Germany, Weimar Republic. An LZ 121 "Nordstern" Zeppelin Needles Tin with Spanish Text

In tin with a silvered finish, magnetic, the front of the lid bearing an image in light blue, dark blue, silver and black paint, illustrating the airship LZ 121 in flight over a cityscape, with billowing clouds in the distance, inscribed in Spanish "ZEPPELIN" below the airship, "CADA AGUJA QUINTADA GARANTIZADA" (Each Fifth Needle Guaranteed) and "LZ 121" on the airship, "100 AGUJAS" (100 Needles) at the upper right in the sky and "TONO FORTISIMO" (Strong Tone) at the lower right over the cityscape, coded "1381-538" on the front lip and inscribed "MANUFACTURADO IN ALEMANIA" (Manufactured in Germany) on the left side lip, measuring 47 mm (w) x 34.5 mm (h) x 10.3 (d), hinged along the back edge, very light contact and silvering wear, near extremely fine.

Footnote: The LZ 121 was a civilian airship from the Weimar Republic, a Y-Class zeppelin with a total length of 130.8 metres (429 ft 2 in). It received the nickname Nordstern while in German service, before it was given to France as war reparations on June 13, 1921. In France, she was renamed the Méditerranée and operated as a civilian air transport for a year. She was transferred to the French Navy and served in the Mediterranean for four years. She was decommissioned and broken up in August 1926. The LZ 121 was built by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin in Friedrichshafen, Germany after the First World War as a sister ship of LZ 120. It was built to transport passengers on regular flights from Friedrichshafen to Berlin and Stockholm. The ship was completed as a Y-Class zeppelin in January 1920 and had a total length of 130.8 metres (429 ft 2 in). It had a diameter of 18.7 metres (61 ft 4 in) and a 22,500 m³ gas volume contained in 13 gas cells. The ship could reach a top speed of 130 km/h, with four Maybach Mb IVa, 245 hp 6-cylinder inline engines driving three propellers. The ship had accommodations for 16 crew members and 20 passengers in the four gondolas. Nordstern was designed to carry about 25 passengers on a Friedrichshafen-Berlin-Stockholm route but this route was never opened. The older sister ship LZ 120 Bodensee did run a regular passenger service between Friedrichshafen and Berlin in late 1919. The LZ 120 and LZ 121 were not allowed to enter service as the Allies had forbidden Germany to make any more Zeppelins at the end of 1919. The German government had hoped that it was only a temporary measure, so the Spa Conference of 1920 was held to address the issue in July 1920 at Spa, Belgium. The Commission Chairman General E.A. Masterman decided on August 9, 1920 that the two airships be given to France and Italy as war reparations. The two ships were confiscated under protest by the German government. LZ 121 was awarded to France, which in May 1921 constructed an airship hangar for the zeppelin in Saint-Cyr-l'École at Versailles. LZ 121 set out for its maiden voyage to France on June 13, 1921 at 11:30 am. About 10,000 people went to Friedrichshafen to get a last glimpse of the airship before it departed German airspace. It reached Saint-Cyr-l'École on the evening of the same day. LZ 121 was put under the command of the French airline Société Anonyme de Navigation Aérienne (Sana), where it was renamed Méditerranée and operated as a Zeppelin air transport between southern France and Algeria. In April 1922, the Méditerranée was handed over to the French Navy and based at Cuers-Pierrefou, Toulon. The airship was used for training. New gas cells were installed, with the work finished in early 1923. That same year, the Méditerranée participated in French naval maneuvers in the Mediterranean. From December 1923, the airship was limited to short-range flights, before being decommissioned and disassembled in August 1926. In September 1926, the framework of LZ 121 was tested under increasing loads until destruction.