Germany, Third Reich. An Order of the German Eagle, Silver Merit Medal, by the Prussian Mint

(Orden vom Deutschen Adler, Verdienstmedaille in Silber). Instituted 1 May 1937. (1937-1943 issue). Constructed of silver, on loop for suspension from its period original ribbon with horizontal pinback, the obverse bearing a raised Maltese Cross with pebbled arms and with each quadrant joined by a NSDAP-style German national eagle clutching a wreathed mobile swastika, the reverse bearing a raised inscription of ‘DEUTSCHE VERDIENSTMEDAILLE” (“GERMAN MERIT MEDAL”), the edge marked with a crescent moon indicating German manufacture, a silver content number of “835”, and a maker’s mark of “PR. MÜNZE BERLIN” for the Prussian Mint in Berlin, measuring 38.07 mm in diameter, weighing 23.1 grams, the medal demonstrating a consistent patina, with one end of the pinback’s stitching severed, in overall near extremely fine condition.