Soviet Union

The Red Army fought its way back into Latvia in 1944 and stayed until 1991, so Soviet material has been part of the landscape here for two generations. What passes through us covers the war years and the decades after: orders and medals, award booklets and documents, uniform items, insignia and everyday equipment.

Soviet awards are documented in a way German awards mostly are not. Orders and many medals were issued with serial numbers recorded against a named recipient, so a piece with its number intact can often be traced back to the man who earned it and the action he earned it for. That research is a large part of the value, and it is also where fakes come apart: renumbered orders, restrikes and award books married to the wrong piece are common.

We check numbers and construction before we buy. Where a piece is a restrike, a copy or a later award, the listing says so.