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

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

Hi Igor,

Thank you for the information and especially the last pictures.I admit i have never seen the cross mounted

Similar Cross but Gilded was sold recently on a Auction in Gemany

I agree with you that the Cross in my collection is most likely private made one.

I agree that the new Principality of Bulgaria was poor at that point and such Crosses were not commonly made.

I suspect that there were few crosses given to rich people like Felix Graf von Luckner, who in return ordered one to be made in Silver in order to shows his rich/wealth status in the society. It was quite common practice around Europe at that and later time.

I forgot to mention that this cross is also featured in the book "Bulgarien Militarorden fur Tapferkeit von 1880 bis 1946" by Uwe Bretzendorfer & Thomas Kuhn.

- pages 12 and 13

Best

Graf

Hi Igor,

Here is a very rare First Model of the Bravery Cross It is Silver and is marked 925 on the ring

This Cross is only mentioned in Prince Dimitry Romanoff book " The Orders, Medals and History of the Kingdom of Bulgaria" - page 64.with pictures provided

It is not mentioned in any other book about Bulgarian Orders

The quality of this cross is much more superior then the common solders Crosses

Best

Graf

Hi,

It is interisting pont about the black line However it is still scary because th fakers are still around and we have to be on guard

Here are more pictures of the Fake Republican Commander

Even the Wreath which looked good at first glance is a Fake. When compared with two original Wreaths Large and Small Model it is clearly different

Even the metal is different It is neither nicely gilded or silvered.

Also am listing a picture of the dimmension of the cross

In general the whole cross as one of the memmbers noticed looks quite anemic

Graf

Hi,

i just dicovered something interesting

Look those two pictures of the reverse of the crosses

On both crossess the handle of the right sword has identical defect ,that means they were made at the same shop at the same time.This will be impossible if the crosses represent different periods

Other starnge features -similar enamel patern and the same shape of the crosses also sugest that they are identical

In my opinions some of the parts are orininal, however the main bodies and the enamel are recently made

That is worry because the fakers managed to fake the hardness of the enamel

The good news is they still can not match the one of the Old Original Crosses, however they are closing the gap.

In my opinion. both are fakes

What do you think ?

Graf

Hi 922F,

The Two Boris III Crosses are OK I did buy them separetly from different Dealers. Perhaps i have to take pictures with closer view

The Commander with War Decoration is fine. I did buy it from Detlev Niemann, when he was still in businnes,. with Certificate

The Problem ones are the Republican and The Boris III Commanders on my first listing.

The similarities are too big for them to be classified from differen periods.Do not worry the Dealer was Smart he did not error ...he listed them one by one on EBay.com

The Boris III Model is stil listed for $988 or "Make an Offer" Deal

Graf

Hi 922F,

Thank you for the comments It looks like a new wave of Fakes are on the market with improved enamel (hard instead of soft type).

However, the similarities and the odd features and those funny oxidation makes them to fail

I had the chance to hold the Republican Model and to take pictures with two Boris Commanders and two Officers

Here are more pictures to compare

Graf

Hi,

Two more pictures with more direct view

Graf

Hi,

Two more pictureswith more direct angle

Graf

Hi,

Recently I came across those Military Merit Commanders for sale by the same Dealer

Although they are from two different periods I found few featrure that are very similar and rases Questions

1One of The Commander is Boris II Period

2 The other Commander is from the Republican Period

The commo features are

- the both crossess are with the same shape and the saze is less that 54 mm wide Also both are much slimmer that the Standard Boriss Model They are slithly bigger than the Standard Officers of the Boris III Model, however slimmer and thinner compared with an Officer Class

- the patern of red enamel is identical even in the central medalions with specific dark areas along the edges

Also the ozidesed parts of the metal on Boris III Model look very funny .In my opinion it is artificial ageing and deos not match the very new Enamel I might be wrong and too harsh, however we have to be aware

I would like to have your opinion

Originals or Fakes? Is any posibility they have been made in Bulgaria? When?

Graf

Hi,

Recently I came across those Military Merit Commanders for sale by the same Dealer

Although they are from two different periods I found few featrure that are very similar and rases Questions

1One of The Commander is Boris II Period

2 The other Commander is from the Republican Period

The commo features are

- the both crossess are with the same shape and the saze is less that 54 mm wide Also both are much slimmer that the Standard Boriss Model They are slithly bigger than the Standard Officers of the Boris III Model, however slimmer and thinner compared with an Officer Class

- the patern of red enamel is identical even in the central medalions with specific dark areas along the edges

Also the ozidesed parts of the metal on Boris III Model look very funny .In my opinion it is artificial ageing and deos not match the very new Enamel I might be wrong and too harsh, however we have to be aware

I would like to have your opinion

Originals or Fakes? Is any posibility they have been made in Bulgaria? When?

Graf