Description
Product Description: A beautiful and very rare set of L/13 Meybauer Oak Leaves to the Knights Cross. This set of Meybauer Oak Leaves to the Knights Cross is produced of “900” silver with the obverse having a very intricate and crisp graining on the Oak Leaves themselves. The pattern of this graining is similar to a forensic fingerprint in the authentication process, and this set matches perfectly to the very few other known original Meybauer produced Oak Leaves. The veining on the obverse is in high relief, with very light wear to the high points revealing the silver base metal. The reverse of this Meybauer Oak Leaves to the Knights Cross features both a “900” silver content stamp, as well as the “L/13” maker mark for the firm “Meybauer, Berlin”. The L/13 mark matches perfectly with the same L/13 stamps found on other awards produced by Meybauer during this time period. A simple round wire loop is neatly and originally soldered directly to the reverse of the Oak Leaves. The ends of the loop have very distinct bends, which is a trait also seen on the other known Meybauer produced Oak Leaves. As with all of our Knights Crosses and relevant grades we offer for sale, this set is accompanied with a Certificate of Authenticity by the community’s leading authority on the Knights Crosses and higher grades, Dietrich Maerz.
The logic behind why we see so few of these L/13 Meybauer Oak Leaves to the Knights Cross is really quite simple when the history of the Knights Cross production is understood. After the introduction of the LDO in March of 1941, several firms, including Meybauer, produced these awards for the private retail market. Each company authorized to produce awards for this private retail market was given a specific numbering code with an “L” prefix; ie. Juncker = L/12, Meybauer = L/13, Godet = L/50. In October of 1941, the private sale of the Knights Cross and its higher grades was prohibited and strictly regulated by the government. At this time all companies who had produced any of these higher awards were ordered to hand them over. Production from this point forward was limited primarily to Godet (21), and distributed through the PKZ. So the period for the production of these Oak Leaves was extremely short, only roughly 7 months. Hence why we rarely see L/12 and even rarer the L/13 marked Oak Leaves. This extremely rare set of L/13 Meybauer Oak Leaves to the Knights Cross is one of only a handful of known originals.
Historical Description: The Knights Cross of the Iron Cross was instituted on September 1, 1939, and was awarded for skilled leadership, distinguished conduct, or individual acts of bravery in combat. At the time, it remained the highest award for bravery that the German soldier could earn. With the continuation of the war, on June 3, 1940, the Oak Leaves to the Knights Cross were introduced as a way to further recognize extremely distinguished achievements by soldiers who had already been awarded the Knights Cross. The Oak Leaves to the Knights Cross were finely struck in silver, and affixed to a suspension loop from which the Knights Cross would be suspended when worn. On September 28, 1941, two additional grades of the Knights Cross were introduced. The Oak Leaves and Swords to the Knights Cross was almost identical to the Oak Leaves, but now featured two crossed swords beneath the leaf cluster. The second instituted award of September 28, 1941, was the Oak Leaves with Swords and Diamonds. The new highest award was jeweler made from multiple pieces of silver, gold, or platinum and real or fake diamonds. Recipients were given one set with rhinestones and a second set with real diamonds. On December 29, 1944, with the war reaching its climax and acts of bravery and achievements becoming greater, a final grade was introduced, the Knights Cross with Gold Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. Originally intended for the 12 most distinguished service members in the German military, made of real gold and diamonds, only one set was awarded before the end of the war to Oberst Hans Ulrich Rudel.
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