SMGA-536 2Pc Franco Prussian Medal Bar *SOLD

Kaiser Wilhelm I Centenary Medal (Kaiser Wilhelm I Zentenarmedaille), 1897
Large circular gilt bronze medal with loop for ribbon suspension; the face with a head and shoulders portrait of Kaiser Wilhelm I in full military uniform facing right, inscribed ?WILHELM DER GROSSE DEUTSCHER KAISER? (Wilhelm the Great German Emperor) and ?KOENIG VON PREUSSEN? (King of Prussia); the reverse inscribed ?ZUM ANDENKEN AN DER HUNDERSTEN GEBURTSTAG DES GROSSEN KAISERS WILHELM I 1797 – 22 MAERZ – 1897? (In commemoration of the hundredth birthday of the great Kaiser Wilhelm I 1797 – 22 March – 1897) above a cushion bearing the Prussian (Hohenzollern) crown and orb imposed on a sword, a laurel branch to the left, an oak branch to the right. The medal was awarded on 22 March 1897, the hundredth birthday of Kaiser Wilhelm I, to all military on active service and to the veterans of the wars of 1864, 1866 and 1870. It was made from Danish, Austrian and French cannon captured in those wars, designed by the artist Walter Schott (1861-1938) and produced by the Berlin medallists Firma L. Ostermann, founded in 1812 by Gottfried Bernhard Loos (1774-1843). Kaiser Wilhelm I (1797-1888) became King of Prussia in 1861 and Emperor of a united Germany on 18 January 1871. His reign was most notable for the unification of Germany under the guidance of Otto von Bismarck and its rapid industrial and economic progress.

Commemorative Cross for 1866 with ?Main Armee? inscription (PREUSSEN. Erinnerungskreuz 1866 mit der Inschrift ?Der Main-Armee?)
Bronze cross patt?e alis?e, a laurel wreath between the arms, with ribbed loop for ribbon suspension; the face with a circular central medallion bearing the cipher ?WR? for King Wilhelm I, circumscribed ?PREUSSENS SIEGREICHEM HEERE? (Prussia?s victorious armies), the Prussian crown on the upper arm of the cross, the left, right and lower arms inscribed ?GOTT WAR MIT UNS. IHM SEI DIE EHRE? (God was with us. To Him be the glory); the reverse with a circular central medallion bearing the crowned Prussian royal eagle perched on a cannon, the upper, left, right and lower arms inscribed ?DER?, MAIN?, ?ARMEE?, ?1866? respectively; on original ribbon. The medal was instituted by King Wilhelm I on 20 September 1866 following the victorious war against Austria and its German allies. There were four versions: for those present at the battle of K?niggr?tz, for the Army of the Main, for ?Trueue Kriegern? (for those combatant troops not present at K?niggr?tz nor part of the Army of the Main) and for non-combatants. This version is for the Army of the Main, based in the south-west, tasked with dealing with the forces of those German states, such as Bavaria, which had sided with Austria, whilst the principal Prussian forces advanced into (then Austrian) Bohemia. The medal was cast from the bronze of captured Austrian cannon. A good example.