Hi Laurens,

I also forget to tell you that "luxury" miniature do exist in all classes iccluding in silver as well -for the 5th -Knight Class (Chevalier) The trend started from the very beginning up to the 4th Republic included.

I have not seen any from now days in this "luxury" model

Again there are made by order to show some kind of social status ....and deep pockets

How did you get information regarding the recipient?

Hi Paul I did not get what did you mean  with your message

Graf

Hi Laurens,

Your Miniature is Officer Class from the Third French Republic -from 1870 till the end of WW2.

Sometime those Miniatures do not come with a rosettes for Officer, simply because they are so called" luxury Miniatures" and are made by order by the recipient to show some kind of social status.

The standard Miniatures from this Period for Officer Class  were made from gilded silver NO Diamonds.

Your Miniature is such one -made of 18 Karat Gold and two Real Diamonds 

The material and the number of Diamonds can be different, depends how much the owner wants to pay.

If you are collector do not stress too much about the ribbon with the rosette.

I have seen even higher classes without  the matching rosette.

Here are some similar Miniatures as you see I have two of my Miniatures without rosettes.

The last one could be a Commander Class because is made from Gold and Platinum and as you see has multiple diamonds and other stones --but No rosette.

Graf

Hi,

Is anyone knows what are the main features of the Badges/Crosses of the Order of Legion of Honour from the 1st Restoration Period, apart from the distinctive reverse medallion with the Royal crown above the three lily.

Any other features??

Best

Graf

Hi Alex,

From what I see you are safe.  The only thing we do not know whether the Document and the cross are for the same person.Sometimes dealers/Sellers "marry" such items for a little bit more profit as a Set.

The problem is that all Bulgarian Orders and decorations are not named.

Unless you have a very strong provenance that they come from the family of this person it is very difficult to know.

On the good side both the Document and the cross look Original The Cross looks an early Boris III period.one.. Only we have to accept that they belonged to the same person

The main areas of fakers are

-Order of St Alexander -mainly Stars. Crosses are "upgraded" from Commander Class with Green enamel to a First Class -see some of the listing in this thread Sometimes crosses are mutilated to match a Star.

- High Classes Stars of the Orders for Military Merit and Order for Civil merit

-Order for Bravery -only the 1st Class Star is known so far to be faked. I have seen also 3rd Class 2nd Grade copy -very bad work

- Different Badges from the Royal Period, however i collect only Bulgaria Royal Red Cross badges and Documents and I cannot make any comments.

The Civil Merit Commanders and lower Classes are the last on the fakers list due to the relatively low prices.

Why bother to fake and spend time only for few backs?

Best

Graf

more pictures of the "better Fake"

Hi,

New World  is correct The main problem is the soft enamel white, red and green.

At one stage Victor/Karissa had other Star with hard central medallion I suspect it could be an original part and the rest is fake I have the pictures of this Star in my files Here is the Front the back is identical as my Star

See the poor finish of the swords, especially the one on the left

Other problems are

- The Star is very thin

- The gilding on the back surface and on the lion and the swords on the front came off very easy

- the front detailing is very poor -on the central medallion and on the swords

- the silver ring on the central medallion is not very detailed  as on the original

-  the difference in the colour suggests two different metals

- the nut on the back is glued not screwed and not the right form

- the pin assembly is poorly attached to the back

New Word is right that if you never seen the Original and/or hold it just from pictures one can be fooled.

However, at the moment I held this Star i realized, that something  is wrong It is impossible to have a very high class Order made with so many problems, especially during King Ferdinand Period

That is why I started this thread to share with others what i have experienced and learned regarding the fakes

That does  not mean that the fakers are not improving and they still can fool us

Graf

On 9/18/2016 at 02:50, Graf said:

RARE! BULGARIA ORDER OF MILITARY MERIT STAR on Ebay Germany  The suspected Fake

Sold for over 800 EURO  I feel sorry for the buyer

Graf

I just to add to the topic.

Yes,  Victor and others managed to sell few fake High Classes on Ebay and later on different dealers in EUROPE.

I even have in my collection one of his last Stars as a nice "Gift" from this period. At the time the Star arrived and I found it was fake he closed his Ebay store and I did not have a chance to return it. I keep it as a "filler' in my Collection till I get the original

Regarding the boxes - for me it is OK to have an rare original box with a replaced lining as long as long as the collector is aware about the fact and the price is right.

Here is the fake Order for Bravery Star 1st Class and also pictures of the Original so the members can compare both of them

The God thing is that I did not pay a fortune for the fake/copy Star I made a very low offer and "surprisingly" Victor accepted it I found later on why..but a little bit late he was gone I hope for good.

Graf

HI 922F,

Glad you found it and you agree with my points.

Sorry i missed last part of your post regarding the item  131937236792 on Ebay.de

I saw it In my opinion is OK.  Only the War Decoration is missing The edges are not as black as i have seen on some fakes See the fake Commander on top of this page.

There are some marks on the swords on the obverse of this 1st Class Cross It looks they tried to mask them. It means they were aware that the Decoration is missing.

Graf

Hi 922F.

