Circular bronze medal with loop for ribbon suspension; the face with the head of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg facing right; the reverse inscribed ‘ERNST HERZOG VON SACHSEN-ALTENBURG 3 AUGUST 1903’; on replaced correct ribbon. The medal was instituted in 1903 to mark the 50th anniversary of the reign of Duke Ernst I (1826-1908) who became Duke of Saxe-Altenburg on the death of his father, Duke Georg, on 3 August 1853. Ernst married Princess Agnes of Anhalt-Dessau earlier that year and they had a daughter, Marie, who married Prince Albrecht of Prussia and son who died in infancy. He was succeeded in 1908 by his nephew who became Ernst II. Saxe-Altenburg was a small state with a population of about 200,000. The medal is relatively rare.
|