ss achievement badge

[mar maskery]

hi,

i recently bought a ss achievement badge in silver as a reproduction piece for display. it is a very well made item,but is marked richard sieper & sohne M1/25. anyone know anything about these badges and when they were made ?

cheers,

mark

[Tom Yanacek]

Hello Mark,

Reproductions of the SS Proficiency Badge go back as far as I can remember. At least as far back as the 70s, but probably the 50s and 60s as well. An original of this badge is extremely rare and would command a high price. I have never owned one, but the originals are supposed to be unmarked. The SS runes are supposed to be attached by bent over metal prongs. I saw a fake just like the one you descibed about a year ago. It had the Richard Sieper & Söhne and the M1/25 markings on it. As you say it is fairly well made, but a fake nonetheless. I have heard that some of the fakes of these are made better than the originals. By the way: The RZM number M1/25 was not assigned to Sieper & Söhne, but to Rudolf Reiling of Pforzheim. Sieper & Söhne used the RZM number M1/50 for insignia and M9/25 for meeting badges.

Best regards,
Tom

[mar maskery]

ss proficiency..

many thanks for the info tom,

mark