Hauptmann

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Bulgarian communist era Union member ID booklet and badge. Issued in 1947 for the Union of Textile Workers. This one is in gold. This was described to me as being a rather rare set. The member ID is not in the greatest of shape but not bad either:

It was issued to Todorka Paunova Nikolova

Born 1910 in Luzen Pirot County Pirot

Position - Weaver

Education - 4th Grade

Nationality - Bulgarian

Passport - Bulgarian

Status - Married with one child

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Cased 3rd class:

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A bit of pink in the white enamel on this one... not the greatest quality control it seems but nevertheless very pretty awards.

These were all awarded for activities and achievements in the fields of education and culture.

And here's the set all together:

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Cased 2nd class:

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Order of Cyril and Methodius, instituted December 13, 1950:

First class, cased with award booklet issued to Simidov, Dimiter Asenov:

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Serial number 1148 issued December 28, 1968.

Order of Labor Glory 3rd class, instituted May 28, 1974:

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I didn't find out about these until rather late in the game. And then they seemed to run for what I considered to be outrageous amounts of money compared with most Bulgarian PR Orders... and considering that they are rather simplistic compared with their Soviet counterparts I decided to pass... they ran in the $75-$100 range by the way.

Funny enough, a large supply seemed to hit the market about six to eight months later and I managed to get this for the princely sum of $17 if I remember correctly. I've seen the other two classes run for not much more than that of late, so I hope before too long to finish the set.

Cased Order of the Red Flag of Labor, instituted December 13, 1950.

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A rather attractive award... not quite as heavy as the Order of the Red Flag but very substantial. Just an overall nice piece.

Cased Order of the Red Flag, instituted December 13, 1950:

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This was given to military personnel and civilians for bravery and heroism in time of war. In peace time it was given for achievements in the guarding and safety of the People's Republic.

This award is rather heavy for it's size! It's surprising the first time you hold one. It's one of the things that attracted me to it.

For some reason, all the examples I've seen have this really cheap wire ring holding the medal to the ribbon suspension. No idea why this was done but for something this heavy I'd have thought they would have had a heftier ring holding it all together.

Nice additions, thanks.

I had put up a cased Bulgarian pair (?) over at

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=3778

Hi Ed,

Thanks! And yes, believe me when I say I drooled over your set more than once!

More to come...

Dan

Jubilee Medal for 1300 Years of Bulgaria:

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Instituted October 1991. Has three versions:

For award to Bulgarian citizens on the 5 sided ribbon. 32mm.

For award to foreigners on a long rectangular ribbon. 32mm.

For award to organizations and institutions. 60mm medal, non-portable (without ribbon).

Obverse has the Madara Horseman and Statue of the Republic while the reverse has the name of the medal in three lines:

1300

Years

Bulgaria

Medal for Labor Distinction:

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Instituted December 13, 1950. Inscription reads "For Labor Distinction".

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Here's a case I'm hoping someone can identify. It's Bulgarian PR but not sure for what award:

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Order of People's Labor 1st Class Type 3 (1977-1991) with case and award booklet awarded to Antin Stoychev Stoykov:

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Hi all,

Was going to post my Bulgarian collection on it's own but I did a search and found this thread so figured I'd just keep going. Hope no one minds.

I started into Bulgarian PR awards and militaria when I started to see Soviet stuff going up a bit and my budget sadly going the other way. But I still wanted to keep adding to the pile and this was the solution. At the time they were going for dirt... the next DDR in a way. But I saw a ton of pieces I liked so figured, why not? Although not generally on a parr in quality with Soviet awards they do have some very nice pieces.

I was lucky in being able to deal with Boyan Savov (known as Bou on Ebay). A very nice gentleman and he gave me some great deals over time. I still buy from him on occassion when something strikes my fancy and the price is right. In fact, he's the "only" dealer in Bulgaria (he also has a home in Canada I believe... used to be in the states down in one of the two Carolina's... I can't ever keep them straight. ) that I will order from. His service was always top notch... well packed shipments for very little money, either in the items themselves or the shipping. He was always happy to share of his knowledge and never hesitated to give me a helping hand whenever it was needed.

I won't go in any particular order but will just pop them up.

One more thing... facts on these such as dates of institution, types, varieties, etc. are from Boyan's book on Bulgarian Orders and medals. This has been out of print for some time but I believe he still has copies on Ebay as E-books. I'd love an actual copy some day but I do have the E-book. Sadly the pictures are not high quality depending on how you view them. It's a long story but he and his partner had a split, his partner ran off with the "good" quality copy and left him with the not so great "proof" copy on disk.

When I got mine they were running $8 "Buy It Now". Once paid he sends it to you for download into Adobe Acrobat Reader. It's well worth it if you want to learn more about the Orders and medals of the Bulgarian Peoples Republic.

