And even more dark era Hungarian items

[eindecker2]

First of is a Order of Merit for teh Hungarian Peoples Republic - in silver. awarded 5700 times from 1949-1957. Bronze version is also about 6K awards. However the gold version was awarded 14,000 times! Kinda shows how 'top heavy' the party was....

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She is alos MINT - if you drop these things just once, the enamel gets damaged, its hard to find them in this condition. sadly no box here is the reverse

[eindecker2]

Here is the "we have always been great frineds medal". This medal was conceved in 1959 to remind the Hungarian people how much they should embrace the Russians who brought them communism - like in 1919, until they were kicked out of power the same year. It was a medal to remind them that Admiral Horthy and the Arrow Cross was all just some bad dream Well, really, its the 40 year commemorative medal for communism in Hungary. Awarded to nearly 220,000 party members. In 1969 they also made a similar attempt but only 6,000 were handed out then. It never made the cut in 1979.

[Soviet]

These are very nice medals!

Are these medal very expensive because of their scarcity?

[eindecker2]

Hi Soviet -
The Rakosi era medals are hard to get and are rather expensive for post-war communist items. The reason being is that in 1957 the Party decided after the 1956 failed revolution to make the national symbolism change to a more 'Hungarian' feel. The central star was replced with the national colors. Big red star orders and medals were canceled and re-designed. The other factor that makes the Rakosi era medals rare is the fact that those who had been awarded the 1949-1957 medals were told to turn them in for new issue medals and awards. The old ones were broken appart and re-used. On some medals, all that was done was to take the old national symbol off and put a new one on. For the ones like the Silver Order of Merit - there was no replacement - it was canceled. In all the time I have been here I have run across about a dozen - no more than that. So they are rare and prices are rising. A couple of these have sold on EBay for around $30-$40, but they were all dropped and the beautiful enamel was crakced or missing. That should give you an idea of what they are going for here. Feel free to PM me if you have more specific questions.
Regards

[Soviet]

Thank you very much for the additional information.

[eindecker2]

Here is a rather nice one I picked up today - its not a Rakosi era, but its a first for me. Socialist Workers Medal 1957 version. In a Rakosi era case with the sticker added. What is nice about this is the case is the not-too-often seen clasp type. I dont know what these clasp types were made for (perhaps private purchase, I dunno) But I hardly see a post 1957 case with the clasp and I have never seen a Rakosi era case with the clasp. Perhaps it was added on when they put the 1957 sticker on it, but still its a first for me. First the medal - I have posted one like this before.

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and an angle shot of the box - clearly this box was made during the 1949-1956 era and was left over stock when the new national symbol was implimented in 1957. 90% of all communist era cases were the 'snug-fit-to-close' type. This case would certainly close snugly without the clasp - but the clasp adds a bit of 'character'.

[eindecker2]

and here is the other one I picked up today - a very nice Workers Medal 1954 version. I have posted one of these beofre as well, but this one comes in another variant case - most every case comes with a white felt lining. This one is a red, silk like material. The box is a pre 1956 manufacture that never got a sticker put on her after 1957.

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and the box exterior itself - again notice the variant in the national symbol - Rakosi era is a crossed hammer and wheat stalk, while the post 1957 is a shield with the national colors.

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I am sure there will be more to come....