In the USSR, awards given to people for labor exploits were a kind of gratitude to the state. They were honored both by ordinary workers and collective farmers, and by engineers, workers in science and art, public, party and trade union leaders, who, as much as they could, brought closer the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany. There are two types of medal “For Valiant Labor”, which will be discussed in this article.
The history of the post-war award
The government of the USSR decided to develop a sketch of the medal, which would be awarded to workers of the labor front. This task was entrusted to Army General A.V. Khrulev, who was in charge of the rear services of the Red Army. The authors of the drawing of the future award were artists I.K. Andrianov and E.M. Romanov.
According to the regulation, medals “For Valiant Labor” could be received by ordinary workers and office workers, engineering and technical personnel and employees of trade union, Soviet, party and other public organizations, collective farmers and other specialists involved in the field of agriculture, as well as scientists, artists and writers .
An interesting and unusual fact is that, despite the ambiguous attitude of the USSR government towards the church, in 1946 an entire group consisting of representatives of the clergy was awarded these awards. The fact is that during the war they managed to collect and transfer rather large sums to help the state and the families of the dead servicemen, thereby making a significant contribution to the victory of our people over Nazi Germany. So, in mid-October 1946, medals “For Valiant Labor” were awarded to eight clergymen from the Chernivtsi diocese.
According to official figures, a little more than 16 million people were awarded this sign. Since 1951, a Decree was issued that allowed the family to leave a medal after the death of the awarded, and before that it had to be returned to the state.
Short description
Medals "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945." appeared a month after the establishment of the sign "For the victory over Germany." It should be noted that the image on the front side of these awards were identical, and the reverse and color gamut of the ribbon were different. In addition, a military medal was cast from brass, and for labor achievements - from copper.
The award is made in the form of a circle with a diameter of 32 mm. The front side of the coin is decorated with a chest profile image of the then head of state, I.V. Stalin. In the upper and lower parts there are inscriptions: “Our cause is right” and “We won”. On the back there is a text that completely matches the name of this honorary sign, and also at the top there is a small image of a sickle and a hammer, and at the bottom there is a five-pointed star. We can say that this award exists in four versions, differing among themselves by some features of the ear.
History of the jubilee award
The medals “For Valiant Labor” and similar ones (“For Military Glory” or dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lenin) were established by a special Decree in early November 1969. The authors were A.V. Kozlov, who made a reverse drawing, and N. A. Sokolov, who worked on the obverse.
The jubilee awards "For Valiant Labor" were awarded to advanced workers and collective farmers, workers of public and state institutions, prominent figures of culture and science, who achieved high indicators in preparation for the anniversary of V. I. Lenin. Also, this medal was awarded to persons who took an active part in building socialism in the Soviet Union and, on the basis of a personal example, helped the Communist Party educate a new younger generation.
Award Description
Medals “For Valiant Labor. In commemoration of the centenary of the birth of V. I. Lenin, they are made of brass and have the shape of a circle. Their diameter is 32 mm. The front side of the badge has a matte background and a relief image of the profile of V. I. Lenin, and at the bottom of the number is “1870-1970”. On the back there is a text identical to the name of the medal, as well as a sickle and a hammer at the top, and a five-pointed star below. Along the edges, the award is bordered by a side.
The medal has some features regarding abalone. The fact is that on some copies in this place there may be a mark belonging to the Leningrad Mint. It consists of three very small stamped letters - LMD. Sometimes the mark was placed on one or two sides, but such samples come across where it is completely absent.
We can also distinguish three varieties of these awards, which differ from each other in the execution of the reverse. The most common is the sign with the text "For Valiant Labor" located in its upper part. In this design, about 11 million copies were made. The next version of the medal is “For Military Valor”. This sign is found about five times less often, since its circulation was only 2 million. In the third version, the previous two texts are completely absent. Such medals were intended only for rewarding foreign citizens of USSR-friendly countries. Their total number does not exceed 5 thousand copies.
Price
How much does the medal “For Valiant Labor” cost? Its price can vary significantly, which depends on several indicators. For example, a jubilee award given to advanced workers (with the text “For Valiant Labor”) can cost about $ 4-6, with the inscription “For Military Glory” - $ 10-15, and without it - from $ 650 to 750.
The prices of medals awarded to people for labor exploits during the Second World War depend on the eyelet of a particular badge and can vary from 3 to 30 dollars per copy.