Medjidie

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Medjidie or Mejidie (Turkish: Mecidiye) is the name of a military and knightly order of the Ottoman Empire, and also of a gold or silver Turkish coin, worth twenty piastres. The coin was first struck in 1844, and was widely circulated in Saudi Arabia. The Order was instituted in 1852 by Sultan Abd-ul-Mejid I, whose name was given to them.

[edit] Order of the Medjidie

Instituted in 1852, the Order was awarded in five classes, with the First Class being the highest. The Order was issued in considerable numbers by Sultan Abd-ul-Mejid I as a reward for distinguished service to members of the British Army and Navy and the French Army who came to the aid of the Turkish Empire and who fought in the Crimean War of 1854-56 against Russia. In Britain it was worn after any British gallantry and campaign medals awarded, but before the Turkish Crimean War medal. The Order was usually conferred on officers but a few private soldiers also received it in a low Class.

The Order was often conferred on non-Turkish nationals.

[edit] Design of the Order

On the obverse of the star is Sultan Abdul Mejid's royal cipher with inscription around on a gold-bordered circle of red enamel; the whole on a star of seven triple quills with small crescents and five-pointed stars between them, suspended from a red enamelled crescent and star suspender with green enamelled edges

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.