Falera-et-Orbis, has anyone ordered from?

[Markus]

Has anyone had experience ordering medals from this web store Falera-et-Orbis.com in Slovenia ? I have placed an order and they seem very unresponsive.

[Shots Dave]

I seem to remember purchasing a Polish medal from them some time ago. I don't remember having any problem with them. 

[Drugo]

Falera-et-Orbis is managed by David Tasic aka emonlaib on ebay. I never placed an order through his website and can't say about responsiveness etc., but in general terms it should be absolutely trustworthy.

[Rusty Greaves]

I have no experience ordering anything from Falera-et-Orbis.com, however the website has had available the following highly incorrect alleged "Egyptian Order of Ismail" (single example or multiple "in stock" examples?), identified as a Commander Class neck badge (but possibly supposed to be a miniature of this Order) available ("in stock") at the very high price of 1500€ for greater than 1 year when I first came across it (https://www.falera-et-orbis.com/svetovna-odlikovanja/egypt?product_id=345). This piece bears only cartoon resemblance to the full-sized design of this award. While ~500-1000€ is the top estimated auction price I have seen for some of the few available correctly configured miniatures of the Order of Ismail (see: https://www.coins-la-galerie-numismatique.com/auction-33/order-ismail-1) , 2 genuine miniatures sold in an October 2018 auction of La Galerie Numismatique archived onto Sixbid.com website sold for 120-140€ (https://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=5367&category=168960). The item on the Falera-et-Orbis.com website is a very strange interpretation of the design of this Order based very roughly on the sash badge (Grand Cordon) or neck badge (Grand Officer or Commander Classes) of the Order of Ismail.

"EGYPT, KINGDOM. RARE ORDER OF ISMAIL 3RD CLASS, COMMANDER

Silver, gilt, enamel - all in excellent condition!..

1,500.00€"

From: https://www.falera-et-orbis.com/svetovna-odlikovanja/egypt?product_id=345

 

 

Edited January 28, 2019 by Rusty Greaves

[Stuka f]

I wouldn't trust the tank destruction badge, and wrong ribbons on some of his Belgian medals...

[Markus]

Thanks all for your comments. They did come through for me and seem to be best at regional Serbian, Yugoslavian medals and Orders. I purchased some Serbian 3rd class order of the White Eagle and they seem to be fine. The White Eagle 3rd class order with swords is a Bertrand made medal and the White Eagle 3rd class without swords is a Huguenin made medal. They both are in immaculate condition and not banged up like some of the examples of this order medal.  Unfortunately no cases were to be had.

[Drugo]

I should apologise and state clearly that what I had in mind when giving my opinion was purely based on considerations regarding orders and medals from Yugoslavia. I have no expertise on other countries and refer to more educated opinions for that, such as the ones from Rusty and Stuka. This is a Slovenian based seller and I am not aware where he sources his more exotic orders from.

Obviously, offering a mixture of originals and replicas does not talk in favour of a seller, but in general you should be on the safer side with Falera et Orbis when dealing with Yugo orders. What I would not expect from this website is to order one thing in picture and get another thing in hand, or defected, or not receiving anything at all... As for prices, they are certainly inflated on this website compared to his open auctions on ebay, perhaps by some 20% compared to final auction prices. I've seen worse around in terms of respected selling houses, and with the same composition of originals and fakes that can easily trick some less experienced collectors.

Bottom line, you are the kind of customer that would buy here if you're interested in a very specific/fine piece and want to avoid the hustle of an open auction.

Edited January 30, 2019 by Drugo

[Daffy Duck]

I bought couple of items (mostly yugoslav orders) and he made quite good impression. Once I have received the package I was expecting, and somehow the most expensive order was missing from the rest of the bulk. I have contacted Tasic right away, and in no time I received that with extra order, as a compensation for my stress. He explained that his assistant made a fault.

Most of the items on the site are original, but I can name at least few of them ( Yugoslav medal for Tito’s trip to Burma, etc) which could be doubted. Prices on the site are fair, at least if we compare them to some other, like Emedals and LiverpoolMedals.

[paul wood]

Thanks. I was tempted by the Tito's visit to India but it seemed quite cheap if genuine and therefore as with the Swinton Insurance commercial nagging doubt crept in. I would be interested in other opinions on it. As a serious collector of Indian medals I would eventually like to own one, preferably cased

 

Paul

[Kallarati Heroik]

You can find this store on ebay with another name "emonlaib"

[larsb001]

I have bought from "Emonlaib" on eBay at several occations and I have never had any problems, everything went smooth and the items were as described.

[Daffy Duck]

same here

[Gordon Craig]

I agree.  This seller has always been good to deal with for me.

Regards,

Gordon

[Valjevo]

I've been buying through ebay and David's web site Falera for almost 3 years. Found that is very diligent and honest seller.

Always respond and even further explain. Very knowledgeable about medals and history from Balkan states.

[heusy68]

Hello Gentlemen,

Very sad to announce that David Tasic, passed away in late October 2019.

I only knew him through phone contact & email, a good person, knowledgeable & reliable, he will be missed.

Regards to all.

     Emmanuel

[BalkanCollector]

I was wondering why his site was down lately and I am sad to finally know what is the cause. I didn't personally know the man but he is well known amongst collectors of socialist Yugoslavia.

[Igor Ostapenko]

R.I.P. David 

[sonfelski]

Sad to hear this. bought some medals through his ebay site. 

my deepest condolances

[Drugo]

I found about David's death here, and I am very sorry about it. He wasn't an old man, and I haven't been in touch with him in years now, but we exchanged many many emails back in the days when I was starting my collection, and then again. I remember him as a tall, red haired gentleman and kind person.

Perhaps most of you know him only as the "medals dealer", but David was an important figure in Slovenian modern history:

Born in 1962 in Kruševac (Serbia, then just another republic of the SFRY), as a student in the 1980s he wrote for the Slovenian magazine Mladina, a left-wing liberal and outspoken Slovenian magazine at the time. In 1988, the magazine published a series of documents from a secret meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist League of Yugoslavia, with an alleged plan to arrest a number of Slovenian journalists and dissidents.

At the time, the Yugoslav People's Army (YNA/JNA) was the strong arm charged of protecting and enforcing the socialist regime's grip in Yugoslavia. After the publishing of the article, the army arrested David Tasić, Janez Janša (later to become Slovenian Prime Minister in the 2000s and early 2010s), Ivan Borštner and Franc Zavrl, charging them with "betraying military secrets". As such, they were tried by a military, not civil court, and the trial was held entirely in Serbo-Croatian, despite the four of them were Slovenian. The trial* was held behind closed doors and the alleged secret papers the four were charged for were never disclosed in court. They were all sentenced to prison in October 1988, with 4 months to 5 years sentences. David Tasić got 10 months. All four were later released in August 1989, but the trial sparked such outrage in the Slovenian public opinion that it actually accelerated the struggle for greater freedom and democracy in the country, unifying different opposition streams in the country against the central government of Belgrade and catalysing the fight for independence, which came in 1991.

After the independence, David abandoned the political scene, establishing one of the first independent Slovenian publishing houses. Still, he remained a well known public figure in the country, participating to public events commemorating the trial, Slovenian struggle for independence, and warning about the fragility of democratic systems and the need to always stand and defend freedom.

May he rest in peace.

Filip

*More information about the trial can be found on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JBTZ_trial

Edited November 12, 2019 by Drugo