Azad Hind Badge

[Grant Broadhurst]

Hello All,

I have just seen the Azad Hind 1st class with swords badge on Helmut Weitze,s Site ,i would like to buy it and just wanted to know if any of the Azad Hind awards had been faked ?

Thanks

Grant

[Yuri D.]

From what I hear, Azad Hind awards were legitimately produced after the war until the mid fifties in India.

[Seppl]

Rudolf Souval who made them during the war also made them right up to the 1980's.So in fact they have been reproed!

[Grant Broadhurst]

Thanks Kettenhund and Seppl ,

Is there any way of telling the difference ?
What do you think of the Azad Hind Badge Weitze has for sale ?

Thanks

Grant

[Bob Hritz]

The Azad Hind awards were legitimately made and awarded until 1962, when the Free India Committee was disbanded. All awards were produced by Souval and the sales continued through Souval, to collectors, until the original dies were sold when the company went to making company logo pins and trophys. When Souval ran out of the original stocks he produced, over the years, for the Free India Committee, he just used a plain backplate, devoid of the Souval name and address, for the later produced copies. However, in the 1970's I was offered hundreds of pieces that were properly marked from the left over stocks. On my last trip to Austria, I stopped by Souval and all the old employees were gone and there was nary a ribbon or pin left of old stocks. I was told the original dies were sold to a former East German concern, to go "East".
Bob Hritz