ELEVEN (11) ITEM CONDOR LEGION GROUPING

This is a grouping of eleven (11) original WWII era items which all relate to the Spanish Civil War. Specifically, this lot includes an extremely rare Condor Legion Tank Badge, a miniature Condor Legion Tank Badge in .900 silver mounted as a stick pin, a next of kin class Spanish Cross with the original award document (albeit water damaged), a cased Spanish Cross with swords in gold, a cased silver Spanish Cross with swords, a bronze Spanish Cross with swords, a miniature silver class Spanish Cross with swords mounted as a stick pin, an ultra rare Spanish service cuff title, a Spanish awarded lapel pin and a Spanish service stick pin.

Pictured ABOVE is a full frontal view of the Spanish Cuff Title which I first obtained in Columbus, Ohio in 1977 from a response to a newspaper ad by a WW II veteran who had served with the U.S.101st Airborne Division. BELOW is a slight enlargement of the center of the cuff title. In support of the veteran's claims that he had actually cut this item off of a tunic, rather than being burdened to carry the whole uniform home, several cut threads are still sewn through the cuff title which I have elected to leave as they are for historical accuracy purposes.

Unfortunately, neither of these pictures are of sufficient quality to do justice to the fine quality feel, obvious age and character which this piece commands. Despite that these photos do give the viewer a better understanding of the piping and stitching used in constructing this item, as well as the aged coloration of its fabric.

BELOW...is a reverse view of the cuff title which shows that a separate piece of fabric was employed to act as a backing plate for the letter and number stitching. Also visible is the fact that the reverse stitching is in silver colored thread, instead of the yellow colored thread showing on the front of the title.

ABOVE FAR RIGHT is a full frontal view of the Condor Legion Tank Badge that comes with this lot. IMMEDIATELY to the RIGHT is the full reverse view of this badge. Please note that the attaching pin has been professionally resized, while leaving the original catch in place. This badge also exhibits an extremely high silver content, which is evident from a visual comparison of the degree of oxidation, age and patina shown on its reverse which has never been cleaned, with its front that has been lightly cleaned several times over the years.

Incidentally, I originally obtained this Condor Legion Tank Badge, together with a number of other unrelated military items from the pre 1945 era as a personal gift from a German family I became well acquainted with while serving with the Army in Germany in the mid 1970's. Given the source, I have no question whatsoever about the originality of this piece. That being said, even if I had purchased this item at a show, without any knowledge of its provenance, I would still had little doubt about it originality. This is not only due to the detail, silver content and heavy patina that it has, which can only come from age, but also because it has a re-sized pin. More specifically, it is highly improbable that anyone would go to the expense of making a reproduction of this quality, only to then go to the trouble of professionally removing the original pin and replace it.

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