new world

Graf, Great topic! I'll have to post 1941 awards from my collection. Is soldier Bravery cross yours? Can you post pics of reverse and of document in entirity? These soldier crosses with 1941 date are supposed to be very rare, there's a lot of controversy around them, as many spcialists in the field of Bulgarian awards believe these crosses were never officially produced.

Side view

Reverse

Detailed view

I recently came across Michael The Brave order. This is supposed to be French manufacture ("Lemaitre, Paris"). Can someone tell me if thsi is authentic award and how much would be fair price for it? Thank you!

Graf, Thank you for lovely pics of awards with diamonds! I've seen them before, once in a while they are offered for sale at auctions. Most of them came from personal collection of former Bulgarian King Ferdinang I, apparently he was also a collector. Portion of his collection was sold by his grandson Simeon in the end of 1990s.

That's Bulgarian Military Merit order. It could be 4th class or 5th class with crown. Both classes look the same, except 4th cl is gilded and 5th is silvered.

So, did anyone win anything from the auction?

Just to clarify, neck cross and breast badge are different awards, correct?

It's very long shot about getting his name. His awards are of low classes, probably he did not hold any famous post.

Breast Star

Cross 1st class

And don't forget 1st class with beautiful green enamel!

Linas, Your Russian White Eagle star is most likely foreign European make. I've never seen this type of wide pin and mint mark on Russian made tsarist stars.

I am not sure I believe in this theory. Why would quality decrease so dramatically? Unlike Germany, Bulgaria was not involved in major war efforts, they didn't have weapons industry for which to save the strategic materials. I don't see dramatic decrease in quality of other Bulgarian awards, they were still of high quality. Shortly after the Germans were pushed out Communists started making their own awards - the quality of such awards are superior to later Communist awards. I would stay away from this badge, especially without a crown.

Transitional badge - Regency and Republican period - after September 1944. Note that royal crown is replaced with communist red star.

These badges normally have multi-element construction and are of high quality. Badge in Gordon's post looks like 2-piece construction and of much lower quality. Proper badges should have red enameled middle-plate as separate element, hence badges should consist of 3 elements plus back-plate: 1) main silver colored element with wreath, 2) red-enameled middle-plate, 3) brass lion, 4) shiny nickel-plated back plate with the name of the maker.

So, you also think he was Austrian? Anyone else cares to add his opinion?

Gordon, Here's a badge with a star from my collection. It looks like the star is soldered to the badge, I imagine it would be quite difficult to lose it. Best, Will

Hi Gordon, Your information is correct - after September 9, 1944 royal symbols were removed from awards. Some awards were issued in new versions (lion without a crown, crown replaced by wreath or star, etc). However, some awards were left unchanged and recipients did modifications themselves - some were done neatly, but some were crudely. It's possible that your badge was modified during that period, but it's also possible that the crown was simply lost. Will

Anytime! It looks like envelope is generic one, covering all types of medal. I have this medal as part of a group. There's a special note in the award document specifying that ribbon is with white stripe.

There are couple guys on eBay selling modern ribbons of decent, but I think they mostly cover lower classes and more common awards (i.e.no Grand Cross sashes).

No one knows how many civilian medals were given, but it's certainly rarer than military version. As for the price - I've seen them selling around $50, possibly more as it comes with original envelope.

What do you think was the country of the recipient? Initially I thought Austria (Austrian/German style of folded ribbons), but he has two Serbian medal in first two positions, not sure an Austrian would place them ahead of Austrian medals.

Very nice set!!! It's Type II, awarded from 1932 to 1946.