Good or Bad Stalingrad and Berlin medals? Opinions please

**Datrus** · 01-08-2012, 07:58 PM

Now i get a little confused here. Are they good or..?

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 01-08-2012 07:58 PM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**Adrian Stevenson** · 01-08-2012, 08:10 PM

They are fine.

**Datrus** · 01-08-2012, 08:12 PM

**GIZMO8Z** · 01-08-2012, 08:49 PM

Sounds great!

**GIZMO8Z** · 01-11-2012, 02:45 AM

I understand that both of the medals that Datrus posted are authentic government issue Soviet medals. But just to be sure, were both minted during wartime? or are they post-war government restrikes?

**Blitzkrieg Bop** · 01-11-2012, 03:45 AM

by GIZMO8Z

I understand that both of the medals that Datrus posted are authentic government issue Soviet medals. But just to be sure, were both minted during wartime? or are they post-war government restrikes?

I'm interested to know as well! Seems there is a bit of confusion.

**ph3s** · 01-11-2012, 08:54 AM

by GIZMO8Z

I understand that both of the medals that Datrus posted are authentic government issue Soviet medals. But just to be sure, were both minted during wartime? or are they post-war government restrikes?

What do you mean by the 'government re-strike' and 'government issue' ?

Sorry i'm a little bit confused.
the medal 'For capture of Berlin' was established on 9th of May 1945, end the war in Europe by Moscow time.

**Adrian Stevenson** · 01-11-2012, 10:02 AM

Hi Joe, first off, the Capture of Berlin Medal was not established until 9th June 1945. Over 1.1 million were issued. You cannot really apply the "wartime" made collecting type standards to this medal as all were made after VE day and possibly the majority were even made after VJ day. So applying that standard, most are postwar. The one you are thinking of buying is original, not a fake, and that is all that matters.

The Stalingrad Medal was established 22 Dec 1942. About 760,000 issued.

This site will help you:

The Soviet Military Awards Page. Medals, History and Russia!

Cheers, Ade.

**GIZMO8Z** · 01-11-2012, 02:39 PM

by ph3s

What do you mean by the 'government re-strike' and 'government issue' ?

Sorry i'm a little bit confused.
the medal 'For capture of Berlin' was established on 9th of May 1945, end the war in Europe by Moscow time.

by Adrian Stevenson

Hi Joe, first off, the Capture of Berlin Medal was not established until 9th June 1945. Over 1.1 million were issued. You cannot really apply the "wartime" made collecting type standards to this medal as all were made after VE day and possibly the majority were even made after VJ day. So applying that standard, most are postwar. The one you are thinking of buying is original, not a fake, and that is all that matters.

The Stalingrad Medal was established 22 Dec 1942. About 760,000 issued.

This site will help you:

The Soviet Military Awards Page. Medals, History and Russia!

Cheers, Ade.

Hello gentlemen,

Sorry for the confusion... I am just very inexperienced with collecting in general, but especially this part of our hobby. I am not sure if this is the case elsewhere, but in the U.S. you can order new copies of medals. For example, my friend's grandfather served in WWII. He was wounded and received a Purple Heart. In the 1990s, there was a house fire and some of his grandfather's things were lost, including his Purple Heart. They made a request to the U.S. government and he was reissued a modern purple heart. In a nutshell, although his grandfather's purple heart is authentic and represents his sacrifice in WWII, the medal itself is modern.

I knew that these two medals are authentic, issued by the Soviet Union. I was just confused as to if they were made in the 1940s.

What confuses me is that it seems like the Soviet Union was making medals to commemorate everything, and especially anniversaries of everything... I was just wondering if these two medals were made in the WWII timeframe, or if the Russian soldier who owned them got them to replace originals that were somehow lost...

Sorry for the trouble!

**ph3s** · 01-11-2012, 02:53 PM

or if the Russian soldier who owned them got them to replace originals that were somehow lost...

I see now. In case of SU medals, you could NOT buy a re-strike. (selling and buying government awards were classified as a heavy crime) Awards were given by the government and that is it, end of story. In some cases e.g. lost of award in the war,natural disaster and so on, in case that recipient had no or very little chance to save the awards, duplicate set could be issued by the government. It was a long and hard process as you can imagine.

Nowadays you can buy copies of nearly any award but that doesn't make them an award.

Soviet awards are only those that were mint in the official mints, with a little exception such as 93's(if anyone interested I can tell the story)

and don't worry about the trouble. We are all learned info ones by asking question

and we keep asking so far