TWO VERY NICE MINIATURES GROUPS

[Graf]

Hi,

Here are two very nice miniature Groups from two different periods

Both of them are most likely owned by German Officers, however they include few Bulgarian Orders

The First Group is 1880- 1918 period It has three Bulgarian Miniatures -Order for Bravery -4th Class, Order for Military Merit -4/5th Class and the 1915-1918 Commemorative medal

The Second Group is the 1957 Model of Decorations to a WW2 German Officer It includes two Bulgarian Orders- Very Interesting 3rd or 4th Class Class of the Soldiers Cross of the Order for Bravery and a nice 4th Class of the Order for Military Merit with war decoration

Graf

Edited December 21, 2016 by Graf

[paul wood]

The first group is lovely.

Paul

[Graf]

Thanks Paul.

 

I like miniatures I try always to get the matching miniatures to the Full size Orders i collect.

I will use this thread to show you some of my Bulgarian miniatures

i will start with the Order for Civil Merit

[paul wood]

Graf

The miniature star is most unusual also interesting crown variations.

Paul

[peter monahan]

Very classy, Graf.

[ilieff]

On 21/12/2016 at 08:51, Graf said:

Very Interesting 3rd or 4th Class Class of the Soldiers Cross of the Order for Bravery and a nice 4th Class of the Order for Military Merit with war decoration

I've never seen anything like this. Are you sure this is the Soldiers' cross? Even though that there are numorous variations of miniatures, this one looks weird to me, plus, the two decorations are supposed to be bestowed upon different sort of army staff - as you know, the soldiers' cross is awarded to enlisted men, while the order of military merit - to officers.

If this is indeed the soldiers' cross, then the only possibility is that this gentleman has progressed from a private/corporal to lieutenant (or higher) in a matter of 2 years, which is impossible.

 

PS: All groups are marvelous, Graf. Congrats.

Edited December 23, 2016 by ilieff

[Stuka f]

Super!

[Graf]

The Soldiers Cross miniature in this shape is only available in 1957 Model I have seen it in other miniature Group in in 1957 Model The Orders were made at that time  in West Germany to replicate the Awards won by German Military Staff during WW2 period This happened when The West Germany Government banned any Awards with Swastika

 

I suppose that the Rule for the Soldiers Cross did not apply for non Bulgarian  especially during WW2 period

I also have never seen it in this shape in the other Models

i will list tomorrow all of the Bravery Order Miniatures in my collection

 

Graf

[Graf]

The Soldiers Cross miniature in this shape is only available in 1957 Model I have seen it in other miniature Group in in 1957 Model The Orders were made at that time  in West Germany to replicate the Awards won by German Military Staff during WW2 period This happened when The West Germany Government banned any Awards with Swastika

 

I suppose that the Rule for the Soldiers Cross did not apply for non Bulgarian  especially during WW2 period

I also can speculate that it was an unusual design for an officer Class ?!!

I also have never seen it in this shape in the other Models

i will list all of the Bravery Order Miniatures in my collection Also a close-up of the unusual Bravery miliature

As you see the quality is not as good as the miniatures made in the earlier periods.

 

Graf

Edited December 24, 2016 by Graf

[new world]

This is the best collection of Bulgarian miniatures I've ever seen!

Minis are much rarer than the full size awards, as many of them were custom made.

Thanks for showing these!!!

 

 

[Graf]

Thanks New World,

Here are few more Bulgarian Miniatures

Order of St. Alexander Commander Class -very large mini and a nice first model Knight Class

and

Order for Military Merit

and a nice medal King Ferdinand model

and

also a very interesting large miniature of the 1914 2nd Class of the iron cross with a mark -king crown and A3.

I was informed that this mark was the Bulgarian Import mark for Silver, which means it was owned by a Bulgarian Civil or Military person.   Any more information about that?

 

Graf

[ilieff]

Beautiful!

I love the double-sided mini 'for bravery'. Actually all double-sided ones are superb, no matter the mis-spelling of the Orders of Military merit.

I haven't got any info on the silver marks used. One russian website suggests that this particular mark, stamped on the Iron cross of yours stands for silver .850. This is the middle grade, A1 being the top one with .950 purity and A5 the lowest one - .500. I am not too sure if these markings suggest that it's an imported silver though.

Edited December 26, 2016 by ilieff

[Graf]

Thanks Ilieff,

thank yopu also for the information. It is interesting mark that needs more research.

The German Iron Crosses 2nd Class miniatures usually are marked with numbers for the Silver content like - 950, 900 and 800

Here is my last miniature- Red cross -listed in other forum as well

I hope this year will bring me more miniatures

 

Graf

[ruiz]

You have an amazing collection. I've never seen so many miniatures. The ones made by the company Godet, are impressive.Congratulations, it's a beautiful pleasure for the eyes.

[Graf]

Thank you Ruiz,

The Bulgarian miniatures are relatively rare. I collect miniatures, mainly from the countries I have the Standard size Orders and decorations.

I am still chasing a Bulgarian Miniature with Diamonds. They are extremely  rare and i hope one day i will get a hold of one of them. So far I have seen only one in a published Bulgarian book by Todor Petrov - "Bulgarian Orders and Medals" -page 105

 

Regards

Graf

Edited December 30, 2016 by Graf

[Graf]

One more miniature

[paul wood]

That is lovely and seriously rare.

Paul

[new world]

9 hours ago, Graf said:

One more miniature

This award is very rare by itself, but the mini is even rarer. I've never seen one before!

Sweet group!

 

[Graf]

Thank you for the nice comments

Cheers

 

Graf

 

[Graf]

On 12/23/2016 at 20:00, ilieff said:

I've never seen anything like this. Are you sure this is the Soldiers' cross? Even though that there are numorous variations of miniatures, this one looks weird to me, plus, the two decorations are supposed to be bestowed upon different sort of army staff - as you know, the soldiers' cross is awarded to enlisted men, while the order of military merit - to officers.

If this is indeed the soldiers' cross, then the only possibility is that this gentleman has progressed from a private/corporal to lieutenant (or higher) in a matter of 2 years, which is impossible.

 

PS: All groups are marvelous, Graf. Congrats.

Hi Ilieff,

I found an interesting answer to your question

Apparently, the Soldier's Cross was awarded also to German Officers. I assume that the rule for enlisted men applied only for Bulgarians

 

Graf

 

[Igor Ostapenko]

Mini of Alexander, silver, gold center, 18 mm

[Graf]

Hi igor,

Nice mini

 

here i my latest mini of the Grand Cross of Civil merit It is very small 12 mm in diameter compared to the 20 mm 1st Class on the left

[new world]

Awesome mini stars!

Here's a Civil Merit 4cl mini I recently saw. It had some hallmarks on the ring (gold?) and was part of the medal bar.

 

[Graf]

Hi ,

I saw it as well.

I did not bid for it because I have similar already. It is a pity that the dealer separated the Set/Bar

 

The marks are for Silver and Maker mark

[922F]

I regret seeing the assembled set...before dismemberment!   However, given the decoration array, wonder whether it might be a display group rather than an awarded group.  Any provenence available?