Alexander II. For efforts in the emancipation of serfs, 1861.
Silver award medal. Unsigned. Integral loop. 28 mm, 12,6 gr. R2. Edge dent on the obverse, VF. Barac 565; Diakov 704.1; Werlich 96.

Obverse with a left-facing bust of Alexander II with above the bust the inscription БЛАГОДАРЮ (I am
thankful) and below the bust the date 19 ФЕВРАЛЯ 1861 Г. (19 February 1861). This was the date of the Tsar’s Emancipation Manifesto.
Reverse with a five-line inscription:
ЗА
ТРУДЫ
ПО
ОСВОБОЖДЕНЇЮ
КРЕСТЬЯНЪ
(for efforts in the emancipation of serfs).

This medal was instituted on 17 April 1861. Around 1500 silver medals were struck at the St. Petersburg mint and awarded to those who took part in drawing up the statues of the edict like members of noble committees on peasant settlement and clerks on peasant affairs. The emancipation reform, also known as the Edict of Emancipation of Russia of 19 February 1861, abolished serfdom on private estates and domestic serfdom throughout the Russian empire. Some 23 million people received their freedom and gained the full rights of free citizens like the right to marry without having to ask for consent, to buy and own property, and to own a business. State-owned serfs were emancipated five years later, in 1866.

Lit: Barac4, 1487; Diakov5, 118; Werlich, 50. Zenkovsky, 280-293.