03-21-2012, 06:56 PM
The "retrospective view" the post communist Bulgaria has on the PRB is different to the view the Russian Federation has on its communist period. Most Bulgarian awards (but by no means all) were poorer quality than the Soviet counterparts. The mint was pushing out lots of PRB items in "mint" condition in the 90's and even to this date but they were all "left over" stock and not "modern" production. Some items were over-produced to such an extent that even some awards that were issued by both the Tsardom and People's Republic are still so numerous that there are piles of them unissued.
Some bright sparks have also recently had the idea of buying up old stock in bulk (award, case, document) and stamping it with their own "fund" rubber stamp and awarding the now defunct awards to those who cough up the $$. Somewhat parallel to what Umalatova once did.
Very little need to fake most Bulgarian items as there are still tens of thousands of them piles in the warehouses.
Now if you get your hands on the "International Botev Prize" in 23k gold or the Order "13 Centuries Of Bulgaria" you will find that they CAN NOT be beaten for quality. Then again you will need a "quality" amount of money to purchase them. Most of the items (such as commemoratives) are of a rather average quality but they also usually go for very little money too.
Now if you're looking for poor quality, late communist period Albanian pieces are what you want! But quality and authenticity are two totally different beasts.
Some bright sparks have also recently had the idea of buying up old stock in bulk (award, case, document) and stamping it with their own "fund" rubber stamp and awarding the now defunct awards to those who cough up the $$. Somewhat parallel to what Umalatova once did.
Very little need to fake most Bulgarian items as there are still tens of thousands of them piles in the warehouses.
Now if you get your hands on the "International Botev Prize" in 23k gold or the Order "13 Centuries Of Bulgaria" you will find that they CAN NOT be beaten for quality. Then again you will need a "quality" amount of money to purchase them. Most of the items (such as commemoratives) are of a rather average quality but they also usually go for very little money too.
Now if you're looking for poor quality, late communist period Albanian pieces are what you want! But quality and authenticity are two totally different beasts.
"Signed with his own rubber stamp"
