Graf

Hi Igor,

I managed to track the Set on the Auction site

It is reasonable starting price

I will not bid on it.

At the moment I am having a rest from collecting till the world situation is getting more normal ...if at all

Like the Russians say :

 Nu Poziviom i Uvidim

Cheers

Hi Duncan,

I agree with 992F

In my opinion those nearly mint look gild medals you can see on the market are modern reproductions

You correctly noticed that the quality of those medals is inferior compared to the original.

As long as the price is also very low we can consider them as what we call 'collector's copies"

They are meant mostly for the novices in the collecting world to start from somewhere without the price of the originals. You can see many of those copies on eBay or other Platforms  Those Platforms, although they claim that they are regulated, in fact they are not.  They have their own place in the collectors market Also many novices are attracted by shiny medals till they realize sooner or later that shiny does not mean value .it is just appearance

The problem is when not very honest sellers try to sell them as original items and demand higher price for a profit

Cheers

Hi Jerome,

Thank you for the nice information.

Yes it is a lovely Group

Cheers

Yes. It is nice to see all those uniforms..and in good condition

OK

Hi Elmar Lang,

Thank you for sharing this nice group with the members of this forum.

That is great that it comes with a good provenance

I assume you have enjoyed it very much

The silk piece of cloth is more likely part of  an original ribbon from that period . It was used to give more dramatic look of the crown of the LOH

Regards

Graf

Hi Igor,

Sorry,

However this cross does not have the features of Zimmermann crosses

The ball is not as big and defined and the cross does not have the quality and details

I might be wrong, however that what i see

Hi Igor,

We do not expect all the posts to be with pictures from our collections

It will  be nice to have all those items

Cheers

Hi PREM,

More information regarding Bulgarian Order for Military Merit you will find in Central and Eastern European States Section of this Forum

Here is a overview of the Commander Classes of this Order from all periods including the Regency and Republican Periods -the two bottom ones Notice that the republican Model has wreath instead of crown

Note: The Cross on the very left with the War Decoration is the 1st Class It is 75 mm wide It is from King Ferdinand Period

The rarest model is the one with so called "flat" reverse central medallions -only single pieces are known in the collectors world

Cheers

Yes Igor,

Thank you for the pictures i looked in my files for this Knight Cross I could not find it

I did not bid on this one

Frankly I do not bid on eMedals Auctions, since i found them a bit funny to say the least

Cheers

Hi Igor,

It is a pity that you have only the front of the cross otherwise we can have more clues.

This Kretly Set looks funny  The Cross and the Stars do not look to match in time

Cross is the Princely Model while the Star is the Kings model

Unless  they were awarded as they are in some transitional period we can speculate that they are joined together at later time

Hi Eric,

Cheers

A nice old Commander

Hi JapanX,

Yes, the central medallions of those luxury models are made of 18 Carat Gold .

Some of the crosses are made of 18 Carat Gold some are Silver  very heavily 18 Carat gilded

In my opinion the making of 18 Carat gold crosses stopped some time between the WW1 and WW2 period

After this period crosses in 18 Carat Gold are extremely rare even to the used to extravaganza French

Thanks

Cheers

Hi Igor,

Both types have their own place in the collecting world

Cheers

Hi Igor

I cannot see any strange

It is 2nd/3rd Class First Emission  1881-1886 Russian made with the correct swords

It look like it was re -enameled or at least some of the enamel repaired.

I can see some marks on the ring connecting the cross with the ribbon loop

I is a pity you do not have an image on the reverse Most of them have their maker's marks on the reverse of the crowns arms/pendalia

Hi LUbo,

Sorry,  typing mistake You are correct

Read "  The pair of medals DID appear in the German booklet in 1889, but it it DID NOT look to be sold in the SOTHEBY"S  Auctionin 1998"

Cheers

Just edited the text to correct the typing mistake

Cheers

HI JeffV,

Congrats

That is  a good price

Perhaps you next buy could be Commander like this one bellow It is also silver gilded

Cheers

Hi Lubo,

Thanks

The pair of medals DID appear in the German booklet in 1889, but  it DID NOT look to be sold in the SOTHEBY"C Auction. in 1998

I just noticed on Igor post of Spink Sale, an interesting fact. The Spink stated in the Provenance Section that those items had been sold by SOTHEBY"S Auction on 7 of July 1998.  That mean that the Spink Auction took place in a later year.

Silly of me I did not notice that fact  earlier. Now i have to dig in the past or perhaps the current SPINK Auctions to find the year Igor can help me to avoid this search if he knows the year of Spink Sale.

Nice groups

Cheers

Hi Lubo,

Ifgor showed the book from the German Auction in in a post in 2019

His last post from November 2021 was from Spink Auction

You stated

Here is the rarest of all, no other gold award of this type is known to exist!

Its listed as #086 of this fine booklet that Is displayed by Igor in the previous post. Sorry for the cut pictures.

A bit a confusion ..needed some clarification

 I added pictures from SOTHEBY"S related to the posts.

Did they organise the Auction with collaboration with Spink in 1998?

Cheers

Graf

Hi Lubo ,

Is this pair contributed to King Ferdinand? They did not appear in the SOTHEBY"S Auction Igor is shoiwng pictures from a SPINKS Auction site

Hi Bayern, Thank you for the information

Here are pictures from the SOTHEBY"S Auction on 7 July 1998 in London

See the swards they are hand made pattern on the back of the handles

The central medallion appear flatter and the text is similar to Batenberg issue

The rim is flatter compared to the other cross

As a whole  the cross is finer and the quality is better compared to the other cross