Defence of Odessa Medal

[tompress]

Hi,

this medal for Defence of Odessa has poor relief details, especially on the soldiers figures. Is this a worn original or a copy?

What are your opinions?

Thank you
Tomasz

[TabsTabs1964]

I think it´s good

[Leaftree]

I'm not liking it.
The wear looks uneven. The soldiers look worn down, but the edges look fairly sharp.

[Watchdog]

I'm not liking it.
The wear looks uneven. The soldiers look worn down, but the edges look fairly sharp.

I agree that this is not an original.

The Defence/capture/liberation Soviet medals of WWII were never the highest quality for obvious logistic reasons and do tend to show their age more than most war medals it seems. This is something that fakers seem to rely upon to camouflage their antics.

There is one type of this medal with two variations and the essential difference is that the first variation has a neatly soldered suspension ring (the example here has surplus solder all over the bottom right quarter of the ring, a known red flag) whilst the second variation has an integrally manufactured ring and usually the gold wash finish is very noticable (this variation was awarded after the fact to persons who for whatever reason did not receive it during the initial issue)

Notwithstanding the fact that these medals were never "high end" in terms of manufacturing quality the detail was always superior to the example at the top of this thread. In particular the lettering around the edge is very poor and the lighthouse looks like a bit of slag or dross stuck to the surface.

I attach here pictures of examples of both V1 and V2 in my collection to show the obverse and the ring. I only show the obverse as I didn't see much point in going further.

The apparent red lines in the creases of the V1 are not readily visible to the eye and result from the deterioration of the finish, a common feature I see in these medals. Similar discolouration is discernible on the V2 also.

I hope you didn't buy this one Tom.

EDIT; I managed to get the images in the wrong order so that the ring details appear next to the wrong medal but I am sure this will be obvious having pointed this out!

Regards

Mark

[tompress]

Hi,

thank you for the detailed explanation I have used this site: ОÐ*ДЕНА И МЕДАЛИ СССÐ* but the pictures here are not always helpful.

And what obut this one? Isn't a good 2nd type?

greetings
Tomasz

[tompress]

/.../
I hope you didn't buy this one Tom.
/.../

I have purchased them in a group lot, which was reaaly chep - and took into account, that this medal is not a good one. So no problem, most other in the group were OK. No bonus, but also no lost

[Watchdog]

Hi,

thank you for the detailed explanation I have used this site: ОÐ*ДЕНА И МЕДАЛИ СССÐ* but the pictures here are not always helpful.

And what obut this one? Isn't a good 2nd type?

greetings
Tomasz

It does look like it is but there is something odd about the ring where it meets the edge of the medal. Are you certain that it is integral and not soldered? I'm afraid I can't be sure from these pics. It may just be the pics but as I say I think I can see some inconsistency at that point.

Sorry I can't be more specific without seeing it in hand with a loupe.

Regards

Mark

[Watchdog]

It does look like it is but there is something odd about the ring where it meets the edge of the medal. Are you certain that it is integral and not soldered? I'm afraid I can't be sure from these pics. It may just be the pics but as I say I think I can see some inconsistency at that point.

Sorry I can't be more specific without seeing it in hand with a loupe.

Regards

Mark

This is what I mean;



As I say, it might just be the picture but it looks odd to me and warrants further investigation.

Regards

Mark

[tompress]

Thank you. Tomorrow try to make better photos with my camera, these pictures were from the scanner (not optimal, indeed)

greetings
Tomasz

[tompress]

Hi again,

here are better photos of the second medal. Now should be alll clear

regards
Tomasz