Circular silver medal with loop for ribbon suspension; the face with the head of Duke Ernst II facing left, circumscribed ‘ERNST II. HERZOG VON SACHSEN-ALTENBURG.’; the reverse with a Maltese cross with a circular central medallion bearing the Saxon arms within a circular oak wreath, circumscribed ‘FIDELITER ET CONSTANTER’ (Faithfully and Steadfastly); some age-toning residue, a slight edge knock at 10 o’clock; on replaced correct ribbon. The Ducal Saxe-Ernestine House Order, with an associated silver medal, was instituted jointly on 25 December 1833 by Duke Friedrich of Saxe-Altenburg, Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Duke Bernhard Erich Freund of Saxe-Meiningen. In 1864 a ‘golden’ (silver gilt) medal was added. The reverse of the medal was common to all three Dukedoms, designed by Friedrich Ferdinand Helfricht (1809-1892) of Gotha. The face of the medal bore the image of the Duke of the awarding state. When Duke Ernst II began his reign on 7 February 1908, a new version of the Saxe-Altenburg medal was commissioned from the firm of Ludwig Christoph Lauer of Nuremberg with the Ducal portrait by Otto Pech (1882-1950, also known as ‘Pix’) of Altenburg. The medal was suppressed at the end of World War I in 1918 and is uncommon.
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