Graf

Hi Paul,

Thank you for the link

I am trying to get as much information as possible

I contacted the Baronet Society for more information . No much help Once the title is closed that is the end

Graf

Thank you for the comments

I agree that it is one of the nicest British Orders

Here are two nice Baronet Badges

One is named and dated 1924 in an original box

The second - more modern not dated or named  Marked Silver

Update

i found box and matching Miniature

This cross is for sale on eBay for the crazy price of $1700  The "new seller" provided better pictures One can see the"after market work around the crown arms

Graf

Thanks

Hi New World

Thank you

Yes i have been chasing this one for a while

Graf

Hi Igor,

It is nice however the Document is for the princely Model

This Cross is with Kings Crown i  suspect that it was replaced later on if the original was lost

Here is similar Document with 3rd Class The Document dates earlier

Thanks

I am sharing because we are still discovering facts that are not mentioned or shown in the existing  literature

That way we can improve our knowledge Even now when i go through my collection I still discover things i have not noticed in the past

Graf

The latest in my collection

Nice Box for the 3rd Class

Notice the size of the box and the bed for the cross

I also, by accident, noticed that the 4th Class of the 1915-1916 is nearly as the size of the 3rd  class and is bigger to the other Models of 4th Class

My latest red Cross item

Graf

Here is the latest item to my collection

Officer Pouch -"Ladunka"

Graf

Hi Danny70

Thank you for the reply

Here are better pictures I hope.

Initially I was considering unmarked Juncker "L/12", however my small research indicated that you are correct  This is unmarked "100"

Regards

Graf

My small contribution to the topic.

Hi

I came across this Civil Merit Commander with a strange crown. i do not classify it as fake Simply the crown was replaced due to unknown reasons at one stage   Still,,, strange item

Any idea about the crown origin....  Order???

Hi,

I got across this nice 1939 EK2 -unmarked It looks better in hand It has polishes frames

Opinion wanted about the Maker

Graf

Hi 922F,

Although the person who met was not Raynov, the scenario you met this collector sounds like one of Bobomil Raynov crime books.

I only mentioned his name because who has very advanced collection. i assume they could be few other Bulgarian collectors during this time.

Recently i was contacted by a person who wanted to act as middleman to sell his "friend" collection His friend had a very advanced collection that was passed to him by his late father. He was reluctant to sell it in Bulgaria. According to him his father was not a big shot during the Communist period. However he has decent income and big interest in Bulgarian Orders and decorations  That led me to the thought that there had to be few collectors like his father and they their collections in secret. You might have met one of them.

i will not list any pictures of this collections due to privacy and security  reasons (many of our listings including pictures can be found easily on internet )

BTW i did not go with the negotiations  and the deal due to some concerns ..and also I am in a dormant stage at the moment with my collecting

Best

Graf

Hi 922F,

From the picture and the information it looks like this is an Original Star. The finish of the surface is quite genuine to me, although i have not handle an original with this type of fitting.

At that time not many people in Bulgaria would be able to collect Royal Orders.

Many of those items were in the hands of high officials or well connected to them people with good income.

It was romoured, however i can not confirm that The mentor of late Prof Pavlov was a very famous Bulgarian Crime story writer Bogomil Raynov. He was well connected to the high profile people at that time. Again it was rumoured that he had one of the most advanced advanced collection of Bulgarian Royal Orders in Bulgaria

The fakes with the similar round fittings appeared  around 10 years ago and distributed by a seller on eBay.

I assume they used Originals as examples

Later on they found the way in Auctions in Europe and in dealers sites.

Now days they are not as often on the market as 10 years ago.

Perhaps some of the collectors from Bulgaria can answer your question about the identity of this collector you saw on few occasions in Bulgaria.

Hi 922F,

The picture New World listed, from another forum, is of fake Star but with better finish

I found a picture of same fitting, sold as original on on of the Auction in Europe

BTW The sword on the left is the same as the sword on the right are the same simply photo illusion.

