damaged ORS

[EricFG]

This is the award I was talking aboot in this thread:silver content?

I just received this in the mail and it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. (Ya shoulda seen the blurry photos the seller gave me)

Anyhoo....looks like the enamel on the 3 o'clock and 7:30 o'clock arms has been replaced as they're not thick enough.

Has anyone ever seen similar enamel repair and can attribute a timeperiod perhaps?

I'm guessing summer '44. Anyone disagree?

T6V2, right?

Anybody see anything I'm missing?

The obverse:

[EricFG]

Here's the reverse and the image the seller sent me.

How much would the repair detract from the value for buyers?
For me, unless it's a recent repair the damage detracts nothing, IMO.

[desantnik]

If the price is right and you like it - buy it.

I'd say mid-'44 1 Belorussian Front.

[Bill Garvy]

I posted an example of a repaired Order of the Red Star, Nr. 264464, here: ORS - the ugly one. It was awarded August 5th, 1943, and, as you can see, hopefully, the enamel has been replaced on three arms of the star. This Red Star was awarded to Red Guard's Technician, 2nd Class, Alexy Dmitrievich Lopatin, Commander of Burial Crew of the 7th Guard's Rifle Brigade, which held the Order of the Red Banner. For me, the damage and the repair add to the character of the order, especially in light of the research. . .

[EricFG]

Yours and mine do look similar; I'm hoping they are "period" repairs.
Your award citation is gruesomley cool.

[NTAT]

Eric,
Very nice Red Star! Repair and all!

In my opinion the buying of damaged orders or medals is a personal choice. Like people who collect variations there area myriad of reasons why one person would prefer a damaged order over a perfect one.

I know in my collection I have several damaged Red Stars. Almost all of them are parts of an overall group. However, I also have one I purchased as a single which has had the enamel replaced. The repair is sloppy and poorly done. Believe me when I say it's not the prettiest RS on the block.

Still I am very satisfied with it and accept it will never bring a premium price when I go to sell it. Unless it researches out to some rare or unusual unit.

However, for me I envision the original damage being caused by the wearer shouldering his/her rifle over that shoulder as they marched to a front. Or maybe it was caused by the constant scrapping up against concrete or rubble in foxholes as they battled from street to street in Berlin. Who knows? Either way it has character.

In the end I tend to enjoy Orders and Medals that have that "been there look" as opposed to the 100% pristine condition look. But those are my personal preferences and I am sure there not shared by everyone else. Like anything else related to the colleting field the buying of damaged goods is a personal choice. For me damage is not a concern. For others it might be.

Gerry
NTAT