bulgaria Bulgaria - Commemorative Medal for Prince Ferdinands Accession to the throne.

[Bretzen]

Gentlemen,

I would like to present a certificate and I have some questions about it.
It is - allegedly - the award certificate 1st class to the commemorative cross/medal for Prince Ferdinand's accession to the throne. Is this correct?
The name should read: "I. D. Stanschevu". Is that correct?
Is this person known in Bulgaria?

I also note the award number "90".

 

It would be nice to post here many contributions to this decoration.

I look forward to messages.

With kind regards

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[Graf]

Hi,

 

It is very nice document Thank you for sharing

First it is a very low Number  No 90

It is known that 699 1st Class in Gold have been awarded

The Document is correct

The awarded person was Prince Ferdinand adviser The Name is correct . however without the "u' at the end I suspect that at that time adding "u' was Russian influence after the Russian-Turkish War 1877-1878 and/or could be modern style at the time.

Whether this person was  VIP one I am not sure I leave this one to our Bulgarian members to find out

I have the same document but with much higher number No 844 to an Officer

I suspect the numbers are given in order of awarding regardless of the Class

According to sources the very first crosses were given to members of the Royal family Ministers of the Principality of Bulgaria and other dignities

 

Total awarded Crosses are

1st Class 699

2nd Class1019

3rd Class 475

 

Total  2193

 

 

PS. I noticed that your Document looks lit was more personally addressed ,fact makes me think that the VIPs were presented with such type of Document

 

Regards

[Bretzen]

Hi Peter,

thank you for your information.

 

I would like to present here the 1st class with award case with as good photos as possible.
Of course I have questions about it again.
Gladly I hear your answer and if possible also from other Collectors.

 

.....does the ribbon ring also have these two hallmarks?

As on a side "FR" for Jeweler Rothe in Vienna?
On the other side the greyhound head hallmark and a "3" for 800/1000 silver?

 

 

 

 

 

 

And my last, but almost most important question for today:
Medallion of the back. Does your copy also have this minting defect?
(see red circle).
I would be happy if other collectors can also look at their pieces and kindly post an answer here.

Regards

 

 

 

[ilieff]

Uwe,

 

Very nice set - cross and document! Hopefully they came originally together, rather than being married at a later point?

 

This is a first type document and first type cross. As far as I know, there were two types/issues of crosses and probably three issues of the awarding docs, the differences being very minor anyway.

 

Officially, the cross was initiated via a decree on 21st December 1887 which is days after the date on your document. I presume this is a good thing from a collector's point, is it not? 

 

The signature there is that of Mr Tapchileshtov who was a private secretary to the former Prince Alexander I von Battenberg and doubled as the Chancellor of Bulgarian Orders. Clearly, in this initial period of the reign of the new Monarch, he retained his post, only to be replaced by Von der Laaba in the coming months. The few other documents I have seen for this cross were all signed by Von der Laaba. 

Another curious detail is that we usually see a second signature at the bottom (usually that of the Prince's private secretary) but in this case we only see a stamp seal. Curious!

 

Graf is correct, the "U" at the end of the name is a sign of a now archaic dative case - basically a way to indicate that the person is a recipient. So, the name would be I. D. STANCHEV. Often, the dotted line features the capacity/occupation of the individual, but here it just states that he was part of Prince's entourage during His travels across the country (Yes, the first few months He does a lot of travelling and the bulk of the crosses are awarded to those who travelled alongside him; to those he met/was introduced to during those travels and [more or less obligatory] to all military officers from the units which took part in the princely convoys/guard duties.)

I had a quick glance through the list of known military officers/generals of the time but there is no STANCHEV there (or at least, not documented). I would dismiss the possibility of him being an officer, mainly due to the fact that this cross looks like it was boxed the day it was received and remained there for a long time. Officers on active duty had to display their awards at least a few times a year, so we would have seen some signs of wear, if that was the case.

 

Yes, the maker was Rothe. The high quality of the production speaks for itself. And yes, I have seen that small production defect on other pieces from the first issue.   

 

As we speculated in another thread, I think Prime Minister Stoilov actually received a diamond issue of this cross.

Edited March 1, 2023 by ilieff

[Graf]

Hi Uwe,

 Yes I have two 1st Classes both marked with the same marks like yours

Both have the same small defect on the reverse central medallion like yours

One has 5 clovers the other has 4 clovers on the Coat of arms of Saxony

The one with 4 clovers is considered to be second type Why the number of clovers was reduced is a mystery

I assume the matrix might had been damages damaged and the new one was  made with 4 clovers

Here is the second type with four clovers on the reverse central medallion You can see the small defect as well

The other 1st Class is exactly like yours (the one in the group photo with the Document)

PS Only the 1st Class is marked

The other two classes were made from base metal (gilded or silvered)

[Graf]

Here is the  House Order of Saxony

I think the  design  of the central medallion  on the reverse of the Ferdinand Cross  was "borrowed" from this Order

It has 5 clovers on the reverse Do you know any models or variations with 4 clovers. This might bring a light on the topic

Marks on the ring of 1st Class

Edited March 2, 2023 by Graf

[Bretzen]

Gentlemen ilieff and Graf,

 

I would like to thank both of you for the detailed texts, which really helped me.

I have paid very little attention to this topic in the past and would now like to try to clear up the whole thing with the help of the gentlemen in this forum.

ilieff - unfortunately my cross and the certificate did not come together, but both individual purchases.

I would now like to show two crosses of the 3rd class.
To my shame I must confess that before this post I did not realize that there are two variants.

Both crosses are of the second variant, that is, with four clovers.
remarkable I find that both have the same markings as my 1st grade.
Although !! the medallion had to be recut.

 

Questions:
Can we say that both variants are from Rothe?
Are there any 2nd or 3rd class crosses with five clovers?

I hope for more participation and many answers.

Cheers Uwe

 

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

...and the second cross 3rd class:

 

 

[Graf]

Hi Uwe,

 

Very interesting Questions

 

First Only the Firm of K F  Rothe  Vienna is known to be the maker of those Crosses

Second I searched the literature and late prof Pavlov mention that 1st Class was known to have two variants Although he have not stated the same for the other two classes it is important to research further.

I have both 2nd and 3rrd Class with 4 clovers only as well

I think I solved the mystery of the mark on the back medallion This is a mark wcih is put above the Bulgarian letter "I' and the letter is pronounced as "I kratko" That is why it appear on all crosses on the back. The word is written in old Bulgarian with this letter on the back. I am sorry I do not have Cyrilic on my PC I hope Iliev can do for me to become more clear One is for sure for me this is not a defect mark.

I checked the Bulgarian Alphabet This is a sign similar to the German "U mlau" if I am correct

 

Edited March 3, 2023 by Graf

[ilieff]

Hi,

 

Sorry, I think I misunderstood your point about the so called production defect. The letter is Й, so yes, there is a mark at the top (similar to the umlaut, I guess). I thought you were referring to the fact that this so called umlaut is conjoined to the rim itself, rather than being apart. Apologies.

 

No, I don't think there are 2nd and 3rd class crosses with 5 clovers on the reverse. This is the reason why I mention on my website that the default number of clovers is 4 and only the occasional [1st class] cross has 5, basically omitting the nominal distinguishment of issues.  Note also that the dies for 2nd/3rd class would have been different to those for the first class, so any variations would have naturally developed separately.  

 

One thing which is a bit foggy at this point is the material of the 2nd and 3rd class. Most books indicate a very broad 'yellow' and 'white' metals but I know that a large portion (if not all) 3rd class crosses are actually silvered bronze. Probably the 2nd class is indeed some sort of yellowish alloy but I won't be surprised if there are examples of gilded bronze, as well. 

 

Lastly, I think this award is one of the most interesting and significant decorations during the Royal period and is probably a favourite of mine.

 

[Graf]

Hi Illieff,

 

 Uwe question was about this "mysterious" mark featuring  on the exact spot above the letter "I' on all classes

That made me to look in more details and i came to the conclusion that this is the letter "I kratko" which is after the Letter "I" in the Bulgarian Alphabet This mark, which is more like a "coma" is used above the letter "I kratko", a letter pronounced differently from the letter "I"   Therefore this mark is not a manufacturing defect Perhaps i should have not given an example using the German letters. It cause some confusion

The other interesting fact is the use of the old Bulgarian in the text

I suspect that for both 2nd and 3rd Classes a bronze silvered or gilded was used

The other interesting fact is that in the Documents listed by Uwe and myself the cross is written as "Gold" instead of the appropriate Class I assume the "Gold" was referred to the 1st Class. This cross was given to all senior and junior staff officers from garrisons where Prince Ferdinand had passed through Also to some dignities that has escorted him during this trip. Therefore Uwe"s Document is for an adviser, who escorted the New Prince

Interesting fact that Denkov in his book stated that the 1st Class is also made from base metal,while actually it was made from gilded silver and hall  marked.

I recently came across of 3rd Class that was "upgraded" to 1st Class by painting the relevant parts.

Luckily very bad job, and also the cross was not hall marked.. However can trick novices collectors

 

I have never seen 2nd and 3rd Classes with 5 clovers, however since in some books it was mention that there is a model with 5 clovers till now i assumed that such issue might have existed  Only late prof. Pavlov stated that only 1st Class had  the 5 clover model

 

Regards

 

Graf

[steveBobby]

I show my 2nd class cross. Also only has four clovers.

 

 

 

[Graf]

Hi SteveBobby

Unless Crosses  2nd and 3rd Class with 5 clovers pop up We can accept for the moment that they are made only with  4 clovers as Ilieff stated and other members agreed

 

Cheers