Hi 922F,

Here are pictures with fake or copy Star -first three pictures

and the Original the last three picture

You can compare the difference

Still,  i want to see the reverse to be convinced, however as New World stated cracks mean hard enamel it is a step to identify the Star is it Original or Copy/Fake one

Best

New World,

You are correct with your assessment It is Second Class Cross.

Knowing the seller I am more inclined to pick the first possibility  I will be very surprised if he sells it because on such level there are only few collectors and i suppose they are with a good knowledge. 

Also what is bothering me that the seller did not display the reverse of the Star, like he did for other countries stars

Best

Hi Laurentius

I used to collect the Italy Order of the Crown, however i cleared most of the.

I have only two  left

From my experience most of the gold crosses are not marked Only if they are in silver they have mark 925 on the ring loop or on the side of the cross

The construction is very light Actually the only metal is the gold/silver strip covering the edges and the wire and of course the central medallion ( they are also very thin)

They are small numbers of crosses wit a bit thicker construction however the gold is not much as for tother orders in Gold

Here are my items

Small Group of the Grand Cross supposedly  awarded to the Bulgarian general Draganoff

and Commander in Gold in a very nice luxury box with minatures

Hi Graham,

All Bravery awards are prestigious Some as the  German Iron Cross and  British Victoria Cross are most famous.

However the importance of the other countries Bravery Awards can not be ignored.

The Soldier Cross  as part of the Order for Bravery has its own place. While the Officers Crosses of the Order for Bravery are very  high quality and very handsome  the   Soldier"s   Crosses quality are not The reason is that they were awarded to the low ranks.

The Soldier's  crosses you listed is the Second Emission with the  year 1915 on them You are correct that they came in two Variations with letter  "I" and the Bulgarian Letter  "N"

This Emission was given during WW1 and the very early stages of WW2  During the late stages of WW2 a New Emission with the 1941 year was issued only to German Military Persons including officers The quality was much better. It is believed that they are produced by the German Firm of Zimmerman Some 1915 Issue Soldier's Crosses were made also by this Firm

There are two more Emission - the first one with " 7 Dots" given during the Balkan Wars  fourth Emission with 1945 year ( believed   not to be awarded -only single samples with bad qualities exist )

Here are some examples that are not as common

 -The very fist model of the 1st Emission  in silver  marked 925 on the ring - Prince Batemberg  period

- Soldier's Cross without swords awarded to Medical Persons

- 1915 Emission by Zimmerman in silver -marked "SILBER" on the ring

- 1941 Emission It is believed that they were three classes given 1st Class in Gold 2nd Class in Silver and 3rd Class in Bronze. They are mounted on German style ribbons

- some awards documents to Germans Note the last picture the Cross is the "7 Dots' Emission and is given during WW2 period

I forgot to tell you that the Orders and the paintings were already framed as they are on the photos

The Orders are between two glasses and the ribbons are glued to the back glass

All done by the previous owner/s

The photo shows the size of the two frames

I suspect because it was the least awarded class According to Todor Petrov only 187 in total and only 59 to Bulgarian. I also suspect that because it is not as impressive as the 1st Class many of those 6th Class awards were lost with the time, which made them more rare to find.

Yes, New World you are correct about the price tag.  The same one was sold 10 years ago on Auction in Germany for the price of a 1st Class Set Lucky for me the seller of this Cross was not aware of this fact and i got it on a very good price.

Also when i compared this Model crosses (Plenty of time now days) i discovered  that the inset of the crowns of this first model are different from the inset of the later models of all Bulgarian Orders

first the enamel is different in texture and second the inset has a bit wavy top edge  line - feature not seen in any other model or even Orders from the same period. It is only in this very first model of the Order for Civil Merit from 1st Class to the 6th Class (minus the enamel)

So we can say that this model has the following features

- Domed Crowns

- Hand chiseled oak leaves

- Specific crown insets -shape and  featured enamel

We learn something all the time.

BTW  Have you realized that the crowns of of the princely model of the Order of St Alexander do not have insets with enamel.