Pin Back Driver's Badge in Bronze

[monty]

Hi all,
I have just purchased this Driver's Badge in Bronze with pinback assembly. The badge itself measures around 40mm across. The plate the pin assembly mounts to is nicely maker marked "C. Poellath Schrobenhausen."
The plate and pin assembly have obviously always been on this badge.

Any ideas as to the purpose of this badge. Is it possible it is a civilian award? I myself have not seen another.
Thanks in advance!!

[monty]

Badge ...

Badge is made of steel by the way.

[jayhawkhenry]

Interesting badge. The award was worn on the lower sleeve of the uniform so the pin attachment would be totally wrong. The badge was sewn on or attached by it;s pins directly to the uniform. It is not for any known military use I know of. It is most likely post war or one of the rash of fakes I have seen with similar pin attachments. There are only three war time styles I am aware of, the integral prongs, two attached wire prongs and 4 attached wire prongs.

[monty]

re Driver's Badge

How was the civilian version worn do you know and would it have necessarily been sleeve worn?

As civilian wear would not have not necessarily involved a specific colour backing, is it not possible it was worn by pin and breast worn?

Many thanks for the help!

[speedytop]

Hi monty,

there is no "civilian version".

The owner of such a badge could wear it on civilian clothes, as a needle in miniature size.

... is it not possible it was worn by pin and breast worn?

No.

Therefore I believe, that this is a post WWII copy.

Uwe

[jayhawkhenry]

Agree. It is most likely post war.

[Andy B.]

I don't know if I'd say the badge was bad. If the pin wasn't on it I'm sure a lot of folks would give the badge a passing glance and say "typical driver badge missing the prongs and backing".
I don't know why someone would put a pin on the badge, but I don't see why it couldn't happen. Maybe it kept falling off and the owner decided to have a pin installed to keep it on.
I'd like to see a close up of the maker mark on the pin to see if that matches know original lettering.

On a side note, I think these badges are very underated. I have collected five of them over the years and never really looked that closely at them. I did check this badge against mine (where the back was visible) and it doesn't match any of them. Maybe there is someone out there who has studied them and can shed a little light on this one.
Andy