Thank you for dropping in and a hearty welcome to CollectRussia, your RU-vid resource for all things Imperial and Soviet Militaria. Igor Moiseyev is the Proprietor and Leading Expert in this extraordinary field. This is a non-political channel yet history in proper context will be discussed. Treat these clips as university level classes of the fun type where there are no exams and everyone receives an "A" for simply tuning in. We shall be posting new videos every Sunday morning reminiscent of the old days where everyone was home either sleeping in or starting the day with the $1 Sunday paper and home made brew. If there are any topics you would like to see addressed, please feel free to contact us. Please see links to our website and other must-join Militaria collector organizations.
Really enjoy the depth of history Igor brings to the whole subject, especially the crossover stories that provide a more complete understanding about the subject!
Another lovely video! I’m wondering if you guys could do a video on the order of the red star. I know it’s a lower end award but it would be nice to see what you guys have to say about it.
Thanks for watching and the suggestion! I wouldn't call the Order of the Red Star a low award. It may seem so just because of the huge number of issues, due mostly to the 1944-1958 practice of awarding it for the length of service. In the earlier years in particular, it was not so easy to earn. In the order of importance, it was above many other decorations, including any of the medals and even some of the orders such as the Order of Glory in any class, Badge of Honor, and even the "officer's" Order for Service to Homeland in any class. It will definitely be a subject for some of our future episodes. The problem is, there is a lot of ground to cover: there were very many different types and variations of this award - some of them rare and pretty expensive.
@@CollectRussia So many variations of the George Cross beyond the white and yellow metal versions. Dunno how anybody can keep that straight. One question: where were the majority of the late 19th to early 20th Century Imperial Russian medals actually struck/minted? Was there a 'state mint' like the later Soviet Mondvor?
That's a very good question! During that period (unlike earlier and later, after 1941), there was only one manufacturer of the official state-issued medals: the St. Petersburg Mint. Of course, there were also privately-commissioned medals made by a number of jewelry firms such as the Kuchkin factory and individual makers. Higher decorations (e.g. orders of St. George) and badges (graduation, regimental, etc.) were made exclusively by private firms, while the official issues of the St. George Crosses and St. George Bravery medals were struck at the mint.
I have a question for Jenda and Igor and all our subs and viewers....what is your favourite Soviet era medal/award/order....mine is Alexander Nevsky all day long....
I must say, I really like the design of the Order of the Red Banner of Labor - I think it's as Soviet as it gets, while not being too "over the top". To me, it is a really great example of early Soviet art created before the repressions and rigid control stamped out nearly all the talent in the country. That is not to say that the artwork of the Nevsky or Lenin is not great - it certainly is! We may do separate episodes on all three of these, hopefully in not-too-distant future. Cheers, Igor.
Thank you Igor for taking your time to instruct collector's of these facinating medals. There may be something in the American archives about Ambassador Andropov's activities in Greece; if they are not classified. They may be obtained under The Freedom of Information Act. James
Thank you Igor for another interesting and informative video. A cousin of mine worked for General Electric as an engineer in the 1930's. He was sent to the Soviet Union to, as you pointed out, help industrialize the country. I was told that he had no expenses, including income tax, and decided to put all of his salary into GE stock. Needless to say, he became a very wealthy man from this very wise decision. James
Thank you Igor for another highly interesting video. The two medal groupings have such a fantastic story behind them. I could watch your videos all day! James.
Спасибо за интерес к нашему каналу! Медаль 9557 - оригинал. For our English speaking viewers: the question was whether the Nakhimov Medal #9557 shown in the episode was original. The answer is yes.
I talked with Igor at the last OVMS show in Wilmington OH, he talked about a few thing when he was living in the USSR. I would love to hear more stories, of life in the soviet union.
Thank you Igor for another interesting and informative video of this beautiful decoration. I was sorry to hear about your mother's situation in school. Russia was a huge exporter of grain during the late Imperial era and than had to endure many famines during the Soviet times. This is a lesson of the failures of communism/socialism in a nation. James.
Thanks for watching! Yes, the economics of socialism is very inhumane and it always comes with a tyranny in one form or another, and always results in suffering. I've seen it first-hand, and my experience is very mild compared with many others. Unfortunately, many people do not learn from history...
I am glad that I purchased this award from Igor several years ago. I found the story behind it facinating. Another great and very intructional video from Igor. Please keep these videos going as they are a great addition to the hobby. Did any of the pilots receive a HSU or Order of Lenin for their exploits in Korea?
Thanks for your comments! I don't know the number of Orders of Lenin alone awarded for the Korean War - although certainly there were some - but I do know there were 22 HSUs issued for it. All went to fighter pilots, most of them air aces and some - although not all - veterans of WW2. Two of them were made HSU posthumously and none of the rest are still alive (the last one died just a few years ago.) It means, there were only 20 Hero Medals originally issued for the Korean War, each accompanied by the requisite Order of Lenin. There is actually a good Russian-language Wiki site on that - let me know if you want me to send you a link via email.
