Original NEAR MINT WWII German CASED WAR MERIT CROSS 1ST CLASS, 1939 WITH SWORDS Certified

SOLD

Original NEAR MINT  WWII German CASED WAR MERIT CROSS 1ST CLASS, 1939 WITH SWORDS Certified. The War Merit Cross was instituted by Adolf Hitler on October 18TH 1939, in two classes with both classes issued, with and without swords, for award to military personnel and civilians, including females and foreigners, for exemplary service and/or bravery in Germany’s war effort, in a non-combatant role. The addition of swords to the award signified bravery while awards without swords were bestowed for service. Die struck, alloy construction bravery award with silver finish is in the form of a Maltese style cross with a circular centerpiece with an embossed, canted, swastika encircled by an oak-leave wreath to the obverse. The swords, indicating bravery, emanated upwards between the arms of the cross. The background field of the obverse centerpiece is smooth while the arms of the cross have a pebbled background field with raised, smooth, outer edges. The plain, reverse has a soldered, solid style hinge, a broad, tapered, vertical pin and soldered catch is broken (see photo) . The award comes housed in a roughly, 7cm square, 2cm thick, pressed cardboard and wood construction case with a black, simulated grained leather covering. The top lid of the case has an impressed, silvered outline of the War Merit Cross with swords. The interior of the top lid is lined in white satin while the interior bottom of the case has a vertical cut-out to secure the hinge, pin and catch assembly of the badge. Maker marked number “1” for maker Deshler.   in overall in good condition ALMOST MINT with some storage wear (see photos). This comes from an original sleeve Unissued medals from the Deschler factory, discovered in the 2000  during a renovation. Several  near mint sleeves of  10 boxed in MINT condition in the factory paper wrap!. This cased medal was one  of 10 is still wrapped in its original paper bundle where they been stored since the day they were completed in the factory. The discovery of these medals is known as the ‘Deschler Hoard’. Gettysburg Museum Certified (COA) provided. 100% Guaranteed to be authentic.   Sold for historic purposes only. See our other pieces on our web site.    Also note when browsing our web site there are several pages of items, at the bottom of the list look for other page numbers. VERY NICE  RARE Opportunity  TO OWN A REAL WWII TIME CAPSULE , don’t miss it! Offering is for 1 cased medal from the sleeve.