Germany, Wehrmacht. A German Cross in Gold, Cloth Version for Assault Gun Troops, with Dietrich Maerz Certification

(Deutsches Kreuz in Gold, Stoffausführung für Sturmgescühtztruppen). A cloth version of the German Cross in Gold issued to Sturmgeschütztruppen (Assault Gun Troops), consisting of a double-overlaid eight-pointed starburst pattern, with a field-grey wool base overlaid by machine-embroidered slate-grey threading, trimmed with machine-embroidered silver aluminum wire rays, with a central white cloth disc overlaid by a black mobile swastika executed in grey threading and trimmed with silver aluminum wire, set within a circular gilt laurel leaf wreath, the latter wrapped in ribbon and joined together at the bottom by a plaque bearing a date of “1941”, bordered on both the inner and outer edges by red threaded piping with an additional exterior silver aluminum wire fringe, the reverse retaining a fully-intact black paper liner with the outline of the wreath’s intact prongs visible, unmarked, measuring 74 mm (w) x 72 mm (h), weighing 8.8 grams, in near mint condition, accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Dietrich Maerz and dated 2 March 2022.