Nota_Bene ha scritto:Marc,
My problem is that I could never learn to distinguish between what is real and the shadows on the scans, so you could easily be right.
I don't see any problem with the length of the word "ДВОР", but I am worried about the shape of the letters. I am assuming that this could be because the MM was not stamped deep enough and possibly stamped at a slight angle.
As for the serial number engraving, I think it makes you uneasy because normally, the "1" should become sharper towards the bottom, where the engraver would lighten the pressure.
All things considered I am leaning towards good, but with scans there is always an element of a guess. I can never tell for sure until I actually handle the piece.
Alexei
Alexei,
Obviously, I don't have a large number of scans of pieces in this SN range (100-190). However, when dealing with the straight MM, I have noticed that every single original piece (SN 121, 133, 145, 168, 177, 182 and 190), the length of the word "ДВОР" is consistent: the distance from the left edge of the letter Д to the left edge of the letter Р in "ДВОР" is the same as the distance between the left edge of the first letter Н and the left edge of the second letter Н in "МОНЕТНЫЙ" (or from the right edge to the right edge of these same letters). On SN 103, there is a very marked difference in length.
Now, for the shape of the letters. On 103, the inside of the letter Д is triangle shaped, the top loop of the В is markedly larger than the bottom loop, the inside part of the О is an even oval, and the loop of the P is shorter.
Regarding the engraving, it is not only the 1 that bothers me. It seems to me that this engraver has his own, very specific way, of engraving both 0 and 3. In this case, the 0 looks basically correct overall but somehow IMO not as it should: He engraved this number as 2 opposite brackets (), which is not the case here. As to the figure 3, its bottom hook is, once again IMO, a giveaway: in order to better control the chisel, it is easier to make a smaller cut. As far as I can tell, I have never seen such a small hook on a 3 made by this engraver; his are always full size.
Anyway, I agree with you that assessing genuineness from pictures is definitely not an exact science and has serious limitations.
Marc
state mostrando Ordini fantastici. 
лорин михаил васильевич - 1909
http://ilpilot.narod.ru/man/hsu_mt/i/lorin_mv.html 
Questo in realtà sarebbe un thread già dedicato a Order of Nakhimov 2nd class №397, io eviterei di fare confusione...
