All parts seem to be original.
Looks fine to me too
You are right to be cautious though as all the "Defense of", "Capture of" and "Liberation of", medals are faked quite heavily. In the case of the "Liberation of" medals the Belgrade is the worst affected.
These medals are seen with both the brass 5 sided suspender and the aluminium type as with yours.
Yours is a "Variation 1" with the suspension ring being a seperately soldered piece. Variation two has an integral ring in the shape of an upside down "U" which is sometimes seen filed roughly into a circular shape. On Variation 3 the ring is integral and is circular. This variation has a thick gold coloured "wash" finish and is a later issue for those entitled to the medal but who for some reason did not receive it at the time.
These are not the rarest of the Soviet medals but neither are they the most common and are nice to see in this condition.
So, in short yours is a good wartime issued piece.
I hope this helps.
Regards
Mark
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature with no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
thanks for the valuable insight lads!
i was suspicious as i picked this medal up for a cheap price
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