Badge "For People's Liberty 1923-1944".

[Greg Collins]

There isn't a lot of "fake" production going on with respect to Bulgarian medals and badges to date. The biggest reason, I suppose, is that there isn't the level of demand that there is for other awards (USSR and Mongolia); hence, no great payoff. The fakes that ARE being produced, from what I have read, tend to be centered around the Order of 9th September 1944 (all three classes in both military and civilian types); in this case, a perfectly original suspension order has it's suspension ring removed and a screw-back is added to produce the earlier version of the order, which we've also seen with several Soviet orders. I could easily speculate that fakes are around of the early pilot and airborne badges (multi-piece screw-backs with wreath, bird and enamel). With regard to the "normal" range of medals, I've been told there are still sufficient stocks in the mint itself to meet the demand. Regarding this particular badge, I got it on *bay for the minimum bid- about 6.99 as I remember.

[Lapa]

Greg,

The picture you paint is not completely exact. Titles are widely faked (Hero of Bulgaria and Hero of Labor) as are some medals, among which the "International Brigades in Spain", the "Peace and Friendship", the "Friendship and Cooperation" medals.

Marc

[Greg Collins]

Marc,

Of course you're correct; I had not considered the "higher priced" awards in my statement, only the more common awards often available on auction sites. Have you heard of a faked Dimitrov yet?