Postby Joerg » Sat Jul 23, 2016 5:05 pm
Blakstone is right, Christmas present for all Swiss soldiers who were on active duty at Christmas 1944. It is a rather special gift, previous years it was simpler, using less resources, a patriotic map or a pin. Switzerland was neutral during WWII, so it could keep up a somehow normal life. Also, they managed to issue silver coins during the whole war. Similar as in the USA, which also managed to keep the issue of silver coins up during the war. At the beginning of the war, the whole Swiss army of probaly 450'000 men were mobilised. However, soon, partial demobilisation started, and when the war was far away from the borders, a rather small part of Switzerland was in arms. There were inbetween in moments of crisis full mobilisations again, however, not continuous.
I do not know how many soldiers were mobilised in December 1944. But is was clear the Allied Forces win, and relief was expected. This can explain the rather special gift. I do not know how many were made, let us assume probably 100'000. This would still only consume less than 2 tons of silver. This is manageable.
The spoons are still common in Switzerland, however, two manufacturer made them, Jezler and Huguenin. The Jezler spoon is much more common and higer quality than the Huguenin spoon. Jezler to Huguenin ratio is approximately 15:1. (All my Jezler Soldatenweihnacht spoons are problem free, except signs of wear. However, I have 3 spoons from Huguenin, all having cracks due to problems with soldering them together)
I promise I add some pictures tomorrow...
Regards
Jörg
