Cuba, Republic. An Order of Merit Mambi, Knight, c.1898

Three-piece construction, bronze gilt with red, white and blue enamels, unmarked, 35 mm (w) x 44.2 mm (h), original ribbon, light contact on the upper arm, near extremely fine.

Footnote: The Order of Merit Mambi was issued for the War of Independence against Spain of 1898. Cuba was the last Spanish colony in the Americas to gain its independence, following a protracted insurgency. After Spain’s defeat in the Spanish-American War of 1898, the United States occupied the country until 1902 and retained the right to intervene militarily until 1934.