Order "Saint George".

[Art]

Extremely rare enameled 14K gold Cross of the Order of Saint George, 4th Class. The Order of St. George was the highest honor for heroism awarded to the Russian military during the Imperial era. These medals were awarded only to nobles and officers for unusual acts of heroism-personally leading troops into battle, for example. Formal portraits of the Czars and their families usually show them wearing the order suspended from an orange and black striped ribbon. The arms of the cross are enameled in opaque white enamels. The central medallion shows a figure of St. George astride his horse against a background of translucent red enamel.

[new world]

Interesting info recently doscovered.

During 1930s Soviet governement initiated a campaign to buy pre-1917 St George crosses. Purchasing was conducted through TORGSIN network and decent money were paid for old Tsarist awards.

The purpose was driven by the ideology and was to get rid the population of old awards, including lower soldiers' grades.

Anyone has anything to add to the story?

I am curious how many crosses were actually sold to the governement and what happened to them? Were they all melted down?

Thanks,
William

[EricFG]

The Cross of Saint George.
Founded by Alexander I in February 1807 as St George Cross was originally in one class to reward non-commissioned officers and enlisted men for bravery performed in action against the enemy. In February 1856 to mark his accession, Alexander II decreed that the St George Cross should be in four classes to reward bravery performed by other ranks. Associated with the Order of Saint George, the St. George cross was awarded for acts of distinction under arms. An enlisted man or NCO would be awarded the 4th class cross for his first brave act. A second notable act could then bring him the 3rd class cross, etc. The first class and second class were in gold, the first class with a bow on the ribbon. The third and fourth classes were in silver, the third class marked by a bow. The ribbon was the same as for the order of Saint George.
This medal is the a rough equivalent of the Soviet Order Of Glory as it was exclusively for enlisted men and NCOs, and especially because "cavaliers" of the Cross were heroes by any definition.
Over two million Saint George Crosses were distributed during the Great War and before the abdication of the tsar., going to soldiers, nurses and members of the Red Cross. Commanders in the field could award the St. George Cross on the spot.

The first image is an example of a cavalier set of the St. George Crosses; First through Fourth Class.
Note the first two in gold and the second two in silver.
Also note the first and third crosses have a bow on the ribbon.
[SIZE="1"]Image from Durov - Russian and Soviet military awards
[/SIZE]

The next two images are examples of the Third and Fourth Class crosses, obverse and reverse. Note the serial number on the left and right arms of the cross and class designation on the lower arm. The difference in color of the medal's metal, it should be silverish, might be attributed to either lighting or authenticity or material.

See more info here: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%97%D0%B...0%B8%D1%8F

[EricFG]

The Order of St. George, Imperial Russia's highest exclusively military order, was instituted in 1769 and came to be considered among the most prestigious military awards in the world. The order was awarded to officers and generals for special gallantry, such as, personally leading his troops in rout of a superior enemy force, or capturing a fortress, etc. Before membership in the Order could be granted, a candidate's case had to be investigated by a council composed of Knights of the Order.
1st Class worn on sash across chest, with breast star. 2nd Class worn at neck, with breast star. 3rd Class worn at neck, w/o breast star. 4th Class worn as suspended medal on chest.

The Order of St. George's distinctive ribbon -- three black stripes on an orange background -- was so familiar and carried such prestige, that Stalin borrowed it for the Order Of Glory during World War II, despite the fact that these were the traditional colors of the Romanov family. The order came in four classes, awarded sequentially for individual acts of gallantry.

An example of the Order of St. George, 4th class.
Image from Durov - Russian and Soviet military awards

[Aharim]

Re collection of Imperial awards and disposal, there are two versions of disposal. Some Imperial items were sold by the Soviets. In DC there is the Hillwood Museum, former home of Marjorie Mariweather Post, wife to the US ambassador to the Soviet Union, Davies from the 30's, former wife to E.F. Hutton the Wall Street Gazillionaire, and also heiress to the CW Post fortune. She as wife to the ambassador was able to get licenses for export (for a fee) of imperial "stuff" that she liked, including Faberge and other material. They have on display two imperial eggs at the museum, and a nice collection of imperial orders. They have a quite impressive collection of the plate settings from the imperial order dinner services made for each of the orders for Catherine the Great.

M.M. Post also had a number of orders that she obtained in a similar fashion including Vladimir, George et al. SO orders might be melted or made available to the international market. It is known that Armand Hammer (head of Occidental Petroleum) obtained licence to manufacture pencils in Soviet Russia and in return also obtained license to export "unwanted" materials that could inprove the Soviet coffers.

So the orders collected were originally largely destroyed. But when it became known that they had international value, they also were sold into the international market.

There is a wonderful, cartoon from that era of a street sweeper sweeping up imperial orders. But if you have someone willing to pay you to haul away your "trash" well the Soviets were certainly willing to accept hard currency for what they considered trash at the time.

[desantnik]

I visited the Hillwood museum last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Soviets took the same approach to icons in their zeal to stamp out religion.

[Alfred]

Any oppinions about this one? 3rd class St George order for soldiers.

thanks and best regards
Andreas

[EricFG]

Not even close to being an expert on these as I don't own one, or even handled one but it doesn't look obviously bad. Would love to see the ring.
I'm sure I don't have to remind you how many fakes of these are out there.

[Blokhin V.M.]

Here is a nice 4th class with the award document..the two are rarely found together. This guy slso got 3rd & 2nd, but didn't quite make cavalier.

[Blokhin V.M.]

Alfred I always worry when the numbers are out of alignment. On the real ones they are always straight across without any being up or down. Here are 3 100% authentic ones...perhaps you can see what I mean about the numbers. Also if you paid less than $600 you are probably in trouble...