new world

Here's nice chain of heavily decorated German with 2 Bulgarian Civil Merit miniatures - 5th and 6th classes

here are some photos of early Bulgarian awards, pics were taken in Military Museum in Sofia and posted on GMIC by a fellow member:

Really bad fake, some sort of old star base with modern parts attached. 

2 hours ago, Graf said:

...Any way  item was sold

$401 + 20% premium

On 10/12/2018 at 16:28, Graf said:

Hi New Word,

 

For me it does matter.

If the Dealer did it it is too bad If a lonely collector did it it point to creating purely  fantasy item

Any way No point arguing here  Our role is to detect any fakes or unusual items and list it for discussions and to warn the members

Best

"If the Dealer did it it is too bad If a lonely collector"

Whoever did it - those stones do not belong there.

I think we can agree this was not done by the person receiving the award. This was given for acts of bravery and owner was an officer, this type of modification would result in jokes and mockery from his fellow officers. 

It doesn't really matter who did the "enhancement", what matters is that it was not official and does not belong to this award.

It certainly does not add to value of it, quite the opposite - it decreases the value.

Dealer put this on an auction and attached description to it which implied that this is some sort of improvement. The price is already above the price for what these crosses normally sell for.   

For sale by a dealer:

Военна ордена на смелостта, Гранд Крос. Instituted in 1880. Grade I with 1915-1917. In silvered bronze with red and white enamels, with four glass stones embedded in each handle of the crossed swords, measuring 48.5 mm (w) x 48.5 mm (h), vertical pinback, intact enamels, scattered silvering wear, near extremely fine.

Note that stones were attached to already worn award (see how silver plating is worn out and bronze metal is visible right under the stones). This is a sure sign that stones were applied later, after this medal was worn quite a bit. 

This was done long after this was awarded, likely it is a modern addition, to increase value of the award.  

clown!

On 16/10/2018 at 14:35, Alex . said:

Hi gents,

Can you help me to identify this Bulgarian badge?

Thanks in advance.

Alex

 

colors are wrong on the center, it should be white or green enamel, not blue.

it looks like a fantasy badge to me

I am a bit puzzled by this stamp, as CF Zimmermann did not put full name of their firm on German awards, normally it's a number 20 as I recall. On WWII German (DKIG, various badges, etc) awards you can see underside of the pin marked "20" which is the code number for C.F. Zimmermann, Pforzheim.

On the other hand, here's similar St Alexander star with diamonds with same stamp, sold by Spink. No photo of the stamp, but description mentions same stamp to the pin:

A spectacular diamond-set star of the Bulgarian Military Division of the Order of St. Alexander

Bulgaria, Principality, Order of St. Alexander, Military Division, Star, by C. F. Zimmermann, Pforzheim, 84mm, gold, silver-gilt, siver and enamel, enhanced with approximately 848 'diamonds', maker's name to retaining pin, nearly extremely fine and of the finest quality

The overall quality of this Star illustrates the supreme experience and detail undertaken by the craftsmen in the workshops of Zimmermann. Each stone upon the rays is individually set into a pierced silver frame; in this material to accentuate the natural colour of the stones. Besides this a sliver-thin pierced gold plate is painstakingly affixed and pierced to align with the pierced silver plate, allowing light to the stones whilst ensuring the reverse of the Star is as attractive as possible at the same time alleviating any tarnish being transferred to the uniform of the recipient in time.

Zimmermann markings on German Iron Crosses:

 http://www.medalnet.net/Iron_Cross.htm

wow, such a beautiful star! I am sure it belonged to someone very important. Congratulations! 

The stamp on the pin is for German maker Zimmermann.

not exactly fake medal, star actually looks fine, but Godet and other stamps are very suspect.

Wow, impressive medal bar!

This is rare medal, congrats!

Seller of these supposedly Rothe stars is based in Austria, which could mean something if these awards were manufactured post-war.

One factor in favor of this theory is lack of proper F Rothe stamps, as finished awards were all endorsed with such stamps.

One of the main mysteries are enamels. Enamels on these awards seem to be real hard baked type enamel, which are extremely difficult to replicate. It's possible though that someone found supply of already made parts (center of the star) with enamels already applied, but never assembled.

Last one looks like medal for the Election of King Peter I.

2 hours ago, ilieff said:

Good question. 

I'd assume a generic 1st class badge for this period (presumably Austrian-made (Rothe?) ). 

I've had a quick look at my image archive and noticed that the majority of cases where those diamond-cut stars appear, it's usually a member of the royal family who wears them. This supports Graf's theory of the stars being used by/given to [exclusively] the highest of the high-ranking people.

Attached image shows two types of necklace sets - 1) with the so called 'Tsar' crown, worn by prince Cyril (c. 1909) and of the young Prince Ferdinand - example with crossed swords and earlier period crown suspension (c. 1888). Another examples of such stars which I came across are photos of King Boris III (both as King and heir to the Throne) and His mother Marie-Louise who only wore the diamond-cut stars without any necklaces/sashes.

Thank you!

In post #69 Graf said "Notice the Swords they are mounted upside down" - that's exactly what we see in the 2nd photo you posted. It seems to be identical star to the one in the Romanoff's book.

What kind of cross goes with this star?

5 hours ago, 922F said:

Very unusual case title variant!  Typeface somewhat resembles that of much later Huguenin marked cases.

Title appears to be written,  not stamped. I think initially there was no title on the case. 

It's made by Rothe.

Knyaz period box for 2nd class with swords above

Knyaz period 5th class.

It appears name of the order is handwritten.

On 03/05/2018 at 04:54, Igor Ostapenko said:

MG Ivan Fichev , white cross on the neck , without star of Order 

 

 

Igor, I don't think it means white cross on the neck without a star is 100% 3rd class.

Look at this photo of General Kisov - he's wearing white cross only, which is from his 2nd class set. The photo is from 1930s (he became General Lieutenant in 1930). 

Next earlier photo is of him wearing the same white neck cross, this time star is present.

Finally, photo of him wearing his green 3rd class cross, before being awarded with 2nd class set.

The point I am trying to make - people wore 2nd classes with and without the star, it's not that easy to determine which class a person is wearing. We can't say just by looking at the photos - white cross, no star - certainly 3rd class. 

Graf,

This type of St Alexander star existed, Dimitri Romanoff has some examples in his book and states these were issued before Ferdinand period.  

Here are some photos of similar stars from the book, second star is practically the same star except the swords. 

Unusual star of St Alexander - rays have diamond cut finish instead of being smooth.

Seller says it's 90 mm, which is 1st class size. No maker's marks.

Any opinions on what this star is?

Professor Petko Pavlov passed away. 

He was well known scientist, awards enthusiast and researcher. Many of you know him as author of the most complete and famous catalog on Bulgarian awards (1st and 2nd editions):

Besides this collector's bible, he also authored other books on Bulgarian awards and badges.

His work contributed greatly to research, categorization and popularization of Bulgarian Royal and Communist period awards. He was frequently mentioned in the posts on this forum. 

His authographed books