The Star is for sale on Ebay.de The German site of Ebay

The Title is in English

RARE! BULGARIA ORDER OF MILITARY MERIT STAR

Please copy the title and go to Ebay Germany - Ebay.de and Paste the title in the search box/bar

The Seller does not accept returns He is from Hungary

Graf

This Star is on, currently on Ebay.de (Germany

II my opinion is fake

Very questionable finish - too many defects for a 1st Class Star from this Maker The enamel lloks dull and not very well defined -signs for a new soft type one The pin system is not correct

You opinion is needed. I might be wrong, but I would not buy it

Look the details very rough finish  It is worry because they use this Famous maker marks

+Graf

BTW The Seller claims that is from his Granddad collection  and he does not have any knowledge about it ??!!!!

Graf

Hi I just added a very interesting old model of the Order of Leopold -Officer Class in Gold

It has the crown of an early Charles J. Buls with typical Buls mark on the ribbon ring however the body including the central medallions are from J.G. Dutalis

The cross has 2 marks one is a round one not known to me the other looks like French  eagle head or Belgium horse head The weight and the size are the same as Dutalis Orders 16 Grams and 39 mm wide

Here is the new Order  together with an early Knight by Charles J. Buls to compare

Hi,

It looks like that there are more awards with errors made then we know

Here is my latest addition French made miniature of the Order for Military merit

The front text is entirely wrong The reverse text is not as bad  However it is extremely nice cross

THANKS JIM,

I ALSO SUSPECTED THE MAKER L/55

I COMPARED THIS CROSS WITH MARKED L/55 AND ALL THE FEATURES WERE THE SAME ..MINUS THE MARK

THANK YOU FOR THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE THREE MAKERS . I DID NOT KNOW THAT FACT

REGARDS

GRAF

HI,

 I HAVE THIS EK1 SCREW BACK VARIANT -NOT MARKED

CAN ANYONE IDENTIFY THE MAKER

GRAF

Hi

I agree with Chris and Kasle

The box is from an old watch

I have similar and I keep one of  mine 1/2 size French LOH -only because it fits very nicely with the ribbon

Even the second box, in my opinion is a later made to fit the EK

 Suspected Fake Star of Order of St Alexander on the Market

It is The 1st Model of the 1st Class of the Order of St Alexander Russian made.

It was sold recently on German Ebay.

Look the central medallion -very rough made

The marking on the back is wrong

Regards

Graf

closer look of the marks

Hi,

Hi Christophe,

It came in an earlier box with Prince Alexander Logo -picture provided

I have not seen any box 1915 Model with stamps for higher then 4th Class??!!

This particular 3rd Class with "thick " crown is believed to be a  left over cross from an earlier model with 1915 central medallion -see picture with a Standard Cross to compare

I have the 1915-1916 Model, however i will be interested to see yours when arrives.

Here is another type of 1915 Model for Doctors with no swords This cross has never had swords attached. I have seen couple of Crosses with swords removed, claiming that they have been adapted for the purpose.

I, personally, will not buy such cross. Since this type of crosses demand bigger price, i believe that someone has mutilated a nice Standard cross for sinister cause.

Regards

Graf

I agree with New World -Nice classic examples!

Here is my small contribution to the topic 4th Class 2nd Grade 1915 Model

The 1915-1916 Model is much more rare

Regards

Graf

Hi,

I have similar "Prinzen" which I suspect is Austrian made It is marked on the small loop, however I cannot identify the mark. It looks like 800 but not sure

I got it from Austria

I got also full size EK2 with Austrian ribbon, however not sure it is Austrian made Cross. It is unmarked

It is part of EK Grouping

Regards

Graf

Hi Uwe,

I cannot prove that the 1941 Soldiers cross were ever awarded or they simlpy are high quality samples Also their number is unknown  The classes of this Model could be 3, 4 and 5 in number. Depends of the source of information.

I am still looking for more information which can bring more light on the topic.

One is for sure that there is more evidence, from the Awarding Documents. that there are at least 4 classes

I came across those Documents for 2nd and 3rd Class. I am yet to see Document for 1st Class.

Regards

Graf

Hi,

I just got this lovely early periods miniature of the Order of St Alexander

I noticed that the date on the reverse has an error  it is 18 February instead of being 19 February.

One can write a chapter in a new book about  Bulgarian Orders with errors

In the current literature only the King Boris Medal of Merit is well documented to have a variant with error, where the

the word Bulgaria is miss spelled as Bulgria -it has missing "a"

I suspect that  there could be more awards with genuine errors. It is not surprising because most of them are made by non Bulgarian makers

.I do not consider any fakes that appear from time to tome on the market

Hi Frunzich,,

Perhaps not many people collect the Bulgarian Red Cross medal

Do not forget that the body of knowledge regarding Bulgarian Orders and decorations is not as big as many other Europeans Orders and decorations, due to the many years of restrictions by the Communist Government.

I personally collect The Reed Cross Badge, because it has many variations to the existing models.

It makes it more exiting to chase as many variations as possible. That is my personal opinion.

Most of them were made by Austrian and German makers.

Here are some of the Red Cross models

Graf

My little contribution

 The pictures are from my archive of Belgium makers marks

Graf

Hi 922F,

I do not have this Order in my collection

The pictures are from my files from recent Auctions.

Both Ferdinand and Boris II Models are much more elaborated then the one shown above

Both Orders have complex flamed badges with both sides of the flames enameled

Here are the Ferdinand- picture 1 and

Boris IIi Orders pictures 2 and 3

Graf