Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Grand Duchy. A Military Merit Cross, I Class Auction weighing 389 grams and measuring

weighing 389 grams and measuring 870 mm in length

it doesn't matter so much then

Accompanied by a Photograph of Taylor (digitalized from an original black and white image

in 1890 and launched Germany on a bellicose "New Course" in foreign affairs that culminated in his support for Austria-Hungary in the crisis of July 1914 that led to World War I

For his extensive services

Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Grand Duchy. A Military Merit Cross, I Class Auction weighing 389 grams and measuring(Militr Verdienstkreuz I. Klasse). Instituted 28 February 1915 by Grand Duke Friedrich Franz IV. (1915 1924 issue). Constructed of gilded bronze, consisting of a Cross Patte, the obverse with ribbed arms, with a central monogram of Grand Duke Friedrich Franz IV, the six oclock arm with a date of 1914, the twelve oclock arm with a royal crown, the reverse with a crimped barrel hinge and banjo style pinback meeting a round wire catch, unmarked,