In 1943, the world-famous Order of Victory was established, which is the highest military award of the USSR. It was a five-pointed star with a round medallion, on which you can see the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin. This is not just an order, but a unique piece of jewelry, consisting of five artificial rubies and 174 diamonds (16 carats). In addition, such expensive materials as gold (2 g), platinum (47 g) and silver (19 g), as well as enamel, were used for its manufacture. At the moment, the Order of Victory is one of the most expensive Soviet awards. In addition, he is considered the second most rare after the Soviet Order "For Service to the Homeland" I degree.
Order of Victory: history of creation, gentlemen
Initially, the order “Victory” should have placed the profile bas-reliefs of Stalin and Lenin. Nevertheless, Stalin decided to place the image of the Spasskaya Tower on it. They planned to decorate the Victory Order with natural rubies, but since it was impossible to pick up specimens that could withstand a single color background, it was decided to use artificial stones. The original name of the order was also changed - “For Fidelity to the Motherland”. All the same Stalin renamed the award, although the author of the idea of creating this order was Colonel N. Neyelov. The sketch of the order was created by the artist A. Kuznetsov.
In total, 20 copies of the Order of Victory were awarded. The first award took place in 1944. As a rule, he was awarded the highest generals for the successful conduct of large-scale military operations. Most of the gentlemen of the named order were outstanding historical figures. In particular, the Order of Victory was awarded to
G. Zhukov (twice), I. Stalin (twice), I. Konev, K. Rokossovsky, A. Antonov, D. Eisenhower, B. Montgomery, I. Tito and L. Brezhnev (He was deprived of the order in 1989). Foreign nationals were awarded as allies in the struggle against Germany. In the Kremlin Palace there is even a memorial plaque that lists the names of all the gentlemen of the described order.
How much does the Order of Victory cost ?
A unique work of art, important cultural and historical value, a symbol of victory over Nazism - all these are characteristics of the award of the Order of Victory, the value of which is almost impossible to evaluate. Indeed, only the price of the material at the moment is equal to the sum of $ 100 thousand.
Therefore, it is not surprising that in the private collection there is only one Order of Victory. His cavalier was the Romanian king Mihai I. By the way, he is the only survivor of the order. Nevertheless, in the 50s of the twentieth century, his award was sold to the Rockefeller family for $ 1 million. It is still unknown whether this unique award was bought from Mihai himself (in 1947 he was forced to emigrate from Romania within 48 hours. with only one suitcase) or the Ceausescu family, who took the regalia from the king. Mihai himself denies the sale of the order. Be that as it may, but after some time the Rockefellers placed the Order of Victory at Sotheby's auction. As a result, it was sold for $ 2 million.
S.S. Shishkov, an expert on Soviet awards, is confident that if the Order of Victory is again put up for auction, its value will be at least $ 20 million.