Recipients of of almost any award
were permitted to privately purchase jeweler copies of
their awards. The jeweler copy was usually worn for everyday
wear while the actual award was put away so it wouldn't
get lost. The jeweler copy was usually better made than
the official award! The LDO, the Organization of German
Medal Manufacturers, regulated the manufacture and sale
of German awards. Copies of their awards sold retail
to qualified recipients were supposed to be stamped with
an L-code. Awards sold to the government were supposed
to be stamped with a small official numerical government
contract code known as a, Lieferantnummer (Contractors
Number) issued by the Präsidialkanzlei des Führers
(Presidential Council of the Führers). A firm could
therefore have a Präsidialkanzlei and a LDO code
number (different from each other). They used the same
dies to stamp the official issue and retail sales copies
of their awards making them indistinguishable from one
another. The ones marked with an "L" were the
retail special order copies. As the war progressed, gold
and silver for the outer finish became unobtainable,
zinc replaced copper, and many firms just stopped stamping
their awards because many regulations ceased be enforced
and that extra step just wasn't worth their time doing
anymore. |