Jubilee medal for Soviet 100 Years Capital of Bulgaria, instituted April 2, 1979:

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Inscription on the reverse is:

Sofia 100 Years Capital Of Bulgaria 1879-1979

This turned out to be a great set. It's in pretty near mint condition for one thing. Got it when they were running about $14 a set if I remember correctly. The case is beautiful, especially considering that nearly all the Bulgarian award cases I've run across don't even have an interior base. They're basically just fancy boxes.

The award itself is rather on the heavy side and the enamel is beautiful and overall everything about it is very well made. For what in essence is a commemorative award they really seem to have gone all out on it.

I only wish I'd picked up a few more.

That's a very nice Labour Merit Medal Captain!

1954 version-20,652 awarded.

Wow! Door to door service with a smile! Many thanks! More than I've known by a long shot although I'd certainly like to learn more about many of the Hungarian communist awards. I love their enamel... beautiful stuff.

And this has a most unusual design as far as it being made more like a tinny yet it's very substantial in person.

Again many thanks for that info. Sure hope I can find some more to add to my pile.

Thanks!

Dan

Hi all,

I only have a couple modern Hungarian awards. This one is a labor Order I believe. I actually wanted the one that has the Hungarian coat of arms in place of the star so still hunting that one. But I love this one too... especially the light blue enamel. It really stands out.

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The other is my cased Hungarian sports badge.

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More on which you can find at:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=7303&hl=

What little I know so far that is.

Dan

Thanks for sharing Don . I agree to your comparison regarding the reverse, but the obverse doesn't look too bad. I noticed in Werlich's book that there were several variations on this order and the two pictured had the face of Bolivar facing to the right and also different in design. The order pictured below is of a third design, facing to the left. Are the variations mentioned by Werlich related to this difference in the heads and can the date of issue also be detemined by this?

KR

Peter

Hi Peter,

Oh, it's a beautiful piece... but much thinner than I'm used to with old world European quality. I put my Romanian Order of the Crown star by this one and it's like the difference between night and day. Thinner, cheaper, lack of good enamels, lack of a good heavy solid pin, etc.

The manufacturers lost their way. The old skills are nearly if not completely gone. No one wants to go to the expense they once did. I look at my Order of the Griffin and could almost cry when I look back at this one. Sigh. But it's like nearly everything else anymore... throwaway technology, planned obsolescense... you name it. They used to build things to last.

As far as variations and such I'm probably in a worse boat than you are as I know next to nothing of these. This was one of those "It's pretty, it's cheap, I can afford it, I'll grab it." kind of deals. But I'd love to know more. Hopefully more members will comment over time and we'll all learn more. I'd also love to see more examples. Many thanks for posting yours. I know the neck Orders and sash badges turn up on Ebay on occassion. Hoping I'll find those cheap at some point to go with my star.

Thanks!

Dan

The pizza is getting bigger. The price on these babies just keeps going up. I've asked around and done some more checking, and I'm now seeing them on dealer sites for a minimum of $2500 (mid-range numbers, average condition, not attributed), so a private sale will be somewhere around there, maybe a shade less.

Something I noticed too is the supply is getting thin (real ones, anyway). People are holding onto them, so they are harder to find, which also drives the price up.

They are good investments, and look great too.

I'm sure it will find a good home quickly if you decide to sell.

Hi Stephen,

I deeply appreciate your checking around on this for me and yes, the pizza will be about the size of a planet... probably a Jupiter size one at the very least! Methinks my local pizza place employees will all keel over if you come and visit and we put in that order! But hey, it'll be worth it!

And to be honest... after reading your update I'm thinking I'm a total moron for letting mine go. But as they say you can't keep it all. I just hope selling it and the rest will help me in attaining my life long dream.

You are truly a Gentleman in every sense of the word. I salute you sir!

Along with the pizza, if I do end up getting my "dream car" you'll definitely have to come for a visit and take a ride!

Again thanks so much for all your help and support in this.

Dan

Hi Doc,

Veeeeeeery nice! Especially the first one... love the Aurora on the reverse and the enamel on the front!

My favorite part about the second one funny enough is the ribbon! Very colorful.

Great pieces!

Dan

Nooo my friend you didn't put you foot in it, you are right as far as I'm aware they don't actually fake the base codes as of yet or if they do I'm unaware or haven't spotted them even !!!

As far as the raised KB and D&B codes go that is. If you look on the fake case bases of the box part (not insert award base) you often see pencil, ink or 'biro' numbers...with the 'exception' of the biro marks you find these numbers on fake and good cases so there is some effort on the part of the fakers, but no raised in the mold kind of numbers (like I say that I'm aware of, so you were correct there)

Kr

Marcus

Hi Marcus,

And here I was in the good company of George Patton and everything. Oh well, I'm "sure" there'll be a next time!

