The box lid. As you can see, the "legend" is quite worn but, if you look closely, you can just make out the CL. II at the bottom.
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Recntly acquired a couple of documents for the Medal for Distinguished Services in Defense of the Social Order and the Country (Securitate). These documents are for the first (a medal I have) and second (a medal I don't have) of three variations of this award. I have posted photos of the first variation earlier in the thread but have brought it out for the first image as a reminder.
This award was to Lieutenant Constantin Duca and was made on August 19, 1954 (I was about 5 and a half months old at the time
). It is award number 262; quite early as this award did not begin until 1953. Note a space, on the inside left, for a photo and signature. Neither of these spots was touched- remember, this is a Securitate award. These areas were eliminated in future documents. A nice touch, common to award booklets of the RPR period, is a colour band mimicking the ribbon on the outside cover.
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The inside of the document...Comment
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And the outside...Comment
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This next document is for the same award, but from the transitional period of 1966-1968 (second variation). As I said, I don't have this medal, but it looks the same as the medal shown, ribbon and all, except the State seal will have RSR on the lower banner and, just below the State seal, will have larger letters RSR (instead of RPR). Both the medal and the document are quite rare. Also of note: notice how the doc has become "simplified"- more "secretive". Only a decree number (170 A) and the year (1966) and the name of the recipient (Colonel Adrian Pop- during the RSR years, it became more common to place the family name second whereas during the RPR period they stuck with the more culturally Romanian way of placing the family name first). The outside is plain, bearing only the word "legitimatie" or license.Comment
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And the outside of the document- very plain.Comment
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A three space Internal Ministry ribbon bar. The awards covered are (from left) the Order for Service to Socialist Country-3rd Class, the Medal for Service to Socialist Country-Gold and the 20th Anniversary of the Romanian Armed Forces Medal. This bar could be for anyone employed in the Internal Ministry... Securitate, Security Troops, Militie (Police)... what is interesting about it is that there are no medals or orders indicating time in service (Military Merit). Also, these particular awards are from an interesting period in Romanian Communist history- a transitional period that appears to run from 1963 to 1968- where many changes took place including, but certainly not limited to, the name of the country.Comment
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And the back...Comment
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Hey Greg - I am glad you posted more items from your collection...since I missed your very interesting and educational earlier posts from Feb10...sorry (SOS week).
What you have been posting have been great and are these medals and badges one you have recently aquired or just pulled out of your private stock...Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don't dare express themselves as we did. Quote - Sophie Scholl - White Rose resistance groupComment
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Hey Ralph,
A mixture, actually. Some of the items are recent acquisitions- some from the US auction site we all know and love; some from a very similar site in Romania; others have been scouted for me by a dear friend (without fangs) who lives in Transylvania. Some of the items have resurfaced from my collection when I manage to get hold of a matching document. With regard to the Securitate/Interior Ministry items, I have tried to show everything I currently have; in the other thread (My Romanian Collection), I've shown some of what I have that I believe will be of interest and that has not already been posted by someone else. Though I originally set out to collect only Securitate/MI items, I've managed to accrue a whole lot of other stuff.Comment
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Greg - From your last post it seems you have a well established network working for you...
Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don't dare express themselves as we did. Quote - Sophie Scholl - White Rose resistance groupComment
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Yes, I guess I've been able to establish some pretty good friendships over there... may even have a "soft place to land" in my retirement. But, it should be said that Securitate/MI items are beginning to go the route of KGB/Mongolian Security/Stasi and, to a lesser extent, Bulgarian KDS/MVR items: the prices are poised to skyrocket. The Romanians have sensed the market potential for these things and have really raised prices in the past months, especially those who primarily sell to the western market- and I'm talking about 3X to 4X the price in Romania. My friend in Transylvania tells me that, while Securitate/MI items were about as easy as other items to acquire at the collectors' fairs a couple of months ago, they are now being "gobbled up"- probably by those who intend to sell them in the west.
At least I was able to get in when the "gettin' was good".
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Greg - Thanks for the interesting post that you are seeing the prices go up of security items from the former WP countries. I know that the items related to the MfS have been higher for sometime because of the market.Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don't dare express themselves as we did. Quote - Sophie Scholl - White Rose resistance groupComment
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