OGIII #317413, Guards Junior Sergeant (Jew), October 1944, Yugoslavia

**Bjorn S** · 11-18-2019, 07:57 PM

Order of Glory 3rd Class (# 317413), awarded to junior Guards sergeant Efim Borisovich Shterenberg (Ефим Борисович Штеренберг). Shterenberg was an Ukrainian jew from Odessa.
He joined the Red Army in May 1943 and was a party member since 1944.

In April 1944 he was awarded the Medal for Bravery. He served as a gunner in the 260th Guards Rifle Regiment (86th Guards ‘Nikolaev’ Red Banner Rifle Division), the same regiment as in which the famous Russian-American sculptor Ernst Neizvestny served.
The regiment took part in the crossing of the Dniepr and the storming of Budapest, and finished the war in Austria.

Awarded the of Order of Glory 3rd Class, for crossing the Danube river near the local settlement of ‘Тетель’, Yugoslavia on the 6th October 1944.

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 11-18-2019 07:57 PM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**Marcel Banziger** · 11-18-2019, 09:02 PM

Very nice one with "artistic" engraving. Very nice!!

**Bjorn S** · 11-19-2019, 08:12 PM

Unfortunately it turns out that this OGIII is a fake...

**Marcel Banziger** · 11-19-2019, 08:26 PM

What are the tellsigns? This one fooled me good if fake. The only thing out of the ordinary to me is the ring on the topstar but I thought it is maybe a variation?

**Marcel Banziger** · 11-19-2019, 09:20 PM

Just came across this fake Aleksander Nevsky and the first thing that grabbed my attention was the style of engraving the serial number which is very similar to yours.

OGIII #317413, Guards Junior Sergeant (Jew), October 1944, Yugoslavia

**Leaftree** · 11-20-2019, 05:56 AM

by Bjorn S

Unfortunately it turns out that this OGIII is a fake...

wait, what?
The only thing that strikes me as odd is the engraving.
Interested in learning more about this.

**Bjorn S** · 11-20-2019, 10:50 AM

Yes, it fooled me too, I was shocked to hear that it's a fake...

but the proof is indisputable.
A member send me photos of this very same Order, from 2015...only now it has more 'age' and 'patina'.

Supposedly, this style of engraving didn't exist on OGIII's at all.
And after close examination with a magnifier I notice that the enamel is not like on original awards (it's more newer, it is missing the greenish/yellowish border around the red enamel).
Also the Spasskaya tower is more flat (less raised) than on originals.
It is also 2mm bigger (in total) than other OG's that I own, but I thought that it might be a variation.

There are probably more signs other collectors can identify.

It really fooled me! I didn't know they are faking OGIII's like this.

**Marcel Banziger** · 11-20-2019, 11:37 AM

To my opinion that is not the same order so maybe there are even more fake OG III's with this exact same serial number. Look f.e. to the second C on the back. The lower angle is different (rounded versus angular). So it seems there are more fakes made with the same number?!

**Woolgar** · 11-20-2019, 11:39 AM

Sorry you were stung on this

We learn every day as the fakers get wiser

Nick

**Leaftree** · 11-21-2019, 03:16 AM

The style of the numbers looks familiar to me, but I just can't place my finger on it.
How the '3' and '7' have a hook on them.
My first thought is that I've seen that type of numbering in China.
The closest I could find (I didn't do a thorough search) is the numbering is similar to Chinese SKS rifles:
Yooper John