Eight-pointed silver gilt star, each point composed of eight rays, on laterally-pierced ball suspension; the face with a circular centrally-imposed white enamel medallion bearing an upright gilt hand above a gilt crescent and an inscription in gilt Arabic characters encircled by a gilt ring inscribed in black letters ‘ORDRE ROYAL DE L’ETOILE D’ANJOUAN COMORES’ within a studded silver ring; the reverse plain; diameter 58.56mm (2.3 inches); age oxidisation and loss of gilding (see illustrations); on original ribbon with rosette denoting an award of the ‘officer’ class. The Order was created in 1874 by the Sultan of Anjouan, Mohamed Said Omar, to reward services to the Sultanate and to France ‘our protector’. The Order became a French Colonial Order by the decrees of 10 and 23 May 1896 and on 5 December 1899 the original red ribbon was replaced by the ribbon seen on this example. The Order became defunct on 3 December 1963 as far as the French were concerned but it may have continued to be awarded locally until Anjouan joined the independent Comoros in 1975. Anjouan is an island in the Comoros, situated in the Indian Ocean between northern Madagascar and the African mainland. This example was for many years in the collection of the American Numismatic Society. A good early example of impeccable provenance.
|