Unknown Lenin Pin

[Christopher G.]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone know what this little Lenin pin is? I have absolutely no idea...

Thank you in advance...

Regards,
Chris G.

[saar]

This is just like you said - a Lenin pin. One of a many. This one looks like a book and somewhat heavy compare to millions of cheap Lenin pins. On the reverse side is a stamp ММД(Московский Монетный Двор) - The Moscow Mint. This pin usually cost $5-$10-$20.

[Greg Collins]

This is also available in gilt (gold) finish, leading me to wonder if this was reading/literacy award at a local level- never got a firm answer from anyone on that. However it is, in both incarnations, one of the nicer Lenin badges available and I'm glad I have both versions in my collection.

[nshan]

Hi

This type of pin was only awarded not for sell.
$50-100

Hike

[saar]

Hi

This type of pin was only awarded not for sell.
$50-100

Hike

Awarded for what? I had this pin, paid $10 in 2005. I saw the same pin in Berlin last year - 20 Euros. This is an old pin from 40s-50s.

You can buy one for 10 euros, right now. Open the link and scroll down a bit.
http://collect.ay.by/medali-zhetony-...obytiya/lenin/

And here is the golden one for $29 together with a bunch of other pins.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-PROPAGANDA...item483e416c3d

This pin is quite common and you can find one for sale on Russian websites almost anytime.

[Bill D.]

It is a very high quality badge, as one would expect for a piece that was produced by the mint.

I am going by memory here, but I seem to recall that this badge was awarded to students who had demonstrated significant knowledge about Lenin's life.

[Mathomhaus]

I agree. I was once a teacher and interested in education-related awards; I remember having conversations about this pin with two or three former Soviet emigres to the States back in the early 1990s. The consensus then was that these were given out in schools to acknowledge "academic excellence."

Depending upon which flea markets and/or militaria shows any one of us gets to in the course of a year, there may in fact seem to be a lot of these little badges out there. The fact that they show up with some frequency does not negate the fact that they had to be earned.

I'd mention that there was a point twenty years ago where a collector in NE USA could find 3rd Class Orders of Glory and wartime OPW Is & IIs selling for no more than twenty or twenty-five dollars each (even, if you were lucky, second class Orders of Glory, too). I'm not equating these Lenin pins with those awards, just saying that a badge's low price at a show does not always indicate that it was worn without a certain amount of pride by its original recipient...

Regards