Last week saw the sale of a Russian Rouble with a remarkable significance. The image on the coin's face of the Tsarina Catherine seems to have been proved to have been taken from a particular portrait of the monarch, and raises interesting questions about why a new design was needed, and why this one appears to have been rejected.
However, it was not just the coins of Russia which will have been of interest to numismatic collectors of that country, as many fine awards were offered from the William Murdock collection of Russian Orders and Medals and from the late Mikhail Zinger Estate's collection of selected USSR Rarities.
An Order of the Virtuti Militari was one of the greatest highlights from the earlier period. This gold cross, representing the 4th Class of the award, measures 32 by 32 mm. Hallmarked with a partial date on loop: '..33' for 1833.
 The well-preserved Order of the Virtuti Militari |
The piece weighs 8.56 g, and sports a Polish eagle in a wreath at the centre, whilst the legends are marked in black enamel. This is a very rare item especially with a clearly identifiable date, and came with the bonus of an original collector's envelope, dating back to its time in the Alex Orlowski collection.
Bidders clearly thought it was worth more than its $25,000 estimate - despite the missing green enamel - and it finally left the stage for $51,680.
The top lot from the section, however, was from a much later date: lot 3131, a well researched group of orders of the USSR, awarded to Major-General Stankevsky D. I., which sold well over estimate for US$128,700.
The Major-General had a distinguished career as deputy commander of the 128 Rifle Corp, 28 Army and was the recipient of eight orders, including the three sold through auction here: all are official duplicates (replacements for lost or stolen medals).
 Another era: The Soviet Order of Kutuzov |
The Order of Suvorov 2nd Class, Type 2, Order of B. Khemelnitsky 2nd Class, Type 1 and the Order of Kutuzov 2nd Class, Type 2 were all represented in mint condition, and the lot easily surpassed its $90,000 estimate to sell for $128,700.
Russian medals have been one of the strongest areas of collecting in recent years, and this seems set to continue. Indeed, interest in medals and medal winners is strong across the board.
We've already sold our set of medals award to Francis Fitzpatrick VC, but we still have the autograph of Rambahadur Limbu VC available.
