CNG 106, Lot: 1050. Estimate $500. Sold for $320. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PORTUGAL. Ordem Militar de Cristo (Military Order of Christ), Officer rank. A cased set including the riband (40x64mm, plus ribbon), gilt Maltese cross with red and white enamel, Hallmark ‘M,’ with ribbon, and the breast cross (40x64mm, plus ribbon), gilt Maltese cross with red and white enamel, with ribbon and Officer’s bar. As made, in original presentation case.

From the RAJ Collection. Ex World-Wide Coins of California (James F. Elmen) XXI (14 May 1992), lot 552.

The Ordem Militar de Cristo (Military Order of Christ) is a Portuguese honorific order, founded by king Diniz I in 1317. This order was reconstituted from the ashes of the former Knights Templar, which had been aboloshied by Pope Clement V’s bull, Vox in excelso in 1312. Diniz negotiated with the Pope to take control of the Templar assets in Portugal, and in 1619 Pope John XXII granted his blessing to the revival of the Catholic order. The organization was secularized in 1789 and temporarily extinguished with the dissolution of the monarchy in 1910, though it was again revived in 1917. Today, the order is awarded to individuals displaying outstanding military merit. Previous members include the explorers Henry the Navigator and Vasco de Gama. The order’s cross emblem is the same that decorated the sails of Christopher Columbus’ Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria.