SOVIET
MANNED SPACE PROGRAM
MEDALS

AUTHENTICATED MEDALS
Slightly larger and heavier than the Titov medal below, this 1961 medal also appears to be made of a ceramic type material with a silver coloured metal used for Gagarin's profile. The reverse side features the date 1961 and Gagarin's signature.
This is an unusual medal commemorating Gagarin's and Titov's Vostok flights. It was struck in 1961 and appears to be made of a ceramic type material. The reverse side is featureless.
A second medal issued for Titov and his 25 hour, multi-orbital flight on Vostok 2, was this rare aluminum medal.
Here is a typically large heavy Soviet bronze medal issued to celebrate Yuri Gagarin's 12-April-1961 Vostok 1 flight. On the back "Union of Soviet Socialist Republic" is inscribed around the edge.
Smaller than many Soviet bronze or brass medals, this medal was issued for Gagarin's 10th anniversary of becoming the first man in space.
An American "coin of the month" issue for Yuri Gagarin's first man in space. The image of the Vostok space craft was based on assumptions made at the time and looks closer to an American Project Mercury capsule.
This is a 30th Anniversary "Gagarin First Man in Space", thick aluminum medal. Mintage of the aluminum version was 160,000 with 35,000 silvers made. They were made from metals flown on board from a Soyuz TM space craft. Issued on 12-April-1991 Baikonur Cosmodrome, this example comes in its original Fleetwood presentation card. Curiously a second example also has a COA, but it states the metal used, came from the Vostok 1 space craft. Also pictured is the silver proof 3 rubal Gagarin coin in a presentation box.
Gagarin 40th anniversary: 12,000 of these aluminum medals were issued to celebrate 40 years since Gagarin became the first man in Space. "The First Man in Space 40th Anniversary Medal is minted from the metal of a Russian spacecraft actually flown into space. The Medal is officially issued by the Space Federation of Russia. It was issued April 12, 2001, the exact 40th Anniversary of his flight aboard Vostok 1."
Here we have another Gagarin thick aluminum medal.
A second "coin of the month" coin, this time commemorating the flights of Vostok 3 and 4. This has a more accurate depiction of the Vostok space craft.
The largest soviet medal I have in my collection is this 103mm medal featuring the profile of Valentina Tereshkova of Vostok 6. The reverse side reads `V.V.Tereshkova First in the world woman-cosmonaut, 16 June, 1963`. It was available in both bronze and aluminum, both pictured here.
Pictured here is a medal commemorating Voskhod 2's Pilot Pavel Belyayev.
These two heavy bronze medals were issued to commemorate the first Intercosmos flight with Poland and the USSR of Soyuz 30 on 27-June-1978.
This is the second medal from the Intercosmos flight of Soyuz 30. The flight took the cosmonauts Pyotr Klimuk (USSR) and Miroslaw Hermaszewski, the first Polish cosmonaut to the Salyut 6 space station. Klimik and Hermaszewski were greeted by Vladimir Kovalyonok and Aleksandr Ivanchenkov, the resident crew from Soyuz 29 who had been on-board for 12 days.
This medal was issed to commemorate the first joint Soviet / Bulgarian Intercosmos flight of Soyuz 33 to the Salyut 6 space station on 10-April-1979.
These two heavy bronze medals were issued to commemorate the second Intercosmos flight with Bulgeria and the USSR of Soyuz TM-5 to the Mir space station on the 6-July-1988.
Featuring metals flown in space, this medal was issued to commemorate the 15-May-1987 flight of the Energia rocket. It is smaller than the typical medal's from the Soviet Union. Mintage 800.
This is an example of the very limited edition medal for the Buran's maiden flight. The medal commemorates the first and only orbital flight of the Soviet Space Shuttle Buran and minted entirely from materials that were used to construct Buran. Only 1000 of these limited edition medal was produced by 'Space-Earth' in Gorky Park, Moscow 1988.
Another Buran medal, this time in the typical large heavy bronze style common in medals from the Soviet Union.
From the Paul Weitz collection comes this medal presented to the Astronaut at a time when he was visiting the USSR. It is a large 60mm medal and looks to be made of Pewter or some similar metal.
This custom minted, 60mm diameter medal containing flown metal was issued by Soviet Spaceflight Control Center in Kaliningrad (now Korolev city outside Moscow) to those involved in mission control, VIPs and dignitaries to the Soyuz/Salyut-6 Intercosmos program. Like the medal above, this example was presented to Paul Weitz on his visit to the Soviet Union.
This is one of three aluminum medals released by Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics in 1994 for the 30th anniversary of the Conquerors of Space monument, featuring metal flown in space. This example is to commemorate the flight of Yuri Gagarin (the first man in space) onboard Vostok 1. Mintage 1000.
Here is the second of three medals released by Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics in 1994 featuring metal flown in space. This example is to commemorate the Mir space station. Mintage 1000.
And this is the final of three aluminum medals released for the for the 30th anniversary of the Conquerors of Space monument in 1994 featuring metal flown in space. This one being for the Buran. Mintage 1000.
Silver medal commemorating the 7-June-1988 Soyuz TM-5's flight taking a joint Soviet and Bulgarian crew to the Mir space station.
Containing a silver medal this is one of only 500 of these PNCs issued making very rare. It was issued in 1978 for Salyut 6 having hosted crews from four different nations in the Intercosmos programme.
This is a flown 1" fragment from a Soyuz T-11 space craft that was docked with the Salyut-7 space station 4th April to 2nd October 1984. This is an official Soviet production, with COA issued by the All Union Youth Aerospace Society.

The Soyuz T-11 craft was powered down for 6 months during its docking and restarted successfully for the return. Of note the crew of Soyuz T-11 included India's first man in space R. Sharma.
This is a piece of thermal insulation blanket as used on the Soyuz TM craft. This actual piece though has not been flown in space.
This third flown item from a Soyuz craft is a piece of parachute, used by the Soyuz TMA-3 craft in 2004.


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