Graf

Hi, I just discovered that one of my Military merit Miniatures by Godet Berlin also has an error in the text It is for Civil Merit Also the swords are for a German Order Graf

Hi, I want to start new topic with this nice Luxury Model for the Order of National Merit. In my opinion they are much more rare then the luxury Models of legion of Honour Reason -The French are not as much extravagant as they are during the earliest periods The Order is gold plated silver with Gold three parts central medallions and three genuine diamondst The wreath is hand made and chiseled Gold in a nice way to reflect the light. The cross has two marks on the loop - one is crab the other one is not readable -it is too small If any members have similar items, please share with us Regards Graf

Dear Uwe, I do not like to argue, however I was referring to the listing of the Document from 1943 with a 1941 Model of 4th Class Order for Bravery in a box, given to Oberzahlmiester All my Documents related to Soldier's Cross are from 1942

Hi Uwe, Thank you for the reply. Only the Document with date 27.10 1941 came with the actual 1941 Model Soldier's Cross The Document dated 25.10 1942 came as a small Group with 1915 Model Soldier's Cross The Document datd 22.3.1943 is for The Officer IV Class 2nd Grade Bravery Order. I have information tha all the Soldier's Crosses from the Kuenker Auction were bought by Uwe Bretzendorfer. Before this Auction Uwe had published book in german about the Bulgarian Order for Bravery. In this book/preiskatalog he stated that there are 4 Classes of the 1941 Model of Soldier's Cross. However after the Kuenker Auction he is more convinced that only 3 Classes of the 1941 Model were produced and that the crossed ribbon were not given with this model, However in the early stages of the WW2 till 1942 when the 1915 Model of the Soldier's Cross was awarded with Documents, The Cross might have had 4 Classess Also in Prof Pavlov book only three Crosses were shown Gold, Silver and Bronze, - none with crossed ribbon, however the author did not specify how many Classes of 1941 Models of the Soldier's Cross did exist...This leavesan open Question. If this is true it make me believe that the 1941 Model Solder's Cross I listed in this topic migh" have been "married" to the Document dated 27.10.1942. On the other hand if the theory for 4 and more classes is true then this Group is genuine. As you said "Now we can select whtever we want" ....and look for the answer Regards Graf

Thanks for the comment. Some collectors will keep away from such Orders, since they are different from the well known Standard pieces. I do not have this problem as long as i feel that it is not assembled with different parts. Simply because such pieces are not mentioned in any of the existing literature about Bulgarian Orders it does not mean that they do not have their place in the collecting world. The reason is why I listed this Order is because i have not seen before such a piece with error. The Text on the central medallion is correct for the Civil merit Order, however during the making it was wrongly enamelled with the colours of Military merit Order and then was atached to the Military Merit Order. I am not sure whether it was ever awarded, and if so perhaps was given to non Bulgarian..or perhaps was made by order by non Bulgarian The reoson i speculated the Order is French is simply the fact that i recently cmae across of French made Order for Civil Order wich has similar features (Crown form, the specific connetion of the crown to the cross and the shapeof the lion on the back medalllion) Graf

Hi, Just to revive this topic with a question regarding the 1941 Model of the Soldier's Cross According to some experts 1941 Model has 4 Classes as the previous models However latest information coming from other experts and also indirectly from prof. Pavlov book it is suggested that - there are only 3 Classes 1st Class Gold 2nd Class Silver and 3rd Class Bronze It is also suggested that because of the above mentioned information this model wascawarded without crossed ribbons -no need for them So far I have not seen any Crosses from this Model with Crossed ribbons including Prof Pavlov book. I have in my collection three of those crosses two Silver and one Gilded -none came with crossed ribbon Any comments Graf

Hi , I recently added to my collection a very unique Bulgarian Order fro Military merit with error It is a 5th Class with crown What is unique about this order ie 1, The Text of the front central medallion is for Civil Merit 2, The enamel of central medallions is different from any standard models 3. the connection of the cross to the crown is very unusual 4, The crown is big and with hand crafted arms on the back 5 The Cross is smaller and slimmer then any standard cross -47 mm wide In my opinion, after examining the cross, is that it is genuine item with genuine error - The quality is very good - The enamel is old hard type -The patina is very genuine old one - It is very likely to be French made, although i have not noticed any hallmarks ar makers marks (typical for French made Orders) I would like to have your opinion. Regards Graf -

Hi Bob, No need to take more photos. It is OK Here is one more contribution I like luxury Miniatures Graf

HI Bob, Merci. It is lovely Set. I did not know that this type of box is specific for "Cent Gardes" LOH I have similar, which came with 1/2 size Officer from Restoration Period Graf

Hello Bob, Thank you Yes it is impossible to collect everything One has to focus only on certain topic. Because i collect other Orders my LOH Collection is not as impressive as yours I like the miniatures. I try to find matching ones for my Standard or 1/2 sazes Orders To be honest i have not seen more advanced as yours before. I suppose that there are other collectors out there with very advanced collections, however not many are eager to share them Yes ,the boxes from the periods earlier to 2nd Empire appear to be mainly custom made ones. I suspect the official boxes started form the Second Empire. I will be curious to see the box for the " Cent Gardes".....if not a problem for you. I have the standard boxes for Officer and Knight Classes Regards Graf

