Thank you, Jacques!
The only difference is the black filling of the engraving on top and in the serial number.
It is also seen on #465569 owned by levonsa.
http://ussrcameras.ru/catalog/480But #468456 also has black engravings and is in the second batch after mine so that's of no use.
http://www.sovietcams.com/index.php?414372438By the way, I noticed Sovietcams also reached the conclusion only about 300 cameras were made. I should read more sources before reinventing the wheel every time...
Anyway I wouldn't expect great differences, it is less than 3.000 serials between the first and last known FED1 Anniversary, nothing in the camera itself should have changed. From the attestat of #468414, the earliest known of the 2nd batch, we know it was made in late May '54. So the first batch was probably made not much earlier, also in May '54. According to Wikipedia #424001 - #560000 were produced in 1954, 136k cameras. That's about 370 cameras a day or the entire Anniversary serial range in a week. Even if this is an overestimate it looks like they took a day's production of cameras and some weeks later again a day's production - or even less. Strange.
Unfortunately I know little about Ukrainian history but according to Wikipedia there was a massive state-organized celebration of the 300 year anniversary of the Treaty of Pereyaslav in 1954 but when exactly? The 1654 treaty was finalized in March/April, but it appears the main celebrations of 1954 took place in summer. Late enough for the cameras to be finished.
quote:
In February 1954 the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) transferred Crimea as a gift to Ukraine from the Russians; even if only 22 percent of the Crimean population were ethnic Ukrainian. 1954 also witnessed the massive state-organised celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Pereyaslav; the treaty which brought Ukraine under Russian rule three centuries before. The event was celebrated to prove the old and brotherly love between Ukrainians and Russians, and proof of the Soviet Union as a "family of nations"; it was also another way of legitimising Marxism–Leninism.
We have to assume Ukrainian-Russian relations were a delicate and highly political subject back then even more than today. Nikita Khrushchev was, in contrast to Stalin, pro-Ukrainian and sought to integrate Ukraine deeper into the USSR with the symbolic 'gift' of crimea, yet on the other hand this campaign was of course mainly intended to curb Ukrainian nationalism and separatism. 'Together forever in Moscow' says it all.
In this light it seems plausible not only FED but also Kiev/Arsenal participated with a commemorative camera, however it seems extremely few were made - Why?
They made over 100K FED1'g' in '54 but only 300 commemorative cameras?
With the Kiev I wonder if they are authentic at all. Two samples with different engraving in Russian/Ukrainian does not sound like an official production.
It would be highly interesting to know how and to whom they were sold or given as gift. It seems strange zero documents exist, I understand a lot was lost in the war but this was 1954 so documentation and even official advertisements and media coverage like in camera magazines should still be somewhere.
Pure speculation from my side but two explanations for the lack of both cameras and official documentation:
1) it was never an official camera version but a special factory job given to only a few selected people
2) party officials changed their mind or determined that "together forever in Moscow" was not a successful propaganda line and soon halted production/distribution of these cameras and their advertising to the public.
So many things we don't know but especially with this version I think we have to take politics into account.
