christerd

6. 1st Class of the First issue Very nice made and quite wonderful, it took me a while before I found one. Thats all for now , I will come back later with the next issues Christer

And nr 6, First Class OPRB 1st issue again in the old nice wooden box (they are almost like Imperial ) well almost

5. The inside with the order II class, I will not show the reverse since they all look alike on 1 st issue models.

4. This is a newer box of cardboard but still the old crest The old wooden boxes was so much nicer but they are harder to find theese days . OPRB class II 1st issue

3. and the backside of this First issue Order Christer

2. The interior with the Order III Class

I don?t think we have any of Theese here ? So I thought I start and show you mine. First a III class 1st issue in a old wooden box 1. The Box with brass catch Christer

And here is some "bigger" pics of his medals . Big is a word , blurry is another word Please don?t send letter bombs to me , I know they are baaaad . Christer

Hi! I got this pic in the mail today, sorry to say it is only about 2 " x 1 " so I suppose its to small to give away any owner. But this is a real WWI war hero, He got 13 ! Awards + 3 Breast ones if I counted right The only ones I can see for (quite) sure is EK I 1914, KVK I , Imperial Pilot Badge ? (austrian?) EK II 1914, ? , ? HEK, Austiria 1914-18 , two Ls Luftwaffe, KVK medal ?, a 1938 with prag bar, Hungary 1914-18 and ? An ColLt in WW2 I would love to have tat ribbon bar! To bad the pic is so small.... Maybe Bill Gates will invent a Photo magnifier in the future?? Christer

Hi Bolgarin Sorry to say I didn?t save a image, it was for sale on Ebay and the seller said that he had bought the order and book from the orginal recipeint. But I wonder if the really awarded type 1 awards so late? When thet had the new ones? I have a doc myself for a 1st class award from 1959 but I cant say for sure that the order I have was awarded with that book. I will post pics later today Christer

Great Orders Bolgarin!!! I really love theese Orders, and I have one question about Bulgarian orders a little bit off topic maybe, The Orderof Labor 1st type on trifold ribbon do you have any info about how many where awarded and for how long? I have seen 1st type orders and doc awarded in 1959? isn?t that late for this type? Best Regards from one of the few Bulgarian award collectors in sweden? Christer

Hi Bolgarin ! Here is the backside ! Good Night all from the northpole Christer

Last pic for today ! The medal itself, wonderful enamel and craftmanship. Does anyone knows if theese medals was made in Romania or elsewhere? Real Silver and very nice. (sorry for the camera flash) Christer

And here the second newcomer in my collection ! The medal for 5 years since the revolution (I Think, my romanian is a little bit rusty.....) I have looked a long time for one of theese, they seems to be quite unusual? And now I got one with the box ! For 30 $ it feels like a great buy. Christer

And the Document! To aColonel Alexiu T Constantin for 15 Years of Service in the Army if I understand right ? Anyone knows who has signed it? Christer

And here is the Order itself ! I love theese old boxes, why did Soviet give out their awards in plain boxes at the best? Theese are great ! Me Loooove ! Christer

A couple of new Romanian Awards arrived today, one Labor Order IIIClass RPR but they are already shown in another tread, but here is some more interesting ones. First a Militar Long Service 15 Years with Document and the old case RPR issue. I Love when I can find the documents and the document "Rolls" quite unique to Romania I think? Christer

Hi Ulsterman! I have the Riemer book to and I have seen some "strange" things in it. Inspite that I think its a great book and one of the best about Bulgarian badges. But I am think he mixed the two types up The one that he call the type one in the book , meaning it was made in late 1950-1960s in real life looks like it came out from a Gum machine While the type 2 made in 1970s and on is of High quality? My experience is that the badges and medals/orders got lower quality during the seventies and not the other way around. So I think that my badge 1 class number 663 is of the first type and Diemers class 2 with number 992 made in 1971 is of the second type. I am still looking for a class 2 badge , and a doc for that ( I am looking for the screwback type) All the best from sweden Christer

And here is the ill fated or should I say the opposite SS Finland! Finnish people are tough and so are the ships with their name. Christer

And just when you thought it was over..... Yep ! two more ships in my collection! How many ship have been torpedoed? The list seems to be endless. Well here is an Local disaster , and the gulity one is a suprise maybe! SS Hansa a swedish steamer built in 1899, she as going between the Island of Gotland and the Swedish mailnland and the 24th november was an ordinarie evening. But for 84 of the 86 people ombord it would be their last evening alive. at 05.57 in the morning on 25th Nov she was torpedoed by a Russian submarine! An everyone but two drowned in the cold water. A curiosity is that my father was meant to be ombord but his leave from the military was cancelled and he had to stay on Gotland, 50 years after that he could still be angry..... for the cancelled leave The next picture is of some Nordic interest to! SS Finland Bult in USA 1902 she was transporting troops to Europe in 1917 and in 28th October 1917 she was torpedoed by U-93 , 9 men killed but she was able to reach Brest and could be repaired. So this was a ship which was torpedoed and didn?t sink !! First one ! Have a nice weekend all ! Christer

Yes ! More please! Keep them coming Anatoly your collection is great! I am selling off all my Soviet stuff and have started Buying Bulgarian and Romanian instead, the boxes are much nicer and so far its not many fakes around. Do anyone know about any books about Romanian awards? Is there any? Christer

Thanks Rick , so its "Deputies for labour Honor Badge" Now I have to hunt for a class II badge, my example was screwback orginal but someone changed it to pinback so now I am looking for a orginal II class, and of course a doc would be I really love the quality of theese Bulgarian awards Christer

And here is a more Famous ship more than 30 years later ! Arandora Star built in 1927 for Blue Star Line She was assigned to transport axis prisoners of War to Canada and was heading to Canada with nearly 1500 German and Italian internees including 86 POWs when she at 6 AM 2 July 1940 at the Northwest Coast of Ireland she was struck by an torpedo from the German submarine U-47. Commanded by the U-boat Ace Gunther Prien , a single torpedo make her sunk. There was only 586 survivors WWII s worst disaster at sea so far was a fact..... This is a private Photo taken by someone from Sweden during the thirties. Christer

Thanks Nesredep ! I am still hunting for more unfortunate ships, and the are plenty Here is two more new in my collection for today !! First out is SS Surrey Built 1882 for the Atlantic Transport Line she changed owner and name several times from Surrey to Michigan 1888 and in 1900 she was renamed Harry Luckenbach (of all names) and with that name she sailed for 18 years but in 6th Jan 1918 she was Topedoed and sunk by the German Submarine U-84 North of Bay of Biscay. Christer

And last a better pic of the award itself ! A real Beauty ! (As the town Sofia by the way) Christer