✚10576✚ Bulgarian Kingdom pre WW1 Royal Medal for Merit in Bronze Ferdinand I.

Original Bulgarian pre WW1 Royal Medal for Merit in Bronze (Ferdinand I.), IN VERY FINE CONDITION, ON GENUINE BUT SLIGHTLY WORN TRIFOLD RIBBON, A REALLY GOOD DETAILED EXAMPLE WITH ATTRACTIVE FINISH

HISTORY OF THE AWARD:

Bulgarian Bulgarian Royal Medal for Merit, bronze, Ferdinand I - Circular bronze medal with loop for ribbon suspension; the face with the head of King Ferdinand I looking left circumscribed with his name and title; the reverse inscribed ‘ЗА ЗАСЛУГА’ (for merit) above a five-pointed star within a wreath of oak and laurel; some age oxidisation marks; on replaced but correct triangular ribbon. The Medal for Merit was founded on 25 December 1881 and awarded in three classes, gold (rarely awarded), silver and bronze for service to the Crown or Fatherland, the bronze medal being awarded to lower-ranking officials and non-commissioned officers. This example shows an older King Ferdinand and thus dates from the early years of the 20th Century. Ferdinand (Bulgarian: Фердинанд I; 26 February 1861 – 10 September 1948), born Ferdinand Maximilian Karl Leopold Maria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Фердинанд Максимилиан Карл Леополд Мария Сакс-Кобург и Гота), was the second monarch of the Third Bulgarian State, firstly as ruling prince (knyaz) from 1887 to 1908, and later as king (tsar) from 1908 until his abdication in 1918. Under his rule Bulgaria entered the First World War on the side of the Central Powers in 1915.