France, Republic. An Order of the Honey Bee, Officer, c.1925

(Ordre de l'abeille mellifère). Instituted in 1703. In silver gilt with red, white, blue and green enamels, marked with Dutch script-letter ""V"" duty mark on the tip of the ribbon on the reverse, the mark used for imported gold and silver objects with the ""V"" representing the Dutch word ˜vreemd"" which translates to ""foreign"" (the mark gives no guarantee of standard of fineness and was intended for imported objects only, however sometimes by mistake, it was used on old objects of national origin, used between 1906-1953), measuring 41.5 mm (w) x 53.8 mm (h) inclusive of its crown suspension, chipping and crazing evident on multiple white enamelled arms on both the obverse and reverse, traces of gilt remains, large rosette on its original ribbon, fine.

Footnote: The original Order of the Honey Bee was established by Anne Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon, Duchess of Maine at the Château de Sceaux in June 1703 as a frivolous and ephemeral award. The current version, as per this example, is sometimes referred to as a papal award (perhaps from a mis-translation of ""Papi""), however, it is not Papal. 

This offering is a part of the "Dr. Albert Goodwin Collection", a preeminent assemblage of world Orders, Medals, and Decorations composed solely by Dr.Goodwin between 1946-1967. Dr. Goodwin had a successful career as an educator and prominent physician in New York as well as actively serving in both World Wars with the United States Medical Corps. He acted as both President and Vice-President of the Orders and Medals Society of America (OMSA) and is responsible for organizing their first convention in 1960. He maintained further membership with the American Society of Military Collectors, the International Orders Research Society, and the American Numismatic Society. His knowledge and passion for history and awards is evident in this meticulously compiled collection that is now available in its entirety for the first time exclusively on eMedals.com.