In 1806 Lodewijk Napoleon was appointed King of the Kingdom of the Netherlands by his brother Napoleon Bonaparte. One of his first actions was to institute two orders: The Order of the Union and the Order of Merit. The order of Merit should hold 50 Commanders and 300 Knights. On 1 January 1807 294 Knights were appointed. Bonaparte was very displeased by the actions of his brother and both orders were abolished on 14 of February 1807 and replaced by The Royal Order of Holland. Only very few medals were actually struck and issued, orginal medals of the order of Merit are almost impossible to find. In 1811 Napoleon instituted the Order of the Reunion.

Picture constructed from Drouot catalogue dec 2018 and scans from medals in the museum of the Dutch Chancery, Apeldoorn