RARE BRITISH INDIA ORDER KAISAR I HIND GVR MEDAL, 2ND CLASS, 2ND TYPE

Offered is an original Kaisar-I-Hind, G.V.R., 2nd class medal, 2nd type, solid silver.

55mm high oval silver medal surmounted by an Imperil crown with loop and original wire ribbon bar; the face with the cipher ‘GRI’ for King and Emperor George V within an ornate laurel-decorated buckle border; the reverse with a ribbon centrally inscribed ‘KAISAR-I-HIND’ (Emperor of India) imposed on exotic flowers within a border inscribed ‘FOR PUBLIC SERVICE IN INDIA’; on original ribbon with ornate flower-decorated silver top bar, now lacking pin to the reverse. The Medal was instituted on 10 April 1900 for award ‘to those, regardless of colour, creed or sex, who had performed public service in India’.

The medal was initially awarded in two classes - gold and silver and a third, bronze, class was added during the reign of King George V. This example is of the second type George V issue and may be distinguished from the first by the absence of two roundels bearing flowers above and below the royal cipher. The medal is in fact a decoration and is still extant, though it has not been awarded since Indian independence in 1947. It was always awarded sparingly and is hard to find. A very good example.