Live Auction 15499Russian Art
A VERY RARE GOLD MEDAL FOR SERVICE IN HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY'S OWN ESCORT
Lot 293 PROPERTY FROM A EUROPEAN MILITARIA COLLECTION

A VERY RARE GOLD MEDAL FOR SERVICE IN HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY'S OWN ESCORT

RUSSIA, PERIOD OF ALEXANDER II, CIRCA 1855

Closed4 June 2018

Price Realised

GBP 100,000

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A VERY RARE GOLD MEDAL FOR SERVICE IN HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY'S OWN ESCORT
RUSSIA, PERIOD OF ALEXANDER II, CIRCA 1855
Circular, one side struck with the profile of Emperor Alexander II, the border inscribed in Russian 'By the Grace of God Alexander II Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia', the reverse with the Russian inscription 'For Service in the Personal Convoy of the Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich'
2 in. (5.1 cm.) high, excluding loop
2.23 oz. (69.5 gr.)

Collection of Grand Duke George Mikhailovich; Adolph Hess AG Luzern, 25 October 1939, lot 553 (auction postponed).
Collection of Grand Duke George Mikhailovich; Christie’s, London, 3 July 1950, lot 437.
Morreira collection; Bowers and Merena, Superior Galleries, 10-11 December 1988, lot 1411.
With Mars and Merkur, Germany.
Acquired from the above by the previous owner.

Specialist note

The medal 'For Service in His Imperial Majesty's Own Escort' was first commissioned during the reign of Emperor Nicholas I in 1850.

After the death of Nicholas I, the same award medals with the profile of Emperor Alexander II were commissioned in gold and silver in 1855 to be presented to Caucasus mountaineers and Muslims serving in His Imperial Majesty's Own Escort. No more than 150 medals were produced during the period of Alexander II.

For more information about the medal, see D.I. Peters, Nagradnie Medali Rossii XIX - Nachala XX Vekov, Moscow, 1989.