Which case for the Spanish crosses ?

[jacques]

It has been written several times and it is commonly accepted that spanish crosses came in red, blue or green case, depending the class: gold crosses in a red/marroon case, silver crosses in a blue case, and bronze crosses in green case.
Nevertheless, regularly crosses pop up in their what seeems to be original case that don't correspond to this rule. I.e. bronze cross in a blue case, silver or gold cross in a green case.
LDO was instituted in 1941, so we can conclude that after that date, privatly purchased crosses came in an LDO case. Certainly old stocks of early cases still remained available during a short range of time.
Do you know red LDO case for spanish cross ? in which kind of case could come a nice Meybauer L/13 gilded bronze cross or an unmarked Deumer gold cross?
Another question: do you know original early green case (like the blue one) for bronze cross without LDO stamped inside or on the top lid ?

jacques

[jacques]

No answer ?

I'll try to developp a bit more my feeling.
I guess that we have to separate early cases, in which were awarded the crosses in 1939 from LDO period ones.
Of course, certainly early crosses and cases still were available on pruchase after the ceremonies and certainly later after the institution of the LDO.
Early gold crosses were awarded in a red case, and more were made by the manufacturers to be sold by retailers.
Early silver crosses, with or without swords, came in a leathered blue case.
My opinion is that early bronze crosses came also in the same blue case:
- I never found/saw a green leathered case without LDO. Nevertheless, all together more than 16000 bronze crosses were awarded and more were manufactured. With such a number, it could be common to find green leathered cases.
- In another hand, bronze crosses are known in blue case (same case as the for the silver cross), and reputed to come directly from the family.
- Blue cases can be found easily.

With the institution of the LDO, new cases were issued. Red and blue cases were certainly still issued for de luxe manufacture i.e. massive silver crosses.
Blue cases with LDO stamped on the top lid do exist even they are rare. I never saw red case with LDO stamped issued for a sanish cross.
Green leathered cases appeared, with LDO on the top lid or stamped inside, depending the provider. IMO, from this time, LDO stamped crosses could come in such a green case whatever the class.
Later on, cheaper green cases were made (Klappetui) with LDO on the top lid on again stamped inside, with red or blue flocage inside.

This is my deduction of what I observed. I'm of course open to heard and discuss other point of view, and overall to share pictures of cases.

jacques

[andrewb]

Very interesting Jacques. It certainly makes sense to me. I also can't recall ever seeing a non-LDO stamped green case.

Why is it that the blue LDO stamped cases are so rare?

Here are my 2 cased SC. The green case is stamped L/18 on the top and on the inside of the top.

Regards,
AB.

[andrewb]

2.

[andrewb]

3.

[andrewb]

last one.

[jacques]

Why is it that the blue LDO stamped cases are so rare?
AB.

May be simply because blue cases were no more made and replaced by green ones for all the classes.

[Rich G]

Is it correct to say that of the awarded pieces, that the:
gold class had the maroon coloured case;
silver class had the blue coloured case;

but for bronze, this is a bit of a mystery but these have been found in blue cases but not green cases? The green cases only appearing after the formation of the LDO?

Rich

[jacques]

on the green case, is the bottom flocage purple or fadded blue ?

[jacques]

Is it correct to say that of the awarded pieces, that the:
gold class had the maroon coloured case;
silver class had the blue coloured case;

but for bronze, this is a bit of a mystery but these have been found in blue cases but not green cases? The green cases only appearing after the formation of the LDO?

Rich

Yes, this is what I think.

[andrewb]

on the green case, is the bottom flocage purple or fadded blue ?

Purple.

Regards,
AB.

[jacques]

Purple.

Regards,
AB.

But it is not an L/18 cross. it looks to an unmarked Juncker.

[jacques]

I would like to have your opinion on that case I got few times ago.
size: 82,5mm x 76mm x 25,5mm
weight: 61.2g
material: seems to have been made of wood
blue velvet and blue silk
hinge and push button are magnetics

thanks

jacques

[jacques]

front & back sides

[jacques]

inside view

this case looks strange to me, and I'm far to be sure it is an original