Thanks!

Dan

Hello Dan,

Nice ones ! Never seen that ribbon device before

Here's how the Thai ladies deal with their elephants

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Hi Hendrik,

Nice one too!!!! I see quite a few of these assorted Thai awards pop up on Ebay yet most seem to be for the ladies. I'd dearly love a cased set of the breast star, neck order or even sash order at some point.

I've always wanted a breast star/neck order cased combination of some nice looking Order. But sadly they all seem to be waaaaay to much for my blood. Hopefully someday something will pop up.

And I have seen that same attachment in different variations over the years... some smaller some larger... assume manufacturer differences.

My mom "loves" elephants so when I originally got my first of these it was primarily because of the Order of the Elephant. I gave her a set which she'd occassionally wear as jewelry, like a pendant. She loved them! But when she was moving she sent them back to me for safe keeping. And now they're packed lord only knows where in my stuff after our move. One of these days we hope to get through everything and sort it all out. I keep running up against things I know I have but can't find... in storage in a box and can't get to it. Sigh.

Beautiful pieces though!

Thanks,

Dan

A D&B double hinge case, very nice !!

Dan,

You have to be careful even with cases that have base codes on them. A few years ago a load of bare Luft bases were found in Berlin and sold on the flea markets, hence I dare say they ended up in fake cases.

Also whom ever does it, bases are swopped from original cases into fake constructions of a similar case and the bad into a good case.........this has confused alot of collectors and uh hum the odd dealer !!

Hi Marcus,

Geez! I had no idea about any of this! Seems I put my foot in my mouth once again... I'm in good company on that though as George Patton used to do it all the time. But I should have figured something like that would be the case. Seems whenever you seal up one entrance, they find another way in. But again that's one reason I've all but pulled out of TR. Just got soooo tired of it all, when it got to the point where hardly anyone knew what was real and what wasn't.

And of course it can get to that point in nearly any facet of collecting. I often think we're like herds of some wild beasts... roaming from pasture to pasture. We graze on the "good stuff" till it nearly runs out then we move on. Once in a while the pasture up ahead looks soooo good, and we get there only to find that it just doesn't taste too good. So we have to move on again till we find the good stuff once more.

But I guess it's all part of the challenge. The vultures and parasites of any hobby are always going to be there. Folks who only care about money. All we can do is continue to learn all we can and educate our fellow collectors in the hope that we'll keep the baddies at bay just a while longer.

Thanks for the update! It's been filed away in the memory bank for future reference.

Dan

You probably already know this, but with my extremely limited German, and the use of an on-line dictionary, I've managed to figure out that it says:

Consecration of the Flag 1984

Veterans and Fighters Association of Neukirche

Hi Mike,

Many thanks! Stupid me, I should have put the translation up there, but very much appreciate your doing so. Have just been so busy putting stuff up between "life" hitting me in the face that I got to worrying with the forest and not paying much attention to the trees. Thanks for watching my back on this one!

Again I'm assuming many such badges were made for various events throughout Germany after the war up to the present day.

But she's a pretty one... nice design, very pleasing to the eye.

Thanks again,

Dan

Dan

The maker will be difficult with the photo's provided.. a little on the blurry side..

The value? - appx. 40 euros.

Nice thing Tom did there. Good luck with your display.

Marshall

Hi Marshall,

Many appologies for the pics... I know... I "desperately" need to get an Epson scanner but for now my poor overworked digital camera is my only option. Plus I was kind of rushed when I did those shots but got the best ones I could under the circumstances.

But many thanks on the rough valuation. It's really what I needed for them as they'll never sell this stuff. But especially once I found out last night that their collections are not insured... I nearly fell off my chair! I really need to push on getting them values, even rough ones, so it will make them realize that they are sitting on top of a gold mine and if anything happens they'll get nothing and won't even be able to repair or replace anything that might be lost or damaged. Hence it will be a huge loss for our community... and we're not really big enough to take such losses lightly. But I pray that never happens. About the only things we have to worry about up here are tornadoes and fires. But that's bad enough.

But I figure all I can do is my best... I'll gather as much info on all this that I can... try to help them do better displays and then they have to run with it. It's a group decision so I'm only one small voice. But as I'd hoped, when I gave them that info last night, what little there was, and especially the values, they really sat up and took notice. So perhaps the winds will blow my way for long enough to get the job done.

And I couldn't do it without the fine members of this club. Contributions like Tom made as well as those like you just made, your time and knowledge are all very valuable and deeply appreciated! But that's what I feel we're here for... not just in the club but in this life. We help each other along because at times we simply can't do it alone.

Again many thanks! And of course I'll continue to keep everyone updated on how things progress. I did get some more pics of a few of the items so getting ready to post the new info and pics today (knock on wood) work and family permitting.

Have a great one!

Dan