WW1 AUSTRIA HUNGARY MILITARY MERIT MEDAL IN SILVER FOR COMBAT BRAVERY

31mm wide circular silver frosted medal with swivel crown suspension; the face with the head of Emperor Franz Joseph I facing right and circumscribed ‘FRANCISCUS IOS. I. D. G. IMP. AUST. REX BOH. ETC. ET REX APOST. HUNG.’(Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia etc. Apostolic King of Hungary); the reverse inscribed ‘SIGNUM LAUDIS’(sign of praise) encircled with a wreath of laurel and oak; on correct trifold wartime ribbon with crossed combat swords. The medal, usually known as the ‘Signum Laudis’ medal after the inscription on the reverse, was instituted on 12 March 1890 and intended for lower ranks of the military for outstanding acts (‘für außergewöhnliche Taten’) worthy of the sovereign’s praise and recognition (‘allerhöchste belobende Anerkennung’). This very good example is from the period 1914-1916 and would have been awarded during World War I.