Spain, Franco Period. A War Cross, I. Class Breast Star, Type III, c. 1940

(Cruz de Guerra). Instituted January 30th, 1890. (c. 1940). An eight-pointed silvered bronze star with multi-faceted surfaces, the obverse with a Toulouse Cross featuring a gilded laurel wreath and four crossed swords between the arms of the cross, bearing a central medallion with the Coat of Arms of Castile, Leóne, Aragon, Navarre, and Granada, constructed of red and white enameled quadrants, with the white quadrants bearing gilded rampant lions and the red quadrants with gilded towers, along with an oval central blue enameled medallion bearing a gilded rose, surrounded by a ring of blue enamels with the inscription of “Al Merito en Campaña”, the reverse is plain, with a functional vertical pinback that is flanked on both sides by down-ward sloped “S” stabilizer pins for secure attachment to a uniform, unmarked, measuring 63.1 mm (w) x 63.0 mm (l), weighing 42.57 grams, exhibiting loss of gilt due to age and wear, in very fine condition.