Hi 922F, I know Kassia His real name is Victor and he had few shops on EBay . he is responsible for few fake or "improved/converted" Orders on the market He sold few "improved" Sets to a French dealer in Paris and Les from Liverpool medals Few have been sold on Bogdan Stamboliou Auctions All of them have some of the parts made from a soft enamel or plastic material The central red enamel looks dull and with dark spots of imperfections not like the old original glass enamel -nice and clear with a very nice depth Regarding the Grouping and the whole story you can read A Rare EK1 with a latch lock of the pin by AWS Started By Graf, Jan 15 2012 01:12 Bestregards Graf

Bonjour Bob, Thank you for the nice comments. I am quite interested to know whether you have any Original boxes/cases for Legion d'Honneur prior to Second Empire. Most of the Original boxes I have seen are from 2nd Empire till modern days. When i get an Order from certain period usually I try to get the matching miniature and box/case. Best Graf

Bonjour Bob, Superbe Collection. Congrats! Bravo! I collect Legion d'Honneur and I can say this is a Dream Collection. This is my small contribution to the topic Graf

Hi 922F, I was lucky, because this Cross was bought for me as a present by another collector because I managed to salvage a very rare grouping being destroyed by a not honest Dealer. Pure accident find by me, however very important We managed to restore the Grouping to the initial, I hope, Glory. I know the names of the French and the British Dealers. They used to be honest persons. I still suspect they did not know about the "improvements" of the Orders. Simply they bought them very cheap from the fakers or their agents ant made some profit by re-selling them New World listed one of the Sets of 2nd Class of Order for Civil Merit, with a fake Star (the enamel is entirely new soft one) which is still on sale on the British dealer site. ( look listing from 21 November 2014) On few occasions I confronted them however they denied any knowledge, even the French dealer trid to convince me that a Civil Merit Star with missing oak leaves branches is a "very rare" variation. This guy is in Paris. The problem is that the Bulgarian Orders became very popular among the collectors and the demand, especially for high Classes, increased. Also the fakers do not have any interest to generate low Classes due to the prices Please excuse my ignorance however i do not know who G.Tammann and Kassia are. Best Graf

Dear Members, i have more news for you. Recently I got hold of a 1st Class Order of St Alexander with swords above the Cross Under a good inspection i found the Cross to be OK, however The red enamel was bothering me. I did a "needle Test' of the enamel and i found out it is soft. I decided to open the central medallion The red enamel turned to be modern fake one It is some kind of plastic glued to a metal like piece (disc) Someone has "upgraded" the Cross from a Commander to a 1st Class Lucky for me i had a correct original red enamel medallion fro the same period and i reversed the damage by converting the Cross to a Commander as it used to be Pictures provided Be alert The Problem with the Bulgarian Fake Orders is still existing Graf

Hi Ruiz, Thank you Best Graf

Thank you for the information. I am in a hunt for Knight 2nd Class in Silver. I have seen different models of this Class with borders on the arms without borders on the arms with gold central medallions with Silver central medallions What are the correct features of this Class..or all of the above are correct? Graf

Hi GregM, Thank you for the comment. Yes it is a very nice cross and it is much more affordable the his " 1870 Brother" with hooks eMedals is selling one at the moment with one hook missing for a small fortune I had already one EK1 with hooks(marked 800 on the pin), although is very nice, the Godet made EK1 was on top of my Wish List Best Graf

Hi Peter and Yankee, Thank you for the information. Swedish Orders are my side line of collecting and my knowledge is not very comprehensive. I recently got the Civil model without the swords, which as far as I know was awarded in the period 1894-1920 I am also adding a picture of the Medal of the Order of the sword to compliment Peter's information I am also using the opportunity to ask you for information when can I get original sashes for orders of the Vasa and the Order of Polar Star Best Graf

Hi, I just got this nice EK1 by GODET with Fangs The pictures can not describe the quality of the EK1 In my opinion it is as good as any KMST marked EK1 Best Graf

Hi Igor, This is an extremely nice findings This explains the very good quality of those Silver Crosses.....and their Silver content Paul Meybauer was one of the top Order makers during WW1 and WW2 period Best Graf

At the Moment there is one more Fake Star on the market, which i detected on Liverpool Medals Site. It is part of a Set of Grand Officer Class of the Order for Civil Merit -1st Model . The Cross with the princely crown is Original, however the Star is a Fake an if you look very closely It has the same features as the Star I listed above, only it is Grand Officer Star. Graf

ALERT FAKE GRAND CROSS STAR OF THE ORDER FOR CIVIL MERIT ON EBAY This Star is Fake -very bad quality --the red and white enamel is modern soft type. - the letters are very poorly defined and very easily rubbed of -the gilding is very poorly defined This Type of fake Stars were sold 2-3 years ago on EBAY by dishonest Bulgarian dealer as originals, but they are Fakes This Particular Star -someone tried to age it by causing damages and then bad repairs. Be careful, because some of those Stars appear for sale by dealers around the world. Look the pictures Graf

Thanks for the nice comments I was lucky. Just perfect timing Graf

Hi , i just added this EK1 by J.H. Werner, Berlin to my collection Best Graf