Russianglory

Russia. Imperia. St George Cross for Bravery, 2nd class, #84937. WW1

$700.00

Yellow metal. In very fine condition. Extremely well-preserved and attractive piece, well above the average for a WW1 issue.

On 10 September 1916, the Highest Council of Ministers approved a change to the St George Cross removing the gold and silver from its making. They began to mint crosses made of “yellow metal” (JM) and of “white metal” (BM). The crosses first and second class, made of yellow metal had the letters “JM” (Russian “ЖМ”) above the serial number, the crosses second and third class, made of white metal had the letters “BM” (Russian “БМ”) above the serial number. The number of crosses produced for each class in “JM” and “BM”:

  • 1st class JM 10,000: No. 32,481 to No. 42,480
  • 2nd class JM 20,000: No. 65,031 to No. 85,030
  • 3rd class MB 49,500: No. 289,151 to No. 338,650
  • 4th class MB 89,000: No. 1,210,151 to No. 1,299,150
SKU: STGEO003 Category:

Cross of St George was established in the February 1807 decree of Emperor Alexander I, it was intended as a reward for “undaunted courage” by the lower ranks (soldiers, sailors and NCOs) of the military. There was only a single class with no restriction as to the number of awards per person.

An 1856 royal decree divided the decoration into four classes. A person initially received the fourth class and would subsequently be promoted to higher classes for further acts of bravery; one who received all four classes was called a “Full Cavalier of Saint George”. The first and second classes were made of gold, the third and fourth were made of silver. The numbering on the reverse began anew for each class of the decoration.[3]

A 1913 royal decree officialized the name “Cross of Saint George” and the numbering began anew. In 1915, due to war shortages, the first and second class decorations were made of lower grade gold (60 percent gold, 39.5 percent silver, 0.5 percent copper). The third and fourth class decorations were produced in the same 99 percent silver. There were 26,950 first class crosses (No. 5531 to No. 32,840) and 52,900 second class crosses (No. 65,030 to No. 12,131) produced in low-grade gold. Approximate number of St. George Crosses awarded from 1914 to 1917:

  • 1st class: 33,000
  • 2nd class: 65,000
  • 3rd class: 289,000
  • 4th class: 1.2 million

 

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