07-30-2008, 04:29 PM
There have been an increasing number of "fake" Bulgarian awards on the market in the last few months mainly the 1st type of Orders of People's Liberty 1941-44 and Orders of 9-IX-1944. Some folks have been taking type 2 orders (which have are multipiece) and just removing the ribbon bar and loop at the top. Some are done really well and some are ground off really crudely so you have to look out for those! and the really poor "fakes" are type 3 Orders of People's Liberty 1941-44 2nd Class type 3 which have had a newly made bust glued on the front and then a wrong sized screwpost with a fake screwplate attached to the reverse. I managed to track down the person producing the mutilated type 3 orders and reported him to the Bulgarian authorities I haven't seen any new ones put into circulation recently but there are dozens of fakes out there... Then again at the other end of the spectrum I have an Order of People's Liberty 1941-44 2nd Class Type 1 Variation 2 (The 4 piece variation) which has just had a whole drilled into the top star ray and attached to a kolodka and had the screwpost cut down. So things can go both ways. Even though Bulgarian awards aren't the most collectable, desirable or valuable in the world there are folks out there willing to fake even the most common of awards to make a few dollars or even a few cents.... I've even seen a fake order listed as a fake order on ebay go for more than you could purchase the real deal for!
