UDSSR medal brothers in arms

[Stefas]

Hello,can anyone tell the difference between original and copy off this medal???

[Greg Collins]

It really depends on who made the fake and how the fake was made. Those that are made from sand casting are fairly easily spotted; the better fakes are usually spotted in the enamel- there are both red and clear enamels on this medal. Because of the going price (I have seen it sold for anywhere from $380 to upwards of $700), it is a fairly heavily faked award. I would suggest that you run it by the experts at the Soviet Awards Page Forum- they may come off as being hyper-critical, but a couple of these guys really know their stuff. If you care to post an image of the medal in question- not the ribbon part, but a good closeup of the medal itself- front, back, edge, mounting ring, and a close-up of the shield itself, I can give you a preliminary evaluation.

[Darrell]

What the heck is a "UDSSR medal brothers in arms"?

[Greg Collins]

It's the USSR medal for Strengthening Combat Cooperation.

[Darrell]

It's the USSR medal for Strengthening Combat Cooperation.

Hmm ... ok ... well he wasn't exactly close with the correct name ...

Anyway ... here is an original:

Obverse:

[Darrell]

Closeup:

[Darrell]

Reverse:

[Eric Gaumann]

One of the ugliest Soviet medals, IMHO.

[Kozlov]

How strange that one is so highly valued and subsequently faked??

I wonder why??

[Darrell]

One of the ugliest Soviet medals, IMHO.

You ain't seem them all then ....

[Greg Collins]

Kozlov,

It is, simply, a situation of "supply and demand". We, the collectors, "demand" the medal to complete our collections... those who have them will "supply" them at the highest cost we are willing to pay. Those who are able will fake them to get our money.

When you really look at it objectively, it's only a piece of brass... just like the Odessa and Belgrade medals. In the scheme of things, all three of these medals are probably worth 5 cents each but, in our market, we make them worth $400-$700 USD each. Sometimes I wonder if we haven't all completely lost our minds but that is what collecting history will do to you. I have a really nice badge called a "Master of Combined Harvesting"- silver with hot enamel and gilding- a beautiful badge all around and they only made about 5,000. It's worth about $250 USD. This medal we discuss, as simple and cheap as it is, is worth around $400 USD- go figure!

[Kozlov]

Well I figured its probably a rarity thing... it can't be like its a "valued" award, like say a HSU or even a combat valour...

Which is kinda a shame really, you'd have liked to have thought that those which required an essence of bravery/sacrifice would be worth more than a B/S award like this... because those that were awarded these will be your typical military B/S merchants - I am sure if you know the military (of any nation) you know what I mean....

[Darrell]

Kozlov,
... This medal we discuss, as simple and cheap as it is, is worth around $400 USD- go figure!

Wow ... is this what these are worth today? I gave up Soviet medals a few years ago, but picked this one up then for about $150

[Greg Collins]

And $400 is on the low end... I've seen these go for upwards of $700! This medal is often found in "higher-ups" medal bars from other Warsaw Pact countries because it is the Soviet "brothers-in-arms" medal... more than a couple made their way onto East German bars and the one I had (for awhile) came to me via Romania.

[John F.]

One of the ugliest Soviet medals, IMHO.

I concur...it is ugly