Graf

Nice small collection You do not need to get more Good decision to go now to the Officers Classes I suppose from the "seven points" Emission Fourth Class of the Officer Cross from this emission has only Second Grade are is more affordable as the highest Classes The First grade of the Fourth Class was introduced for the First time in the '1915' emission The next emissions of the Fourth Class all of them have First and Second Grade The fourth Class from the "seven points' emission has two main variations with fat lion and with a slim lion in the central medallion Also there are some other rare variations of the Fourth Class -- with the lily - with the elongated ear this variation is considered to be the very first issue of the Fourth Grade Cross/Badge - without swords for Doctors and Clergy man I discovered that it was made in France -

BTW If you have not found yet - to make the pictures bigger you have to click with the right button of your browser on the desired picture Cheers

Welcome Good luck in your collecting My advice is to start with the standard Crosses and once you get experience you can start looking for more rare ones. Remember - The soldiers crosses (and also the Officers ones) without swords are made without swords. If someone offers you a cross with cut off swords it is not an original one The swords have been cut off for profit, since those crosses demand higher prices Also one of their feature is that they are smaller and slimmer than the standard crosses with swords Cheers

Nice collection Congrats

All those crosses are from the the first emission with the "seven points" Awarded during the Balkan Wars The second emission is with the "1915' Those crosses were awarded during WW1 In the beginning of the WW2 left overs from the "1915" emissions were awarded In the late stages of WW2 the "1941" emission crosses were awarded mainly to German military persons Those crosses had Austrian/German style triangular ribbons They are made by the German Company Zimmerman Their quality is much better This is the only emission that have a bronze Cross The vast majority of soldiers crosses were made in Bulgaria There are samples of the first two emissions made by Austrian and German companies Their quality is very good this.Some of them made from 800 0r 925 Silver There are single samples of "1945' emission made in Bulgaria however they were never approved and awarded Their quality is bad The crosses had different ribbons The standard ones followed the design for the Classes from 1 to 4 First Class - Gilded Cross with crossed ribbon Second Class - Gilded Cross with straight ribbon Third Class Silvered Cross with Crossed ribbon Fourth Class Silvered Cross with straight ribbon There were also crosses with pentagonal ribbon seen in all emission I believe this was the choice of the awarded person There were also crosses awarded to medical Staff without swords

Very nice Excellent Very nice

Nice Good Luck in your new adventure Yes Lubo has the knowledge to guide you through the mine field of the Bulgarian Communist Decorations Cheers

Yes I agree Fake Star Somebody paid $1400 plus commission Cheers

It is a very nice book i have in mind 2011 Edition Weak point is the evaluation of the decorations The current market demands much higher prices. I do not recommend you to buy the older 2001 Edition It is smaller book and the information is not as good Most of the pictures are black and white. For starting point is OK, however the 2011 Edition is much better Late Prof Pavlov books are the best however they still demand much higher price then Denkov book(s) Cheers

Very nice explanations Those crosses could be 1st and 2nd class Once the ribbons from 1 to 4th Class were introduced then the class could be identified easier 1nd and 3rd Class had crossed ribbons Here is an overview of the Order for Bravery You can see that the pentagonal ribbon was used till the end of WW2 Yes Todor Petrov book is a good reference

Cheers French made from this period

Hi Steve It is made by Austrian maker. As you noticed it might be not Shield The cross is typical Austrian made During Prince/King Ferdinand all Royal Bulgarian Orders were made mainly in Austria and smaller numbers in France There are single numbers made by Swiss or Hungarian makers King Ferdinand was not keen any Orders to be made by Bulgarian Makers He was crazy about quality. Cheers

Yes you are correct No Swords I do not know why i saw swords The time looks correct as well Cheers

Yes it is nice 5th Class Cross Austrian made in the beginning of last century Prince//King Ferdinand period War time awarded with swords in the middle Usually they are silver made -marked or unmarked If it is made by Shield the mark will be on the ribbon ring Price 150-180 Euro Cheers

Good Work Tony

Very nice photo Very nice photo The Commander of the Order of St Alexander is with swords in the middle -given at a war time

Thank you I forgot to clarify the "R' mark

Welcome back Yes ,This was my first thought

nice

Welcome in the Club It is interesting badge It is better to list it in the North Europe Section Regards Graf

Hi Welcome to the Club, Very likely the front medallion was lost and who ever repaired the Orders attached what he had in hand Those medallions get detached/lost quite often, since they are hold in place only by a stiky wax On close inspection, in my opinion the blue and the white colours central medallion were re-enameled and they made a mistake The white enamel of the cross also was repaired

That is a nice information That is possible as well Only the man in the photo can give us the correct answer Good Work Steve !