Baden Medal

[Tony Farrell]

Can anyone identify this medal? It's from Baden and has 'Fur Verdienst' on the reverse.
I assume it's the Friedrich II medal for meritorious service? As ever, over to the experts!

[Bill M]

--1916-1918 Silver Service Medal.
--The reference that I have has on it a solid yellow ribbon, though. Unless it's wrong, the ribbon on this one belongs to a Knight's Cross of the Order of Charles Frederick (also of Baden). Anyone?

[Rick Research]

This is the "Silver Merit Medal on the Military-Karl-Friedrich-Merit-Order Ribbon" and with this ribbon was the basic Baden enlisted ranks wartime equivalent of the EK2. About 170,000 awarded in WWI.

As late war alloy ones go, this isn't in bad shape.

The peculiar and awkward Italian style loop was a carry over from 19th century issues.

I can only assume that the alloy issues with a normal small suspension ring and regular suspension ring were post-WWI wearing copies. The Italian style loop was very unwieldy in WWI+ German style full medal bar mounts.

There was a smaller gold version of this medal, and a large gold (not awarded in WWI). Simply by switching statutory peacetime ribbons to that of the MKFVO made these bravery/wartime awards.

On ribbon bars, a round green enamelled wreath on this ribbon (there may be one shown in one of my scattered ribbon bar postings...somewhere) indicated the MKFV-Order itself, a round gold wreath on this ribbon was he small gold Medal, and no device (or an improper round silver wreath) was Tony's medal.

[Tony Farrell]

Erm.... right. So then, am I correct in understanding that the medal - when fitted with the Karl Freidrich Merit Order ribbon - denoted a wartime bravery issue?

[Rick Research]

Righto. Since it was a "general purpose" medal, a palace gardener or a postman could have gotten the late-war alloy medal too--but theirs would have been on the yellow statutory civil ribbon.

This one would go about $40-ish, and given the numbers vis a vis EK2s, that is under-valued. Alloy ones are usually less than the earlier silver issues, but this one is still in such nice shape it shouldn't matter that much. A lot of the WW1 zinky alloy awards are every bit as awful as the WW2 stuff.

[Tony Farrell]

As ever, Rick. Words of infinite wisdom are forthcoming from yer good self. Cheers for the info chappie!