BACKGROUND: As of March 1941 manufacture of German awards, destined for private retail sale, was regulated by the LDO, Leistungsgemeinschaft der Deutschen Ordenshersteller, (Administration of German Medal Manufacturers). The LDO, acted as a quality control agent for awards that were intended for retail sale and manufacturers were to use an assigned LDO, "L", code on their products destined for retail sales. Awards that were to be bestowed by the government were also issued an official numerical government contract code known as a, Lieferantnummer, (Contractors Number), that was issued by the Präsidialkanzlei des Führers, (Presidential Council of the Führers), for formally approved manufacturers. The manufacturing firms that were licenced by both the Präsidialkanzlei des Führers and the LDO and would have used the same dies to manufacture both the official issue and retail sales types of awards making them virtually indistinguishable from one another except for the markings.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Roughly 6.5cm by 9.5cm, original cellophane LDO issue envelope.