MGB Excellent Border Guard Badge

[Albert]

Dear All,

Looking at a "excellent sniper" badge here on this forum tempted me to look up mine in my little collection. Then I saw the MGB BG badge. Just wanted to share some pics and throw a technical restoration question out there...

First, here is the badge in its habitat

Best,
Al

[Albert]

Here is the MGB BG badge. The star has been reattached by soldering:-( My question is would it be possible to remove the solder and repair the badge in a more becoming way. Or would you not bother as it is what it is, and, to be fair, it is part of the badges history... Soviet awards tend to look a little bit more worn and "hands on" as they were worn and shown to kids who played with them and so on... Unlike their German counterparts that were mostly hidden away for the larger part of their life...

[Komandir RKKA]

Yes. the solder could be easy removed and two small clasps added if you apply to any jeweler. I think the red enamel on the staralso could be restored (because its a separate part of badge)

[Marcel Banziger]

I would leave as is. It's part of the history and its original recipient had it done this way (unless you know of this being done recently?). It is all in the character of the badge

Great collection of excellence badges btw. A mixture of wartime and postwar badges from what I see. I try to get the same collection with only wartime examples. A difficult task haha

[Albert]

Gentlemen,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It's obviously not an easy decision. Perhaps a good approach would be to do it in steps. Find a good jeweler who can remove the solder and "clean" it up without disturbing any of the natural patina. Then see what's there, it almost looks like one of the wires is even still there. The problem is, how do you find a good old school jeweler...

Komandir, that is a gorgeous badge! Is it an MVD era one? ...not sure if I can trust my eyes;-)

Best,
Al

[Albert]

...

Great collection of excellence badges btw. A mixture of wartime and postwar badges from what I see. I try to get the same collection with only wartime examples. A difficult task haha

Thank You! How many am I missing? I am not interested in the navy ones, just army;-) I know I don't have the excellent baker badge. Not sure how much they go for currently. There is a nice one on one of the better known US sites, but the price is not something I would jump on...

[Komandir RKKA]

Gentlemen,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It's obviously not an easy decision. Perhaps a good approach would be to do it in steps. Find a good jeweler who can remove the solder and "clean" it up without disturbing any of the natural patina. Then see what's there, it almost looks like one of the wires is even still there. The problem is, how do you find a good old school jeweler...

Komandir, that is a gorgeous badge! Is it an MVD era one? ...not sure if I can trust my eyes;-)

Best,
Al

Your badge belong to 1946-1953 period (border troops were part of MGB), my badge is from 1953-1957 (border troops were part of MVD)

[Albert]

... my badge is from 1953-1957 (border troops were part of MVD)

That's what I thought I saw. Very nice badge!

[Eric Gaumann]

My vote, Al, is to leave it as is. It's got great character the way it is and some of that will be lost as things change.
And, what if the repair guy makes some sort of mistake while fixing it and it gets ruined? Is it worth the risk?

[Albert]

My vote, Al, is to leave it as is. It's got great character the way it is and some of that will be lost as things change.
And, what if the repair guy makes some sort of mistake while fixing it and it gets ruined? Is it worth the risk?

Thank You, Eric, I will leave it alone if for no other reason then for the fact that I do not know any jewelers who could be trusted with doing the badge a favor... So, it will stay in its "as found" state.

[Ralph P]

The border badges look great and I even like Komandir RKKA badge with his in a box.

Komandir RKKA, is the box original to the badge?

[Komandir RKKA]

Yes, that is original box of this badge.

[Ralph P]

Excellant Komandir RKKA. Thanks and very nice.