V.Vazov

Hi Graf, Great discovery indeed! What I find very curious is that the German headquarters' stamp. Bulgarian orders have been largely rewarded to German officers as the practice is between allies, but I believed it is only the Bulgarian headquarters that could reword and issue a certificate. I wonder why the German headquarter will reward a German officer with Bulgarian order. Curious to know... The order is boxed and very beautiful! Congrats! Best, Vazov

Hi Ilieff, Many thanks for this great analysis ! I find especially impressive and perfectly logical the last part regarding the need of bravery orders after the Serbo-Bulgarian war and the suspended relations with Russia. This demostrates that we should be focused on the historical conjuncture as well, when developing our suggestions about the orders and putting them in the right context. Meanwhile I have continued our research and found another early piece that differs from the "mainstream" examples. Apparently it was sold some years ago by a Bulgarian dealer that seems no longer be involved, but sold an extraordinary quantity of orders, amongst which a lot of rare pieces (as visible on his site). This given piece has a "thick crown" like the Battenberg 3rd grades or the 3 grade from 1915 with И on the reverse. Personally, I've never seen such crown on a 2 or 1 grade badge. There are also differences in the central medallion. As you can see, the sellers' site claims it was reworded during a visit of the Russian emperor in 1902 and a memorial opening. The information is not correct. There is an opening on the occasion of an anniversary of the war, but of a church and not a memorial. Besides the Russian emperor is not attending, but his officials are sent on his behalf. Are these mismatches in the context compromising as well the information about the order, I don't know. But it's a very interesting early piece. Have anyone seen it before? Do we have some additional information? Best, Vazov

Hi Graf & Ilieff, You are perfectly right. I think that together, we have "discovered" a sub-emission of the following pieces, which are obviously different from the others. It'd be curious to understand if they are late Battenberg or early Ferdinand ones. By the way, I am looking for this 4 grade for my collection, which unfortunately I missed once because I was too slow, so if someone come across it, please let me know! Best, Vazov

Hi Graf, Interesting theory about the fat crown. It is difficult to be sure tough, as there are multiple type of crowns, used for it, which differs from one another, as the orders themselfs. Perhaps it is due to the different manifacturer (Russian or Austrian)? Sorry for the bad quality, I took the picture in the museum and the light is not OK. What I find as well really interesting is the last one to the right: it is exactly like a 7 dots emission, the only difference is the golden circle.... Actually, do someone knows a little more about those early "Battenberg" 3rd class emissions? And another unique piece that I found the picture of in Google. Don't even know where it comes from but I haven't seen it in the books. It's exactly like the "big lilly" 4 grade but it's 3rd. Don't know if soimeone have seen it or have some info about it.... Best regards, Vazov

Hello, I'd like to make a modest contribution to the topic with the two variants of the 4 grade 1 class 1915-1917 I have in my collection. Best regards, Vazov

Hello, It is known that the 1941 emission has as well a "doctors" cross with no swords, as in the picture below from a catalogue. Has anyone seen it? If someone is able to, would you post some photos of it? Many thanks! Vazov

I completely agree with New World ! This seller has quite some questionnable items....

Hello, Thanks to all of you for your kind comments! Graf, would you post some photos of your 4 grade 2 class with big lilly? Thanks in advance! Vazov

Hi, Just wanted to revive this topic which I find interesting as there are several variants of this order. Here's what I got recently: As you can see both are not perfect, but I'm really happy to have found them ! The seller of the one without swords told me that the bottom arm has a manifacturing defect. However I still miss the big lilly one. new world and Graf Graf, what do you think? Is the big lilly one so rare indeed? Regards, Vazov

Hi New World, I saw as well this order which is, as you know, a missing piece in my collection and I had a doubt as well. To be honest, it is really well done and I think it can confuse. I'm not even sure what exactly bothered me in it. I'd like to have your and Graf's advice on this one. What I see as bothering is: - the lion in the center medalion does not have enough relief; - the number 1 is too slim; - the reverse is too rough and the attaching mechanism is too thick; Overall I think, hélas, that for a fake it's damn well made.... What you think? By which details you recognise it is a fake? Many thanks! Vazov

Hi Ilieff, Indeed, I think the ''three dots'' is the most misterious emission. To be honest I've never seen a piece of it for sale.... For example, the 3rd class 7 dots emission that I'm speaking about above (appologies Graf, I forgot to mention that but now I saw the pic and it came back to me), the reason that I've not bought it was the reverse as well, which had Bulgaria with cyrilic И, instead of I which should not be possible as the first orders with И come in 1915 and the WWI: As well, I completely agree with Graf concerning the unique pieces. Last year I saw this order (sold on an auction in Germany if I'm not mitstaken, which I've unfortunately lost) which is extremely unusual and still I simpy cannot believe it's fake: Although I'm perfectly aware that at the time of the 7 dots emission there was yet no 4 grade 1 class star, everithing looks too beautiful on this piece to be a fake. The central medalion and the lion are like form regency orders. Regards, Vazov

Hi Graf, Many thanks for your help ! Its really important to have the opinion of someone with a lot of experience. I would like to share some observations on two related matters: 1. The Alexander I 4 class emission that I'm trying to find for my collection (unfortunatelly without success yet): The first picture shows a classic example, while the second one shows an order that was sold on the Emedals site a few months ago. The order looks perfectly fine to me, but as you can see the enamel has no pattern. While I was hesitating, someone bought it. Could you please share your opinion on this one? Pehaps it's just the enamel that was replaced with a new one if the order was in bad condition for sale? 2. This is a picture of a 1st Ferdinand emission 3rd class. The order was proposed to me by a Bulgarian dealer. I've asked for additional pictures because despite that it looks fine in general, the piece did not convinced me. As you may see the enamel does not fill its ''bed'' well and the central medalion does not look right.... Meanwhile I've heard that some fakes comming from Bulgarian dealers based on the Black Sea shore (Varna) are on the market and this one was based there. I've finally passed it on. Hope I didn't make a mitstake though... Regards, Vazov

Hi Graf, Just for info, the man on the picture is Danail Nikolaev, 1st bulgarian military man to get the rank of colonnel and godfather of Boris III. He is known as the "Patriarch of the Bulgarian Army". Kind regards, Vazov

Hello, The only statistics I've found (http://www.boiniznamena.com/?action=article&id=155) says the following for the WWI: I grade: 14 II grade: 14 III grade 1 class: 28 III grade 2 class: 161 I don't know where the statistics come from and to which point it is reliable. Hope that helps. Best regards, Vazov

Hello, As I started my collection not long ago (in 2013), I'd like to have your opinion on an unusual Bravery Order that I saw on Ebay.com. At first sight it looks like a fake, not only because of the different pattern and ornaments on the swards that are different from the Alexander I or Ferdinand's "7dots" emissions, but as well because of the bad state of preservation. However, I've made a small research and I've discovered that a similar one was sold a few years ago by a dealer with a website named VicMart, which looks no longer active: Yet there are differencies even between those two. I am even wondering if in generalit there exist original pieces from the last Alexander I and 1st Ferdinand emissions that deviate from the "classic" two "7dots" models, or it's all fakes. Many thanks in advance for your kind help and advice !