Thanks again!

Mark

(MozzaBloke)

[Kjetil Kvist]

Hi Mark,

I have just re-started my soviet collection and have some of the same questions like you. Buy the book befor the medal, someone said to me. I would buy the Comprehensive guide to soviet orders and medals, its the best reference I have seen on any subject connected to modern numismatics. I would advice you to buy a beatiful pair of books: Orders and medals of the USSR 1918-1991 by Stanislavovich and Valentinovich. Both reference books have many of the same information, but the latter set also have accurate information about weight of the order/medal.

When it comes to orders and medals I would go for what makes soviet orders and medals quite unique: The possibility to get them researched and get the real story behind every award.

There is many reasonably priced soviet orders and medals that can be researched - and you will get real good stories about really brave men and women. Take the Order of the Red Banner - a nice order, but not my favourite - you will get these for a few dollars. Or the Order of the Red Star - if you find early specimens you will find stories about battlefield glory (not that none of the later specimens also have stories to tell, but they where often given for long service). Or the Order of Glory - one of my favourites, and I am not alone in that regard - always stories of excellent bravery in face of the enemy. The best part is that you often get this order for less than $30. Or the strange Order of the Patriotic War 1st class that will cost you seldom more than $200 - but is part made of gold and therefore have a nice ring to it.

But I would read the reference books first. And browse the various super dealer sites. You will get a picture of what the market is like and what you should pay for various items.

Always have the eye open for bargains - but focus on a special area.

If you have unlimited funds you can of course have the freedom to collect it all...