Rayed gilt metal star, the arms with bifurcated ends, with loop for enamel hanger in the red, blue and red Mongolian national colours; the face with a circular central medallion bearing the national ‘sovombo’ device in white enamel with columns and symbols representing fire, sun, moon, earth, water and the ‘yin yang’ Taijitu symbol, the letters ‘БИД’ above left and ‘ЯЛАВ’ above right (for People’s Republic of Mongolia), a red enamel star above, a plaque bearing the date ‘1945’ below; the reverse plain, numbered ‘23540’; the metal hanger with a screw back, the plate inscribed ‘МОСКОВСКОЕ Т-ВО “ХУДОЖНИКОВ” (Moscow artists); some cracking to the enamel of the hanger, some loss of white enamel to the central medallion of the face; with a green, white, green ribbon bar which came with the medal and may or may not be associated with it . The medal was instituted in 1945 and awarded to both military and civilians who had resisted Japanese attempts at invasion of Mongolia. Reportedly, some 10,000 examples were awarded, some of them to Soviet military. A rare medal.
|