Awards of Germany - Cross for merits in the field of art and science 1898 (2nd form)

Under Duke Alfred, new prizes in the field of art and science were established on October 19, 1894. They were awarded as a cross and a medal, as a lower level. The introduction of the cross for services to art and science dates back to Duke Ernst II. returned on 18 April 1860. Prior to this, medals for special merits in civil life were awarded in gold, silver and bronze, donated on January 30, 1835 by Duke Ernst I. They were first 39 mm in size, and then 24 mm and had an inscription on the back - "FOR MERIT." Designation as a reward for art and science appeared only in the mid-1850s. Under Duke Alfred of Saxony, Coburg and Gotha were awarded 2 forms of the Cross of Merit and the Medal of Merit. The Meritorious Service Medal was awarded in silver only in one class. The first form retained the inscription on the back - DER VERWERTE - above the crown of the wall. On the front of the medallion is a portrait of Alfred. In the second form, for the first time, the font is used - FOR ART AND SCIENCE - in an oak wreath. His successor was Karl Edward. The seal for the medal and probably the medallions were carved by Emil Helfricht, the son of the medalist of Professor Ferdinand Helfricht, who worked in London. Delivery was carried out through the L. Christian Lauer Institute of Art Coinage in Nuremberg. Due to the short rental period and high requirements for awarding, crosses are very rare. Exact award figures are not known. Source: J. Nimmergut, Deutsche Orden und Ehrenzeichen bis 1945, vol. III, 1999.

An eight-pointed cross made of gilded silver of the Maltese form. Front and back with a round medallion worn. Cruciform sleeves with raised smooth edges are finely granular inside. Between the cruciform shoulders at a distance from each other there is a circular wreath in the form of a rhomboid crown, 3 leaf segments between 2 cruciform shoulders. This wreath is golden burgundy and translucent, enameled green. A convolution/hatching is visible under it. Between the tips of the upper cruciform shoulder, the usual eye with a ribbon ring is soldered.

Front side:

A medallion with a raised, 2-step, smooth border. On the margins there is an inscription:
- ALFRED - DUKE - VON - SAXONY - COBURG - AND - GOTHA -.
On the right is a portrait of Duke Alfred.

Downside:

Central shield with raised smooth edge.
At a short distance from the edge of the dense bottom, an oak-deciduous wreath tied in a loop.
In the included field, a 3-line enlarged font:
- FOR -/- ART - AND -/- SCIENCE -.

Tape: