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Some time ago there was Karađorđe 1st Class set by Scheid on emedals. Unfortunately I can't remember to whom it belonged but I'm pretty certain the person in question was Bulgarian or Romanian ruler, perhaps Ferdinand of Bulgaria... Does anyone remember who was the recipient of this order?

"In decorations’ collection are preserved orders and medals of members of statesmen like Stefan Stambolov, Konstantin Stoilov and others; as well as of the Bulgarian rulers after 1879 – Knyaz (Eng. – prince) Alexander I, Knyaz (since 1908 - Tsar) Ferdinand I and Tsar Boris III." Information found on the Museum website, perhaps they have some of his decorations but not on display. I've noticed Academic Palms before but going back and forth all the time I forgot to mention it. It looks like that medal bar consists of both miniatures and full size decorations which is really unusual.

It's interesting to see how much this topic evolved since my last visit on Monday. Sounds like the most of his decorations ended up at Sotheby's auction, is there none kept at the National Museum of Military History in Sofia? I was fortunate enough to visit in the past and if I remember well decorations of the Bulgarian heads of state were displayed on the last floor but somehow I forgot were there any that belonged to Ferdinand... It looks like he's wearing both the star and the "kleine decoration" of Hungarian St. Stephen Grand Cross on the painting above... White Eagle ribbon looks bright blue to me as well and the order itself Polish. The question is how complete is the list of recipients from the Polish Wikipedia.

It certainly looks that way when it comes to medal bar, but still it doesn't seem very likely that the former Bulgarian head of state would be awarded by the Poles with their highest order... Apart from that there is a complete list of the recipients on Polish Wikipedia and I can't find his name there: https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kategoria:Odznaczeni_Orderem_Orła_Białego_(II_Rzeczpospolita) And how about that portrait from 1896, the order looks more like the Polish than Russian White Eagle but that is impossible. Decorations of the German States are something I don't know very much about but I think I've managed to identify a few more from the 2nd medal bar we didn't already mention in the previous posts : 6th place - Saxon Military Order of St. Henry 9th place - Oldenburg Friedrich August Cross 2nd Class Military Division 10th place - Lippe-Schaumburg Loyal Service Cross 2nd Class on Combatants Ribbon

Speak of the devil - That's Montenegrin Order of Danilo 1st Class star. Above it Austrian Marian Cross of the German Knight Order (Marianer-Kreuz des Deutschen Ritterordens). If the portrait we used previously is from 1896 then that White Eagle can't be Polish, Russian perhaps. But still the order on the medal bar looks Polish... What do others think?

Don't mention it, my pleasure. I've marked the badge and the star of St. Alexander with red arrows. I think the person decorated with the Order of St. Andrew automatically received St. Alexander, White Eagle, St. Anna 1st Class and St. Stanislaus 1st Class. Does anyone know from which period is the photo because it looks like he's also wearing Polish Order of the White Eagle (green arrow), of course 1921 variant. That order can also be seen of the 5th place of the 2nd medal bar on the red ribbon. Is this really the Polish White Eagle or some other amazingly similar decoration? Being a head of state he must have been awarded with the 1st class of Montenegrin Danilo. Ottoman decorations are not my field but the High Order of Honor (Al-i İmtiyaz Nişanı) it's not to be confused with the Order of Honor/Order of Distinction (İmtiyaz Nişanı), you can see how they look like on Turkish Wikipedia: https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yüksek_İmtiyaz_Nişanı https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/İmtiyaz_Nişanı May I suggest using variation "Order of the Star of Karadjordje" instead of "Karadzordze" (other way of writing đ is dj - and dž is different letter in Serbian Latin alphabet). First Class does equal Grand Cross, it's the highest class. You can use "Edit" button underneath your replies. This option is available for couple of days, I'm not sure how long exactly.

Last few not-working ones I saw were in the 100-200 EUR range (prices in Serbia). I still regret not getting one with 100 EUR price tag as it was in very good shape with original box and instructions manual, but alas, someone was quicker.

One more thing caught my attention it seems that he's wearing the Golden Badge of the (Russian) Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (Императорское православное палестинское общество) which means he must have been its honorary member. I do not know a lot about this orthodox society but it seems a bit unusual to see a person of catholic faith among its honorary members.

I just found his name in the list of recipients of Order of the Cross of Takovo 1st class and Order of the Star of Karađorđe 1st class published in Mr. Acović's book "Glory and Honor - Decorations Among Serbs, Serbs Among Decorations" (Слава и част, одликовања међу Србима, Срби међу одликовањима).

Looking at the photo Igor posted above I noticed one more order we can add on the list - Ottoman High Order of Honor (Al-i İmtiyaz Nişanı).

Not that long ago there was one on chrono24, it must have got sold as I can't find it now. If I remember well the watch was in working condition and the price was 1200$.

Being a ruler of a neighbouring country he must have been awarded with the highest Serbian orders. I'll try to dig up some information regarding this matter. Anyway excellent topic, I did something similar for several Serbian rulers.

Thank you, gentlemen! I had my doubts but I'm not an expert on Russian items...

Just saw this Russian emblem in an ad, any chance it could be original? I presume it's for Adrian helmet, its dimensions are 70x65mm.

A portrait from 1875 by Stevan Todorović, looks like it was made after lithography from above.

Going through sold items on ebay I stumbled upon this medal here, unknown producer? Perhaps one of the domestic workshops...

Very nice, thanks for sharing! Both, 1912 War Commemorative Medal and 1913 Commemorative Cross, can be seen worn on straight or tri-fold ribbon. Why is that the case I do not know but as we can see Huguenin used both.

I've had this folding knife for years and just recently tried to do some online research. By doing so I stumbled upon a bunch of similar looking ones being described as German WW2 soldier's knife. Gerlach was Polish factory which supposedly continued making these pocket knives for the German troops during the war. Mine seems to be unused and frankly doesn't look that old... It has 4 tools, large and small blade on one side and cap lifter and nail file on the other. Is there any truth in these stories and if so how does one recognize WW2 era knife? I'll post some photos tomorrow until then you can see very similar one here.

Another Anastas Jovanović's very interesting lithography with Mihailo wearing 10 decorations. His left side: 1) Osmanieh, in my opinion with brilliansts 2) Takovo Commemorative Cross 3) ?? maybe Nevsky 4) Leopold 5) Maurice and Lazarus 6) ?? White Eagle 7) ?? His right side: 8) St. Anna 9) Danilo 10) ?? Redeemer

Portrait by Stevan Todorović from 1868 and a photo. Osmanieh and Leopold are visible and so is the Takovo. I can't identify the third star although some details remind me of the Russian Nevsky Order. How about the sash, could it be that he was decorated with the Austro-Hungarian Order of St. Stephen? That color combination reminds me more of St. Stephen than Osmanieh... Is the Osmanieh with brilliants? Take a look at the ring around the central medallion, it looks like it was made out of the separate, I presume emerald, stones...

Lithographies from I think 1867-68 by Dr Heid and K. Subotić. On his right side, below St. Anna, is Montenegrin Order of Danilo, while on the left is I think Order of Osmanieh with brilliants and Order of Leopold below it. I'm not sure about the rest...

Lithographies from 1862 (Charles Goebel) and 1865 (A. Plank). On the second we can see Takovo Commemorative Cross from 1865.

Thanks, Paul! Portrait attributed to Johann Böss from 1860s, Belgrade City Museum. Very nicely depicted White Eagle, Order of the Redeemer and St. Anna.

Now with two more decorations, Russian Order of the White Eagle (sash and star) and Greek Order of the Redeemer (1st type). The third partially visible star should be St. Anna.