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    PR Bulgaria awards


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    People's Order of Labor, var. 1, classes 1, 2, 3

    1945-77 variety.

    Instituted on 21 June 1945. Given to workers, farmers, leaders of work teams, scientists, and artists for their excellent work and fulfillment of work plans, for high achievement, innovations, and organization.

    (Note the reversal of the direction of ribbon-wrap on 3rd class?)

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    Order of Labor, var. 2, class 1, 2, 3

    1977-89 variety

    Instituted on 21 June 1945. Given to workers, farmers, leaders of work teams, scientists, and artists for their excellent work and fulfillment of work plans, for high achievement, innovations, and organization.

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    I've some doc's, I.D's, and citations in a Bulgarian group. I won;t show the I.D's as they of no interest really.

    I have the awards descriptions some where and some info on the guy, I'll redit and produce that later.

    Edited by Marcus H
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    • 7 months later...

    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. :P ) 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:

    [attachmentid=43534]

    [attachmentid=43535]

    [attachmentid=43536]

    [attachmentid=43537]

    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.

    Edited by Hauptman
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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:

    [attachmentid=43539]

    [attachmentid=43540]

    [attachmentid=43541]

    Edited by Hauptman
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    Jubilee Medal for 1300 Years of Bulgaria:

    [attachmentid=43546][attachmentid=43547]

    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:

    [attachmentid=43549][attachmentid=43550]

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

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

    [attachmentid=43552][attachmentid=43553]

    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.

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

    [attachmentid=43554][attachmentid=43555]

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

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

    [attachmentid=43556][attachmentid=43557]

    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.

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

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

    [attachmentid=43558][attachmentid=43559]

    [attachmentid=43560][attachmentid=43561]

    Serial number 1148 issued December 28, 1968.

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    Cased 3rd class:

    [attachmentid=43566][attachmentid=43567]

    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:

    [attachmentid=43568]

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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

    [attachmentid=43575]

    [attachmentid=43576]

    [attachmentid=43577]

    Edited by Hauptman
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