Great video again! Even though Petr Kuzmich Rykhlik’s recommendation for the Order of the Red Star was downgraded to a Medal of Nakhimov, he was better off status-wise. Do you agree?
Thanks for watching! It's a good question, and there is no simple answer. From a purely practical standpoint, he certainly was worse off with the medal. Being awarded with an order would have given him much more privileges and even a higher monthly pension (for a couple of years after the war, there was a small pension to recipients of most high Soviet decorations). Also, in view of an ordinary Soviet citizen, being a recipient of any order was considered a special honor. For the people "in the know" and especially naval veterans it might have been different: they probably understood how rare it was to be awarded with the Nakhimov Medal - and probably also realized it could not have been given simply for lenght of service, unlike the Combat Service Medal or the Order of the Red Star.
very interesting nice to hear mote stories from the soviet side . refreshing to hear of the war from the letters and shown the medals very few know about of the soviets
Хотелось бы услышать эту лекцию на русском языке, делайте на русском языке хоть маленькие ролики посвящённые матчасти, истрию учреждения мы и так можем найти и почитать!!!
Спасибо за интерес к каналу. К сожалению, пока не представляется возможным делать дополнительные видео на русском языке просто из-за недостатка времени. Может быть, в будущем попробуем. Но ведь можно пока попытаться использовать субтитры и онлайн переводчик? Мы выпускаем новый эпизод каждое воскресенье в 6:00 по Нью-Йоркскому времени.
I am VERY happy to see Igor on youtube. That said, 2 hours+ and 2 parts on such an uncommon medal and pricey item is, respectively, silly, IMHO. I'm a US-based Soviet phalerist since ~2000, have bought from Collect Russia, and am a contributor on many major medals forums. On social media right now the biggest focus is on "research" (aside from the 'is my gas mas OK(wtf?)' or 'is my EM cap good' posts.
The two Russian WW2 archival websites (the links are for the specific page on each site that allows a search by the name of the award recipient): podvignaroda.ru/?#tab=navPeople_search pamyat-naroda.ru/heroes/?adv_search=y
Another instructive and facinating video on a Soviet award. Thank you Igor for that and your lesson on researching Soviet awards. It is very helpful. I am looking forward to your video on the Order of Lenin.
Спасибо за интерес к нашему каналу. Большинство наших зрителей живут в США и других англоязычных странах, и мало кто из них говорит по-русски, так что приходится говорить по-английски. Надеюсь, фото медалей оказались для Вас полезными. Сталинка - действительно довольно нечастая медаль, т.к. большинство из них обменяли на медали лауреата государственной премии в 60-е гг. А военного периода - особенно редкие.
Thanks again for another interesting video! Would be interesting to discuss the difference in awarding between the Ushakov and Nakhimov awards in your future video about the Nakhimov medal.
Thanks for your suggestion! We will address this to some extent in the Part 2 on the Ushakov Medal which is coming up next. In it, I will show some specific examples of award recommendations. It may be interesting for our viewers to see how the decision was made on what decoration to award.
Another facinating and informative video presented by Igor. I thoroughly enjoy learning about this medal that I knew very little about. I look forward to more of Igor's videos.
Point taken, thanks @ericfg806 ! Sorry the noise was drowning out our dining out (not that anything profound was said :- ) ) We will try and use a professional mic in the future episodes of this nature, hopefully that will help
I agree! Hard to get decent one here in the USA: it requires home-like environment to do it right, so few restaurants measure up. Fortunately, we have friends from Georgia who live nearby, and it's always a huge treat when they invite us for dinner.
I found the following measurements on HSU stars and there seems to be a small weight difference between the early ones and the later ones. This could be the result of wear but I think wear is just part of the difference. 495 20.2 969D 20.4 1434 20 1490 20.4 1586 19.6 1609 20.06 1712 19.5 1727 20 1808 19.7 1841 19.4 1941 20.1 2073 19.6 2572 20 3174 20.4 3149 19.34 3031 19.5 4067 19.07 4087 19.9 4380 19.4 4605 19.2 4832 19.9 5311 19.7 5500 20.1 5879 20.43 6048 20.2 7254 21.7 7303 21 7379 21.1 7459 19.9 7501 20.4 7838 20.9 8263 21.1 8626 21.6 8825 21.1 8878 20.95
Thanks @LondonHistory1977, glad you like the channel! Heavy oxidation in and of itself is not an indication of anyting. I've seen many common, more recent Soviet jubilee medals that are heavily patinated and at times, even have very ugly blemishes.
