Description

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.