Stunning, very early war-period 'Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse' (or: Iron Cross 1st class) being a non-maker-marked (but '800'-silver-stamped!) 'Schinkel'-pattern example as was produced by the maker: 'Otto Schickle'

This is a truly very attractive - and with certainty very early-war-period - example of an: 'Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse' (or: Iron Cross 1st class) being an attractive albeit non-maker-marked (but '800'-silver-contents stamped) example as was executed in the so-called: 'Schinkel'-format ie. pattern as was (I deem) produced by the desirable maker (ie. 'Hersteller') named: 'Otto Schickle' and that comes in an overall very nice- (ie. surely issued- ie. worn-), condition. The non-magnetic cross has a very attractive age-patina and retains truly great detail: the black-coloured core shows no real damage whatsoever: the (somewhat 'shiny'- ie. satin-like-) black painted core is nicely preserved without showing any real damage (as can be seen in the pictures). The piece retains, moreover, a fair bit of its so-called: 'hochpolierte Kanten' (as can be seen on the pictures). The (flute-shaped) pin and typical catch (ie. set-up) are naturally unaltered and/or fully functional. The cross - which is a minimally-vaulted ie. converse-shaped example as more often - was (I deem) produced by the desirable maker: 'Otto Schickle' as was based in the town of Pforzheim. Of additional interest is, moreover, the fact that this example shows a period engraved name on its back that reads: 'Uffz. Dornth' (or alike as can be noticed on the pictures). These desirable iron-crosses were typically awarded during the 1939 invasion of Poland and early 'Blitzkrieg' in Holland, Belgium and France in 1940. Simply a very attractive - and truly rarely seen! - 'Schinkel'-IC first-class-set by the 'Schickle'-company that was never before in any collection and that is priced according to its rarity and/or desirability!