1910 Excelsior Shoe For Boys Medal

Excelsior shoe for boys medal

A nice example of the Excelsior Shoe Medal found while out coin shooting.  This medal exists in at least four different varieties.  This is not a swastika on the reverse side.  It is an age old mystical symbol dating back to the fourth century B.C. and was especially popular as a good luck symbol on tokens  from the 1910's through the 1930's.  Hitler ruined it forever.  He may have picked it up during the first decade of the 1900's while attending Catholic school in Austria.  Here, he was influenced by an abbot who had the  symbol on his coat of arms, ring, and pulpit.  Staring at these during a period in his life when he was also studying military tactics, Hitler may have associated the swastika with military power rather than spiritual power.  In any case, it is no longer associated with good luck as depicted on the reverse side.

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