Beau Newman

For comparison - here is an 1870 MVK group with the swords added later (they were authorized in 1891):

The 2nd Class Knight was awarded with crown from 1860 to 1918 and without crown from 1906 to 1918. This example appears to be a 2nd Class Knight with Crown. Beyreiss shows 1,234 awards of this grade from 1860 to 1918.

The reverse:

Just an example of "Rare" not necessarily needing to break the bank. The Last Type Saxe-Altenburg Golden Ernestine Medal - 63 awarded from 1914 to 1918. 8 with swords on the ribbon were also awarded in 1917 and 1918.

That number is surprising. If the MVO followed the basic structure of other awards, the 3rd Class would have been a Major's level award. As generous as they were with the 4th Class, they seen to have been equally stingy with the 3rd. Excellent info - Many thanks!

All this does raise a question. The Bavarian MVO was probably the most widely awarded house order of the war with well over 20,000 in all classes. One would expect that at least on the order of a few thousand were awarded in 3rd Class. If that is the case, where are they? They are seen much less often than many awards that were awarded less liberally. Any ideas?

The reverse:

Nice I know that many of the 3rd Classes a gilded 4th Classes but, the gilding on this one really "pops". The cross is marked "950 J.L.", the swords are marked "J.L. 900" and the suspension ring is marked "900". I think Leser was a maker of the 3rd Class crosses. Is there anything else to look for when trying to dertermine if a piece is a gilded 4th Class?

Posted previously but, a pre-1905 Knight, 2nd Class. This was replaced by the more familiar silver cross with flames: Now to find a ca. 1900 Russian St. Stanislaus to complete the group.

As I understand it, the original zinc or war metal crosses had iron swords.

In the abbreviated nomenclature, the Grand Cross is 1, Commander is 2, Knight 1st Class is 3 and Knight 2nd Class is 4. This lines up with the Prussian system (such as the Red Eagle and Crown Orders) in which the classes were designated 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th instead of Grand Cross, Commander's, Knight 1st and Knight 2nd. There is a good explanation on the shorthand near the top of this category.

The only lower grade was the Golden Merit Medal. There were Commanders and Grand Cross Grades above the 1st & 2nd Class Knights.

And a 1st Class Group: Both have gold swords.

A 2nd Class Group:

It is a bit confusing. The MVO had 2 classes of Knight from 1866 to1905. The Knight 1st Class was retained unchanged as the 3rd Class Order after 1905. The 2nd Class Knight was a gold enameled cross without flames. This was replaced in 1905 by the 4th Class Order which is the familiar silver enameled cross with flames. Here is a pre-1905 Knight, 2nd Class. It is the same as the pre-1905 MVK except the cross is gold instead of silver.

The reverse:

And even earlier - A MVK type of 1866-1905. Only 1 class which was a silver enameled cross without flames between the arms and gold centers. The swords were not authorized until 1891 but, apparently, could be added by recipients back to 1866. This one is marked "AH" on the ribbon ring for Adam Hausinger.

The reverse:

A 1905-1913 2nd Class (the 1st Class had enameled centers). This one is marked "900GH" between the arms. The medallions have separately applied devices.

Yes.

W.Co.

The reverse:

FWIW - Here is a Weiss marked 1st Class. The construction appears to be typical wartime production ("L" is not separately applied).

That's a variant I haven't seen before. The central medallions appear rather large in relation to the rest of the cross and the swords seem to be attached without the rivet normally seen.

Probably the lighting. In hand, it is a white silver color.